COLUMBIA, S.C. — A contract employee at one of South Carolina's juvenile justice facilities has been terminated and arrested for bringing a gun in, a spokesperson said on Friday.
Public information officer Joseph Cashion said that the incident occurred on Monday at the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Midlands Evaluation Center on Shivers Road.
"DJJ staff discovered that a non-DJJ contract employee had a handgun in his personal belongings," Cashion said in a statement.
The incident led to the employee's firing and a charge of bringing contraband into a DJJ facility.
However, the spokesperson added that the contract employee "was limited to being in the control room" and had no interaction with the juvenile population. The contract employee also had limited interaction with actual DJJ staff.
As for how the weapon got into the facility, Cashion said other contract staff members allowed the employee in without going through a metal detector.
"DJJ has been and continues to retrain all contract and DJJ staff on gate and facility enetrance procedures to include expanding and enforcming clear bag requirements," the DJJ statement said.
The agency has been putting an increased focus on entry procedures since a 13-year-old managed to get a gun into its Broad River Road facility in late May.
The gun was discovered and safely removed the next day, however the incident led to a push from DJJ Director Eden Hendrick for new safety procedures.