Teen brought gun to Coast high school 2 days in a row and took photos with it, detective says

A 15-year-old boy accused of bringing a loaded gun to Harrison Central High remains in jail after a judge on Wednesday denied to reduce his $10,000 bond.

The student was arrested on Aug. 5 for possession of a firearm on school property. He is being charged as an adult.

Harrison Central High Assistant Principal Jaworski Rankin was informed that the student was on campus with a gun, according to court documents.

Harrison County Sheriff’s Deputy Sileanna Diamond, who works on campus, was alerted and searched the student, the documents say, and found a loaded .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun tucked into the front of his waistband.

Detective Nickolas Pennington, who handled the case, searched the boy’s phone and found photos of himself posing with the gun in class and around campus, according to court testimony heard Wednesday.

Pennington testified that photos showed the student also brought the gun to school the day prior to his arrest.

The student said he brought the gun to campus to protect himself from another student who he believed was going to shoot him, according to records.

That student was attending a different school seven miles away, prosecutors argued, although the defense said he was unaware of that when he brought the weapon to school.

“It creates such an imminent danger,” prosecuting attorney Herman Cox said. “It’s in a classroom where other students are...it’s ready to be used.”