Officials at Hickory Ridge High School in Cabarrus County called in law enforcement Thursday afternoon after a report of a subject on campus with a gun turned out to be a student who pointed a toy gun at motorists.
Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office deputies quickly determined it was a student who pointed a plastic gun at passing motorists and the school was deemed safe.
The call came from Hickory Ridge at approximately 2:20 p.m. Deputies arrived on the scene within two minutes and located the suspect in the parking lot. The 17-year-old student’s vehicle was searched, and deputies found a toy Airsoft rifle, along with a several hunting knives.
The student routinely picks up a sibling from the school, and he had pointed the real-looking plastic gun out of his car window. Passing motorists reported the incident as they saw him pulling into the high school parking lot.
“Though it was a real serious issue, we feel very comfortable that the student did not appear to have had ill intentions to harm anyone and just didn’t think about the danger he presented,” Sheriff Brad Riley said in a news release. “It was poor judgment on his behalf.”