An 11-year-old student at Dutch Fork Middle School was charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds Monday afternoon after a classmate alerted a teacher that the student was carrying a knife in their backpack. The student was released to their parents following the charge, and no injuries were reported.
According to the Richland County Sheriff's Department, a teacher was tipped off by another student that the knife was inside the 11-year-old's backpack. A school employee then escorted the student and the backpack to the front office, where school administrators notified the school resource officer at about 2 p.m. Monday, as thestate.com reports. The resource officer searched the bag and found a 3½-inch kitchen knife, the outlet reported.
Sheriff's department investigators responded to the school and spoke with the student and their parents, according to Cola Daily. The student was ultimately charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds and released into the custody of their parents.
No Threats Reported, But Questions Remain
No injuries were reported in connection with the incident, and there was no indication that the knife was used to directly threaten anyone, per the same account from thestate.com. The report also did not specify the length of the knife's blade, so it remains unclear whether the weapon met the threshold defined under South Carolina State House code, which makes it unlawful, with listed exceptions, to carry a knife with a blade over two inches long on elementary or secondary school property.
Dutch Fork Middle School is part of the Lexington-Richland 5 district and sits at 1528 Old Tamah Road in the Irmo area of Richland County, per the same thestate.com report. The school has been the site of more than one knife-related incident recently — in a separate case on Oct. 21, a 13-year-old student at the same school was also found with a knife in their bookbag and was likewise charged with possessing a weapon on school grounds and released to their parents, according to wyff4.com.
Pattern of Weapons Cases Across Richland County Schools
Other recent incidents in Richland County schools point to a broader concern among parents and administrators. At North Springs Elementary School, a school resource officer was notified around 8:15 a.m. that a 6-year-old boy had a large kitchen knife; deputies said the child told them he had brought it for protection, and he was released to his parents, according to wach.com.
In a more serious case at Dutch Fork High School, officers found a knife with a blade longer than six inches in a 15-year-old's book bag, along with two guns inside the car the students had driven to campus, leading to two students being detained and charged, Cola Daily reported separately. That earlier incident underscores how weapons cases at Dutch Fork campuses have varied widely in severity, from kitchen knives tucked in backpacks to guns found in vehicles on school grounds.
