West Columbia, SC - A 15-year-old Airport High School student is being held by the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice after school administrators found an unloaded handgun in his backpack.

The administrators became aware of the student possibly having a gun at school this morning, according to deputies. Administrators searched his belongings and discovered a .380 pistol, both .380 and another caliber of ammunition, and drug paraphernalia.

The Lexington County school resource officer assigned to Airport High detained the student on a charge of possessing a handgun on school property. The teen, who is not being identified because he’s under the age of 17, will appear in Lexington County Family Court at a later date.