DOUGLAS, Ga. (WALB) - A 15-year-old is being charged with a felony after he brought a gun to the George Washington Carver Freshman Campus last Friday.

According to the school district, this teenager was not a student.

The suspect was spotted by an actual student who told his grandmother, and she notified the district. Parents say that with the school being so open to the public, this incident was bound to happen.

“Our freshman campus is like a hospital gown. Closed in the front and wide open in the back,” one parent stated.

This mother says she was notified by the school via email but feels the way she was notified was not prompt enough given the matter.

“I received [the notification] at 1:25 p.m. I saw it on Facebook around the same time. We used to be notified by a text message, and we just weren’t notified promptly,” the parent said.

Coffee County Superintendent, Morris Leis says the school notified all parents through Parent Square via email. Text message alerts were only sent to the phone numbers parents have in the school’s contact system.

“[The district] works to get those kinds of messages out as soon as possible, but keep in mind we have to make sure we have the facts, that we understand what the situation involves, and that we are clear on the situation before we send out a message. The last thing we want to do is send out wrong information,” Leis said.

Leis says they are taking this experience to actively learn and improve on their current safety measures.

“We believe in continuous improvement. We’ll take this situation, and we will study it. We are doing that as we speak. We are going to work like we always do to get better,” Leis said.

Coffee County Schools encourages parents and guardians who have any questions or concerns about this incident to reach out to the Coffee County Board of Education.

Previous coverage:

• 15-year-old in custody after bringing gun to Coffee County school

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