Unloaded gun found at Raleigh's Broughton High School, student detained

A Broughton High School student was detained Thursday after school officials found an unloaded gun on campus, a rapid response that put Wake County’s safety protocols and weapons policy into immediate use. Principal Janiece Dilts said the School Resource Officer received a report shortly before noon that a student might have a firearm.

School officials then located the student, detained the student and searched the student, where the unloaded gun was discovered. No injuries were reported. The sequence mattered as much as the discovery itself: the campus moved from a report of concern to a search and detention within minutes, showing how quickly administrators are expected to act when a weapon is suspected at a Wake County school.

Dilts said state law requires a 365-day suspension for a student in possession of a firearm. North Carolina General Statute 115C-390.10 requires principals to recommend a 365-day suspension for students believed to have violated weapons rules, and Wake County’s own handbook mirrors that requirement. The law treats firearms on school property as a serious violation regardless of whether the gun is loaded, a standard that places discipline and campus safety ahead of questions about whether the weapon was discharged.

The incident also became a reminder about prevention outside school walls. Dilts urged families to keep firearms secured at home in locked gun safes that cannot be easily broken into or removed, and she told parents to stay alert to their children’s activities. She also encouraged students to report concerns through the Wake County Public School System Tip Line and the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System, both designed to surface threats before they reach a campus.

Wake County says callers to the 24-hour tip line may remain anonymous while reporting threats of violence, aggressive behavior, weapons on campus, drugs or alcohol, harassment, vandalism and suicide threats. The Say Something system, rolled out for the 2024-25 school year, is intended to help students, staff and parents report bullying, cyberbullying, weapons and planned school attacks.

Broughton has faced gun-related scares before. In October 2024, the school added enhanced security after a student was found with a gun off campus, and in July 2025 a family sued Wake County to challenge an expulsion tied to a gun near the school. For Wake families, Thursday’s incident underscored the same pressure point: schools can respond quickly once a threat is reported, but the larger test is whether adults at home and students on campus use the reporting systems before a weapon ever reaches school grounds.