1 arrested, 2 taken into custody after incident at Colleton County High School, deputies say

COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Officials say an 18-year-old was arrested and two juveniles were taken into custody after an incident at Colleton County High School Monday.

The Colleton County School District says the school went into lockdown after a fight on campus.

The school district says they increased law enforcement presence on campus and conducted a parking lot vehicle search with trained canines without students around.

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office located a loaded handgun in a student’s car while investigating, but no firearms were found in the school building.

The school district says recent community violence has affected the school climate and culture after an incident involving several students caused a large law enforcement presence on school grounds.

Candice Terry first saw on Facebook that Colleton County High School, where her daughter goes, was locked down Monday morning. She tried to get in touch with her daughter, and when she finally was able to call her, this is what her daughter told her.

“She was like ‘schools on lockdown, nobody’s allowed in, nobody’s allowed out, and all we know right now is there was a fight, a big fight,’” Terry said.

Terry said she spent much of the school day looking for answers about what exactly happened.

“With everything that’s going on in the world, all the school shootings and everything, there’s no telling what’s going on in a mother’s mind or a father’s mind right now when they say their school is on lockdown and there could be a possible gun or any kind of weapon into the school,” Terry said.

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office says no arrests were made after the fight. The district says they will continue to use metal detectors and enforce their clear bag policies.

The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating.

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