CHATSWORTH, GA (WRCB) -- A 16-year-old is in big trouble after taking a 12 gauge sawed off shotgun onto the school bus. School resource officers were tipped off and the student was arrested. So many unanswered questions surrounding this one.
And it's not just why did he bring the gun on a bus. The question is why does a 16-year-old have a sawed off shotgun in the first place.
"What's the right answer, what's causing our kids to do this," said Murray County grandparent Gary Johnson.
Johnson is asking the same questions that are baffling both the school system and County Sheriff Howard Ensley. Why would a 16 year old bring a loaded sawed off shotgun onto a school bus with extra ammunition?
Ensley said, "I can't answer the question why. That's the big question. We don't know why."
The student was shuttled from alternative school Mountain Creek Academy to Bagley Middle School where he loaded a regular bus. Before Bagley students could load the bus, one of five kids on the bus told the driver someone had a gun.
Ensley said his deputies arrested the student within minutes. "They did a great job. They acted quickly. We're just thankful no one got hurt."
The Murray County School system released a statement commending those involved, and thanking the students who alerted authorities, something the sheriff's office is also proud of. "We'd rather check on it and not be something than not check on it and something bad happen," said Ensley.
While we may never know the suspects full intent, Johnson has a theory on how we got here. "They took God out of schools, they quit preaching about patriotism. They don't teach them the things that my generation grew up with which made us who we are. Now we've let our children flounder."
The Murray County Sheriff's Department searched the students home and found where he sawed off the shotgun. The student is being held in the Juvenile Detention Center and will appear in court on Thursday.
