Threat of gun on campus disrupts 2 Beaufort County schools Thursday. No weapons found

This story is developing. For the most recent updates about a student detained for allegedly having a gun on campus at Battery Creek High School, click here.

After a hoax active shooter threat prompted a four-hour lockdown Wednesday morning at Beaufort High School, students were once again huddled in classrooms Thursday because of another threat.

While officers were responding to a threat at Beaufort High School, reports that there was a weapon on campus at Battery Creek High School which is less than 8 miles away also came in.

As of 11:10 a.m., both schools were out of lockdown, according to the school district.

Police responded to the “threat of a gun” on campus at Beaufort High School Thursday morning after someone called in, according to Lt. Charles Raley, a spokesperson for the Beaufort Police Department.

The caller warned police that a student who is “known to have weapons” outside of school may have brought one in on Thursday. That student was detained off campus and searched. No guns were found.

As of 9:24 a.m., normal school operations had resumed, according to a statement from the district sent to Beaufort High School parents.

Police were also on campus at Battery Creek High School because of a separate threat, Raley said.

At Battery Creek, another student was rumored to also have brought in a weapon on campus, said Staff Sgt. Danny Allen with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

As of 9:32 a.m., no weapons had been found. No injuries were reported at either school.

By 9:45 a.m., the Battery Creek school resource officer and police had contacted the student and there was no individual “threat to anyone, just the potential threat of student with a weapon,” Allen said.

By 11:10 a.m. Battery Creek high school was no longer under lockdown and classes had resumed as usual, according to the district. In a statement to parents, officials said no weapons were found and reminded parents that no weapons of any kind are allowed on school property.

A Battery Creek student, who was not named because he is a minor, was detained and searched Thursday after police got a tip that he had brought a gun to school that morning, the Island Packet reported.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department said after investigating the incident, the 14-year-old student did not bring a gun on Battery Creek’s campus Thursday, according to an alert. However, police determined the student did bring a gun to campus Wednesday.

The student was being detained at the Department of Juvenile justice on Thursday afternoon.

Already on high alert

On Wednesday, an active shooter threat was called in to the Beaufort Police Department’s main line. After going room-to-room searching Beaufort High School, police deemed the call a hoax around 11 a.m.

Beaufort County schools, as well as 22 others across South Carolina, had threats of active shooters on campus, prompting lockdowns and heavy police response on Wednesday. The calls are now under investigation by the FBI.

Parents, who are already on high alert after Wednesday’s lockdown, need to remember to stay calm and let first responders handle the situation, said Battery Creek High School mother and Hampton County emergency responder Savannah Jordan.

Her daughter is messaging her throughout the lockdown as she tries her best to “not let my instincts of a mother to take over my years of training.”

“Yes, I’m scared, but I am also trained in active shooter drills to be the one who responds first,” Jordan said. “But I am trying to stay calm for her. ... It’s the parents that need to stay back, not post locations, not overwhelm an already terrifying situation.”