Teen charged in Mullins High gun case arrested again

The 15-year-old accused of bringing a gun onto the grounds of Mullins High School a week ago has been arrested again, Mullins Police Chief Kenneth Davis said.

The teen was arrested about 7:45 a.m. Thursday after someone called to report a trespasser and officers found him behind the Hardee’s restaurant, Davis said.

The teen had appeared before a judge Monday in Marion County and was placed in the custody of family members in Horry 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 was sent back to the state Department of Juvenile Justice for violating the order, Davis said.

The teen’s initial arrest Aug. 20 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 in a previous interview.

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.