Failed drug test keeps Maumelle student in jail, police say

James Z. Austin
James Z. Austin

A student suspected of taking a gun to Maumelle High School on Tuesday failed a drug test after his arrest, sending him to jail for 30 days, authorities said.

James Z. Austin, 18, was arrested on a charge of carrying a weapon on a campus, a Class D felony, after authorities responded, locked down the school for nearly two hours and recovered the weapon in a classroom.

Austin was on probation for a conviction in a 2013 drug case, Maumelle Police Department Capt. James Hansard said. A urine test Tuesday revealed marijuana in Austin's system, Hansard said, and that violated the terms of his probation and resulted in a 30-day term in the Pulaski County jail.

Austin's bail in the gun charge was set at $40,000, but he can't be released on bond on that charge until after the 30-day sentence is served.

Hansard said Austin pleaded no contest to a drug-related charge after a July 18, 2013, arrest at Lake Willastein Park in Maumelle when police found him "smoking marijuana in a car."

The investigation into the gun at school was mostly complete Wednesday, Hansard said, noting that interviews with multiple students revealed Austin never made any threats before taking in the gun.

"We have no reason to believe he actually intended to use it as a weapon at the school," Hansard said Wednesday. "He allegedly was showing off this gun to anybody that would look at it. And several students came and reported it ... It's all speculation at this point. But that's what it appears to be — just somebody using extremely bad judgment and bringing a gun to school to show off."

The gun, which was found on a bookshelf in a classroom where Austin was arrested, was not loaded at the time, but Hansard said police later recovered the magazine. He declined to say where that was found.

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