NORTH COLLEGE HILL, Ohio - Police say they confiscated a loaded gun and 11-plus grams of marijuana from a student's locker at North College Hill High School Thursday, but they don't believe the student ever intended to use the gun at school.
Tearris Huddleston
The 18-year-old senior, Tearris Huddleston, told police he wasn't even sure how to use the gun and brought it to protect himself after he got into a fight over drugs.
"He was carrying it strictly for his protection," said the school resource officer, Jay Manning. "As far as we can tell and from talking to the other administrators in the school, nobody even knew he had it."
Manning and his K-9 partner Onil made the discovery after school officials notified police about the smell of marijuana in the hallway.
The gun was found in Huddleston's coat. He was arrested in math class and taken to the Hamilton County Justice Center on drug and gun charges, police said.
Onil hasn't been certified yet and police only wanted to see if the K-9 could find the marijuana after it had already been discovered. He passed the test, Manning said.
Onil will be ready to go on the job in about a month. He was a gift to the NCH police from the Matt Haverkamp Foundation with patrolling the school in mind. Officers said they put an emphasis on security after a series of bomb threats last year.
"I’m proud our officers are able to do these things and get this stuff out of the schools," Chief Ryan Schrand said.
Huddleston was on track to graduate and had not been in trouble at the school, administrators said.
"We had a student who turned 18, who made a bad choice that will seriously affect the rest of his life," said superintendent Eugene Blalock Jr.
