Loaded gun found on East Wake High campus, juvenile case expected

A loaded gun turned up on the East Wake High School campus in Wendell after a Wake County Public School System staff member raised the alarm, putting deputies, school administrators and the school resource officer into a fast-moving response that ended without injuries.

The Wake County Sheriff’s Office said deputies received a report that a student had a firearm at the school on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. With help from school administration, the school resource officer located the juvenile student and found a loaded weapon. The student’s identity was not released because the person is a minor.

Sheriff Willie Rowe thanked the staff member and the school resource officers for acting quickly, calling a weapon on campus “never a joke.” The sheriff’s office said juvenile petitions are expected to be filed, moving the matter into the juvenile court system as well as the school discipline process.

For Wake County families, the case is a reminder that the first signs of a threat often come from inside the building. In this case, staff reported the concern, administrators relayed it, and the school resource officer and school leaders worked together to find the student before anyone was hurt. That chain of response appears to have contained the incident before it escalated into a larger emergency.

North Carolina law requires a 365-day suspension for any student determined to have brought or possessed a firearm on educational property, which includes a school campus. That means the consequences reach far beyond a single disciplinary referral and can remove a student from school for the full academic year.

Wake County Public School System says students, parents and staff can report threats through its 24-hour anonymous tip line at 919-856-1911. The district also uses the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System for grades 6-12 and employees, with tips routed to school teams and, when needed, to local 911 dispatchers.

The East Wake High incident also fits a broader North Carolina pattern that has kept school safety and secure storage front and center. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety said 87 guns were brought onto school campuses statewide in 2024, and 75% of those cases involved guns students got from home. The agency also said at least 12 incidents of gunfire occurred on North Carolina school grounds in 2024, causing one death and nine injuries.

NC S.A.F.E. for Schools launched with Wake County Public School System in April 2025 to promote safe gun storage, part of a wider effort to keep firearms out of the hands of students and off school property. At East Wake High, the immediate message is plain: quick reporting, close coordination and secure storage can make the difference between a prevented threat and a tragedy.