Local

Man charged with having gun at Caldwell County schools

By Dave Faherty, wsoctv.com
By Dave Faherty, wsoctv.com

CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. — Sheriff’s deputies have charged a man with two counts of possession of a gun on educational property after incidents at two schools Tuesday.

The first incident happened around 11:30 a.m. when a man came into the lobby of the gymnasium at Happy Valley School. He was confronted by school personnel and left.

Then just before noon, the same man came into the Collettsville School with a pistol in a holster at his side. Again, he was confronted and left.

Deputies later stopped Blaine Frances Pennington III in his truck. They say when asked why he was at the schools he refused “to provide any intelligible answer as to why he was on school property.”

Pennington was arrested and a .380 semiautomatic pistol he was wearing was confiscated.

“Our children are our most precious resource and incidents like this one amplify the need to have School Resource Officers stationed at every school in Caldwell County,” said Sheriff Alan C. Jones.

Pennington was taken to the Caldwell Detention Center and held under a $25,000 bond. He was still there Wednesday.

We went to his home where his mother told us what he said to her before heading to the two schools with his dog and the pistol on his side.  

"He didn't say. I asked him where he was going and he said 'Mamma, I'm 50-Years old and you don't need to know everywhere I go, and laughed,'" she said.

The Caldwell County school system says they've received several calls asking why each of the schools doesn't have school resource officer. The county currently has 12 for more than two dozen schools in the district. It is something the sheriff says he is working on with county leaders.

It's a change Amber Watson would also like to see after her son and other children had to hide in a walk-in freezer while the school was locked down Tuesday.

"I was terrified. This is a place where they're supposed to feel safe and get an education and this is an awful day and time we live in," she offered.

"When you have a uniformed officer at a school that's trained and certified it gives you a safer feeling," said Sheriff Jones.

But Pennington's mother told us she doesn't believe her son would have hurt any of the children at either school.

"He loves children. He's got nieces and nephews he's crazy about. He wouldn't hurt a child," she said.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:

Cox Media Group

Most Read