Bullets Found in Irmo Middle Classroom

Editor's note: This story has been updated (5:56 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013). 

A teacher at Irmo Middle School reported that three inert small, copper bullets were found in a classroom at the school Wednesday morning, according to an incident report from the Lexington County Sheriff's Department.

A 13-year-old student saw the bullets as he was exiting the classroom during class change and reported it to his teacher, according to the report.

"They were the lead part of a bullet that had already been expended, they did not have any gunpowder or casing and therefore could not be fired," said Mark Bounds, Lexington-Richland 5's public information officer. (See attached illustration.)

The deputy couldn't find the owner of the bullets, according to the report, and took the bullets to the evidence room for destruction. 

"The officer has no information that would indicate that the bullets were brought to the school with the intent to harm anyone," a sheriff's department spokesman said Thursday. 

School administrators were notified of the situation.

"Even though the bullets found were inert, we still take this incident very seriously," Bounds said in a statement. Our initial review indicates that two students found the bullets and brought them to school out of curiosity."

"No one at the school was ever in any danger.  The teacher that found the bullets, the school administration and the school Resource Office all reacted properly."

The Lexington County Sheriff's Department is conducting a complete investigation.

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