BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — Five students were charged after a gun was found in a backpack at William Blount High School Freshman Academy on Monday morning, according to the Blount County Sheriff's Office.
Officials said the SRO was told via Text-a-Tip that a 14-year-old boy at the Freshman Academy had a gun in his backpack and had been showing it to other students.
The William Blount SROs responded within minutes and found the handgun in the student's backpack, according to officials.
The student was charged with carrying a weapon on school property by a delinquent, according to BCSO. Four other students were charged with threatening mass violence at school by a delinquent because they had knowledge that the student had a gun and they failed to report it.