Unloaded gun seized from 16-year-old student’s backpack at Alabama high school

A 16-year-old Alabama high school student was arrested Wednesday morning after an unloaded gun was found in a backpack, authorities said.

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According to Madison County Schools spokesman Tim Hall, the resource officer at Sparkman High School and school officials acted quickly to take the gun away from the student, WAAY reported.

The student was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon, WHNT reported, and was taken to the Neaves Davis Center for Children in Huntsville.

Hall said parents were notified of the incident.

"We preach every day to the students in our community, 'If you see something, say something,'" Brent Patterson, a Madison County Sheriff's Office spokesman, told AL.com. "That's what happened in this case."

An anonymous student reported seeing the gun, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement

In a statement posted on Facebook, Sparkman High School Principal Chris Shaw said the student will be disciplined according to district policy and would not return to the school.

"There's nothing more important to us than the safety of our students," Shaw wrote.

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