A student accidentally shot himself Friday morning around 8:30 a.m. at Southside High School, and now he and another student are facing charges, according to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office.
GCSO Lt. James Beaver said the wounded boy and 17-year-old Braylin D’Andre Scott were in possession of the weapon. He said both will be charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, disturbing schools and carrying a weapon on school property. Scott is charged as an adult. Beaver said the injured boy will be charged as a juvenile, so his name is not being released.
Scott’s bond was set at $12,500.
It is not yet clear which of the students brought the gun into the school Beaver said, but he clarified that Scott did not discharge the weapon.
Superintendent Burke Royster said that bringing a gun on campus results in a mandatory one year expulsion.
Angela Little, the aunt of a student who was inside the cafeteria, spoke to WYFF News 4’s Allyson Powell.
“She was inside the cafeteria near the table with the student was shot. They heard the sound. She saw the student. I guess he was holding his stomach and immediately she knew he had been shot. People started running out of the office and other places and by this time they’re separating everybody, and it was just chaos,” Little said.
A Southside High sophomore told News 4 that she was sitting at a cafeteria table with the boy and his brother. She said the boy was showing his brother a small handgun he had in his jacket pocket, and he mentioned that the gun’s safety was off. (NOTE: Deputies have not yet confirmed the relationship between the boys.)
The girl said that when the bell rang, the boy tried to engage the safety on the gun while it was in his pocket and it went off. She said the boy and his brother ran from the table, but the boy was having difficulty, so a teacher helped him into the bathroom.
The girl told News 4 that the boy who had the gun was shot in the buttocks last summer in Nicholtown and had to undergo surgery, but officials have not confirmed that information.