FORT SMITH -- Police arrested a student of a public charter high school Monday in connection with bringing a loaded gun and drugs on campus.
Aric Mitchell, police spokesman, said the 17-year-old boy was arrested in connection with simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm, though he could face more charges. The boy's identity was not disclosed.
The Future School of Fort Smith notified the Police Department of a possibly armed student at 11:11 a.m. Monday, Mitchell said. The school had received information the student may have had a gun in his backpack.
"He resisted them and began to leave the school," Mitchell said. "One of our officers arrived and tried to get him to stop, and he started to pull away and resist."
The student was arrested after more officers arrived on scene, according to Mitchell. They found a loaded handgun and some marijuana in the student's backpack. No injuries were reported.
Boyd Logan, superintendent of the Future School, said in an emailed statement the student didn't make any threats to other students as far as the school knows. Although the school wasn't put on lockdown, students were held in classes while police searched the student outside.
Logan said the student had tried to leave campus to prevent school administrators from searching him.
"We strive to maintain a safe environment at Future School and are grateful that this situation was resolved without further incident," Logan said. "We plan to have increased mental health counseling resources on campus tomorrow for any students who may need help processing this situation."
The Future School had an enrollment of 241 students in grades 9-12 as of Oct. 1, according to state data.