New details on gun that was brought to Evans High campus
EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We have new details about a confrontation that led to the arrest of a man accused of having a gun on campus, as well as another suspect accused of fighting.
It happened during the dismissal of school for the day, according to the district.
A parking lot monitor found the pair on campus and told them to leave, but they refused, according to officials.
“He noticed a situation that seemed a little suspicious. So he went and approached the vehicle and asked them to leave. Then he reported it to our school resource officer. They then acted upon it with ,” said Associate Superintendent Penny Jackson.
Parking lot monitors are a new addition to every high school in Columbia County.
“They assist with traffic control out in the parking lot at times when needed,“ said Jackson. “They’re kind of eyes and ears out around the perimeter, and then they work with our and SRO when they see something that might be suspicious or they need assistance.”
Instead of leaving, the suspects “initiated a physical altercation,” the school district told parents.
They tried to get away but were stopped in a neighboring church parking lot and detained by officers, authorities said.
The Sanctuary’s Associate Pastor, Ricky Coule, said: “(My secretary) She came in and said, ‘Something’s happening in the parking lot. We need to check out,’ and so you know, I look out my window and there are five police cars out here.”
He walked outside where the Evans High School parking lot attendant told him what happened. “The suspects had come down here into our parking lot,” said Coule.
Coule says that credit goes to the parking lot monitor for his diligent work.
“He checked on it and when he started checking on it, that’s when they decided to leave and come here. He didn’t drop it there. He came here and brought additional help with him to find out what was going on,” he said.
Upon further investigation, one was found with a gun, according to officials.
That suspect, Stephon Lee Townsend, 18, was arrested and charged with criminal tres, pointing or aiming a gun at another person and having a weapon on school grounds, according to deputies.
Coule says the parking monitor saved the situation from getting out of hand.
“That would have been catastrophic,” he said. “If he had not been on the job, there’s just no telling what would have happened.”
With kids at the church and students at the school, Coule is grateful the situation was handled with no one getting hurt.
“Well if he had not checked on this particular car, as I understand it, there very possibly could have been school shooting yesterday,” said Coule.
The other man, Cameron David Peebles, also 18, was charged with criminal tres and affray according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Townsend remained in jail Wednesday.
News 12 is not publishing Peebles’ booking photo because the crime of affray – fighting without a weapon – doesn’t fall within our guidelines of violent crimes that warrant posting the photo.
No verbal threats were made against students, staff, or the school, and dismissal operations continued as normal, according to the school district.
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