7-year-old boy brings BB gun mistaken for real firearm to Pocalla Springs Elementary

A 7-year-old who brought a BB gun to his elementary school in Sumter Wednesday that people mistook for a real firearm was released to his parents.

Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to Pocalla Springs Elementary School on Bethel Church Road about 4 p.m. on May 22 after the assistant principal received information that a student had a gun on campus, according to an incident report.

The educator was told the child had a gun in his backpack and was boarding a school bus, and she found what looked like a firearm in the backpack and removed the boy from the bus, the report stated.

The weapon turned out to be an airsoft gun that looked like a real firearm.

Adrienne Sarvis, public information officer with the sheriff’s office, said the student did not threaten anyone with the pellet gun and that another student alerted school officials about it at the end of the school day.

“The pellet gun was taken from the student by a sheriff’s office deputy, and the student was sent home with his parents,” she said. “The student will be disciplined according to Sumter School District’s Code of Conduct, according to the school district.”