Student with 'No Ill Intent' Faces Expulsion after Forgetting Gun Was in Car

Student with 'No Ill Intent' Faces Expulsion after Forgetting Gun Was in Car

Patrick Bryan Mitchell, a student at South River High School in Maryland, forgot that his shotgun was in his car after going hunting the night before, drove onto campus, and now faces expulsion, even though an investigation “revealed that Mitchell had no ill intent.”

An administrator found the shotgun after surveilling cars in the parking lot and spotting a shotgun shell in Mitchell’s car.

According to CapitalGazette.com, the administrator called the school resource officer who “retrieved an unloaded Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun” from Mitchell’s car, as well as a box of shotgun shells. He then called Mitchell to the office and handcuffed and arrested him.

Mitchell explained that he had forgotten the gun was in the car, and an investigation into the incident indicated the student had no plans to use the gun for ill intent. Nonetheless, a letter sent to his parents said he will face “appropriate disciplinary action.”

“Hundreds of South River High students wore camouflage” on February 10th in support of Mitchell. “Others wore homemade T-shirts that read ‘#FreeBryan.'”

South River High Principal William Myers offered no comment on Mitchell’s case, but school spokesman Bob Mosier said decisions on “long-term suspensions” or outright expulsions “are made at the school system’s central office.”

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.

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