A 'mature decision' leads police to student with a loaded gun at Athens-area football game
Police detained a student for bringing a gun to the Commerce football state playoff game last Friday at Ray Lamb Stadium.
Commerce police discovered a loaded .45 caliber pistol, according to a post on the Commerce Police Department Facebook page.
A 15-year-old student has been charged and remained detained on Monday morning.
Officers located the suspect after a student told a parent of a band member there was a student in attendance armed with a gun, said Commerce city schools superintendent Dr. Joy Tolbert. The parent notified the Commerce Police School Resource Officer working at the game and police became involved.
"That was a very, very mature decision on the part of the student to react in the way that we as school administration would want a want a child to react," Tolbert said. "See something, you say something. That’s the way we teach. You see something, you say something to an adult."
Police escorted the suspect to a gymnasium adjacent to the football stadium.
"They did it with a timely manner, got the child away form the crowd to keep the students and everyone at the football game safe," Tolbert said.
The suspect has a hearing in front a juvenile judge in Jackson County, Commerce police chief Ken Harmon said.
"This is an indicator of just how effective our school resource officer is and how good our relationship is with our school system," he said. "Our students feel like they’re well supported and they can approach our school resource officers and staff and feel like they’ll be protected and they’ll be heard."
Top-seeded Commerce – ranked No. 3 in Class A Division 1 – defeated Jasper County 58-18 to advance to the second round of the GHSA state playoffs. The Tigers are 10-1 on the season and won their first region title since 2020.
They host Dade County at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Tolbert said school officials met with Commerce police Monday morning to debrief and plan ahead for Friday's game.
"There will obviously be a police presence," she said. "We have a great partnership with the Commerce police department. That’s first and foremost — to keep people safe."
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Student charged with bringing a gun to Commerce football game
