Guns On Schools Campuses Headline Baltimore Co. Town Hall Meeting
PERRY HALL, Md. (WJZ)-- Baltimore County officials held a town hall Thursday night in the wake of a deadly massacre at a South Florida high school and reports of two separate students bringing guns to two Maryland high schools on the same day.
The first scare in the area occurred Thursday morning at Loch Raven High School, where police say a student brought a pellet gun to school.
RELATED: Student, 14, Taken Into Custody After Loch Raven H.S. School Lockdown
A SWAT team responded to the school to take a 14-year-old student into custody.
Police say the teen, who now faces criminal charges, brought a pellet gun to school, which authorities didn't know if the weapon was a deadly firearm at the time, which forced an emergency lock down.
Officials say the whole thing unfolded after a school resource officer was given a tip that the student had the gun in his backpack.
Once confronted, police say the teen ran. The 14-year-old was later found hiding out in a classroom.
Following the events in South Florida, Loch Raven parents were excited to be reunited with their children.
RELATED: Sheriff: School Gunman Fired Into Multiple Classrooms
The second scare happened at Clarksburg High School in Montgomery County. Police arrested a student for bringing a loaded handgun on campus.
RELATED: Police: Montgomery Co. Student Arrested For Bringing Loaded Handgun To School
Fortunately, no injuries reported in either case.
The subject of guns on campus dominated a portion of the conversation at a town hall meeting at Perry Hall High School, which earlier this year, had a gun on campus scare of its own.
RELATED: Police Make Arrest In Perry Hall Fight Video In Which One Person Appears To Have Gun
A video showed what was initially believed to be a rifle being carried by an 18-year-old during a fight at the school, but it turned out to be a non-lethal airsoft weapon.
The 18-year-old was later arrested.
At the town hall meeting hosted by a Maryland lawmaker, parents were eager to voice their concerns about school safety after the recent scares.
"I don't think we're quite prepared as we think we are," parent Carrie Reuter said. "There's no words that can express the feelings that you feel for somebody else when you lose a child like that, you know it's heartbreaking."
"This one hits close to home after what happened in Florida to then a have gun being brought to our local schools," said Baltimore County Delegate Christian Miele (R), who hosted the town hall.
Part of the meeting included a proposal that would call for revoking a student's license for up to three years for bringing a weapon to school.
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