CHARLOTTE, NC.– Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather says kids are bringing guns to school to assert dominance on someone else.
“Over the dumbest things. It’s not dumb to them, but I think even what we hear from children so far is that if people were giving themselves a minute, they would realize this isn’t really worth it,” DA Merriweather says.
He says children getting access to guns is a huge issue in our community. Adding, his office is doubling down to make sure it continues to take illegal possession of a firearm very seriously.
WCCB asked if these guns are stolen or being taken from parents because they’re not securely locked:
“It’s everything. Certainly, there are some guns that are stolen. Certainly, there’s some guns that are unsecured. Which is why it’s really important that we’re not just focusing sort of the low-hanging fruit of gun locks and everything else, which very well may be important; what we need to be focusing on is removing the intent to bring a gun to school.”
At least 23 firearms have been found on CMS campuses so far this year. A student fired at least one round Monday at West Charlotte High School during a fight over a backpack. One student is charged. Superintendent Earnest Winston, CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings, other partners, and the DA met to talk about security solutions moving forward. Merriweather says there will be more conversations to come.
“I’m in rooms with families every day that have lost people over stupid decisions, and so if a 13-year-old kid hasn’t thought about the fact that the person that they shoot or the person that they threaten has a mom, has a brother, has a sister I’m going to be the person that’s actually going to tell them that.”
