ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — An East Rowan High School student was charged after deputies said he brought a stolen handgun to school Wednesday.
According to the Rowan County Sheriff's Office, deputies received a call from Nazareth Children's Home that one of the students may have brought a gun to East Rowan. The staff at Nazareth received the tip from Wilkes County and immediately contacted police and school administrators.
Three students were questioned by authorities before the gun, a Smith and Wesson .40-caliber handgun was found in the student's backpack. Donald Marion Maness was arrested at the school and charged with possession of a firearm on educational property.
Deputies determined that the gun was stolen from a pickup truck that was parked on Bird Dog Trail in Rockwell in Rowan County sometime after midnight on November 12.
On Friday, November 16, the Rowan County Sheriff's Office said additional suspects were charged for both the handgun on campus and the theft of the weapon from Bird Dog Trail in Rockwell.
Maness has currently been charged with possession of a firearm on school grounds, possession of a firearm of a minor, breaking and entering to a motor vehicle, larceny of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm, officials say.
Additionally, Austin Sechler has been charged with possession of a firearm on school grounds, possession of a firearm by a minor and possession nof a stolen firearm. Trey Beshears has also been charged with possession of a firearm, breaking and entering to a motor vehicle, larceny of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm.
A juvenile contract has been done on a 13-year-old juvenile for possession of a firearm by a minor, breaking and entering to a motor vehicle, larceny of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm. The name of the minor has not been released.
This is still an ongoing investigation. WCNC will post updates as we receive more information.
