MARDELA SPRINGS, Md. - A gun at a Wicomico County school leads to serious charges for one student.
The Wicomico County Sheriffs Department says a teenager created a scary situation at Mardela Middle and High School today. They say a 13-year-old brought an unloaded 9mm handgun to school Thursday morning.
Capt. Richard Wiersberg says, "The system worked the way it was supposed to." He says another student reported their concerns.
Wiersberg says, "The student heard something, came forward, talked to an administrator, and then they looked into it. It's the way the system is supposed to work."
He says the situation was de-escalated before classes began and he highlights the importance of having a school resource officer.
"Just for safety reasons like this, when a situation occurs the deputy is right there. We don't have a response time. Mardela is in the farther part of the county. The deputy was right there on the premises when this happened so it was moments instead of minutes," says Wiersberg.
Parents say they were notified of the situation almost immediately.
In a statement from the Wicomico County Board of Education it says, the student has been taken into custody by law enforcement and removed from school property at this time. Please know that the safety of our students and staff is of the utmost importance, and we take this type of violation of the student code of conduct very seriously.
The Wicomico County Sheriffs Office says the student is facing charges like possession of a firearm by a minor and disturbing school operations.
We are told the investigation continues.