UPDATE: Student, age 16, with gun in backpack stopped on Beaufort High campus.

A Beaufort High resource officer stopped a 16 year-old student on the school’s campus Wednesday morning and found a gun in his backpack, according to a spokesperson for the Beaufort Police Department.

Master Sgt. Lori Reeves of the police department said the resource officer called for backup when the gun was found.

According to a release distributed by the department, “On May 22, 2024, School Officials were alerted to a potential situation where a student possibly brought a weapon on school grounds. Immediately acting upon this information, at approximately 09:34 AM the Beaufort High School Resource Officer requested assistance to detain the potentially armed suspect on school property.

Beaufort Police officers along with Beaufort County Sheriff’s deputies responded immediately to the scene. The School Resource Officer was able to safely detain the suspect and locate a firearm in the suspect’s backpack. The 16-year-old suspect is being transported to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.”

Candace Bruder, spokesperson for the school district, said the person detained was a student.

A news release from the department around 9:40 a.m. advised of a heavy police presence at the school and asked the public to avoid the area. A post on the police department’s Facebook page soon afterward said a suspect had been detained.

Police reported that at 11:38 a.m. a lockdown was lifted at the high school and police have left the area.

Beaufort High is located at 84 Sea Island Parkway on Lady’s Island.