VALDOSTA – A Superior Court of Lowndes County Grand Jury has elected not to indict a man who left a loaded handgun at a Valdosta City Schools board meeting.
On May 12, the Valdosta Police Department was notified that a small handgun was found in the school board meeting room at 1204 Williams Street following a VCS Board of Education meeting, said VPD Lt. Adam Bembry.
“The firearm, a loaded Derringer 32 caliber revolver, was located by a custodian who was cleaning the board room the next morning after the May 10 school board meeting. Once received by the police department, an investigation was initiated to determine how the firearm got in the board room and who the owner was,” Bembry said. “The firearm was sent to the Valdosta/Lowndes Regional Crime Laboratory for ballistic testing and for an Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) Trace to determine a possible owner.”
Before investigators could get the results of the ATF trace, the owner of the firearm arrived at the Valdosta Police Department to claim the gun, Bembry said.
“The owner provided proof of ownership for the firearm and also provided proof that he possessed a valid Georgia Firearms Carry License,” Bembry said. “Over the next few weeks, several interviews took place with the owner of the firearm to determine why the firearm was brought to the school board.”
The investigation reportedly revealed that the owner often carried the firearm on his person and forgot that he had the firearm on his person while attending the meeting.
“The investigation also determined there was reasonable evidence that the firearm fell out of the owner’s pocket while at the school board meeting and there appeared no intent to harm anyone with the weapon,” Bembry said.
Firearms, however, are not allowed in school “safety zones” like the Board of Education building, according to Georgia law.
“Because the owner of the firearm possessed a valid firearms permit, Georgia Law stipulates such an offense, normally a felony, is a misdemeanor offense for valid firearms holders,” Bembry said. “Therefore, the police department discussed the case with the State Solicitor and District Attorney’s Office and it was agreed that the case should be reviewed by the Grand Jury.”
On Friday, a Grand Jury reviewed charges against the individual, including misdemeanor possession of a firearm in a school safety zone and felony false statement to a law enforcement officer. The grand jury elected not to indict on both charges.
Valdosta Today has chosen not to print the individual’s name because no charges were filed.
