INDIAN LAND, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — An arrest has been made after a loaded pistol and knife were discovered in a kindergartener’s bookbag at Harrisburg Elementary School this week, according to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.
16-year-old, 18-year-old charged after threats made at Thomasville high school, police say
Alexander Storm Savarese, 29, of Indian Land, was arrested Thursday, March 26, after voluntarily meeting with investigators. He is charged with one count of unlawful conduct toward a child, a felony that carries a possible 10-year sentence.
Loaded pistol and knife found in backpack
The incident began on March 25, as students were preparing to go home. A teacher helping the 5-year-old student noticed a knife inside the child’s bookbag and alerted school administrators. A school resource officer then searched the bag and found both the knife and a loaded .380 caliber pistol. The weapons were immediately seized, and the child’s parents were contacted.
According to investigators, Savarese told authorities he had used the child’s bookbag the day before, on March 24, while going on a hike. He placed the knife and pistol inside the bag and later forgot to remove them before the child took them to school the next morning.
Officials said photographic evidence supports his account.
‘A very real risk to the child and everybody else’
Savarese was booked into the Lancaster County Detention Center on Thursday and is expected to appear before a magistrate for a bond hearing on Friday…