Philip Simmons campus lockdown yields 3 firearms, 2 arrests

Shortly after the school bells rang for class dismissal on Friday Sept. 16, all three of Philip Simmons’ campuses went into lockdown amid a firearms investigation. 
 
The Berkeley County school’s state of emergency took a couple hours to resolve and two juveniles have since been charged with possession after three handguns were seized on campus. No parties involved reported injuries in the aftermath of the incident.
 
That afternoon, at approximately 2:40 p.m., Philip Simmons High School resource officer Deputy Cepheus Rogers was on routine patrol. Rogers received an anonymous tip regarding a student having possibly brought a handgun to a home football game on Sept. 9, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office incident report. 
 
Rogers approached PSHS principal Chris Buchholz, assistant principal Dan Minkin and BCSO  Sgt. Corinthian Green with the information. School administration then made the decision to conduct a search of the student. 
 
During the search, a handgun was found in a fanny pack belonging to the first suspect. Additional information was later received that two more students also possibly had handguns in their possession.  
 
Students on site were instructed to return to classrooms and school buses were held from leaving.
 
Parents of students took to social media to describe the state of affairs from their children’s text messages. One post read: “My son is there now. He said that they have all the doors locked and the tables and chairs in front of the door and they are sitting in the corner of the room.”   
 
The second suspect initially fled and was later apprehended. The search of the student’s backpack yielded two additional handguns. BCSO confirmed that one of the guns was previously reported stolen, according to the Summerville Police Department.
 
Both suspects were charged and transported to the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and charged with possession of a firearm on school grounds and the second suspect was additionally charged with possession of a stolen firearm. 
 
The third student was signed out of school early that day and was not present on campus. BCSO deputies responded to his residence and made contact with his guardian and it was determined that he did not have access to weapons.  
 
The entire incident of the lockdown situation was recorded on a body camera, according to BCSO’s report. The Charleston Police Department assisted in the response and the Berkeley County School District aided the investigation. 
 
The investigation is ongoing.
 

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