A 15-year-old is facing charges after police say he pointed a gun at other juveniles outside a North Charleston apartment complex, then tried to outrun officers before a police dog tracked down the weapon he'd allegedly ditched along the way. The arrest happened Wednesday afternoon at the Appian Way Apartments, capping off a chase that ended at the complex's pool area.
Officers were called to the Appian Way Apartments around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday in response to a weapons complaint involving reports of someone pointing a gun at juveniles, according to Live 5 News. While responding, an officer spotted the teen appearing to distance himself from two females nearby, and when the officer tried to make contact, the teen took off running toward the complex's pool area.
Officers pursued him on foot and reportedly observed him repeatedly reaching into his pants as they chased him down, the station's report states. He was eventually caught and taken into custody without further incident. But when officers searched him, they came up empty — no firearm was found on his person.
K-9 Finds Gun Hidden in Bushes
Suspecting the teen may have ditched the weapon somewhere along his escape route, the North Charleston Police Department brought in a K-9 unit to retrace the path he had fled. The search paid off: the dog found a handgun concealed in a straw-covered, wooded area among some bushes near the complex, per the same account.
The recovered weapon wasn't empty. Police said the gun contained one live round in the chamber along with seven additional rounds in the magazine. The unnamed teen has since been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor.
Another Recent Case Also Led Back to Appian Way
This isn't the only recent instance of a North Charleston juvenile firearm case tracing back to the Appian Way area. In a separate incident, ABC News 4 reported that police responded to a physical altercation in the parking lot at Fort Dorchester High School just before 7:30 p.m., after which a juvenile fled the scene toward Appian Way while carrying a handgun.
That teen was later apprehended during a traffic stop involving an Uber vehicle, and officers recovered a handgun from his backpack. A background check revealed the lower portion of that firearm had been reported stolen, according to police. The juvenile in that case was charged with possession of a handgun by a person under 18 and possession of stolen goods.
