Teen charged in Mullins High gun case in family’s custody

The 15-year-old accused of bringing a gun onto the grounds of Mullins High School last week is back in the custody of family members in Horry County.

The teen appeared before a judge Monday in Marion County, 12th Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements III said.

Clements said the judge ordered the teen to undergo an evaluation, stay out of Marion County and to have a curfew. The teen will be sent back to the state Department of Juvenile Justice if he violates the order.

The teen’s arrest Thursday came after deputies locked down all Mullins schools — McCormick Elementary, Mullins Early Childhood Center, Mullins High, North Mullins Primary and Palmetto Middle — to search for him.

The search began after a group of girls at Mullins High reported seeing a young man with a pistol in his pants, Marion County Sheriff Mark Richardson said.

During Thursday’s search for the teen who prompted the lockdown, authorities blocked off portions of Lowman Street and evacuated surrounding residents.

Officials said the teen was either dropping off or picking up a student at the school when he showed a gun to another student. Richardson said the teen never entered Mullins High.

When found at a mobile home on East Lowman Street, the boy told officers he’d only had a toy gun, but deputies found a silver revolver in his possession.

The gun wasn’t loaded when deputies found it, but investigators said they have reason to believe it had been loaded earlier.

The teen was charged with disturbing schools and possessing a firearm on school property, Richardson said.

The sheriff assured parents the teen never actually entered the high school building, and that the lockdown measures were taken immediately once the threat was discovered.