Eagle Scout Cole Withrow was just a few weeks from graduating with honors from his North Carolina high school, but now the active church member is facing a felony weapons charge and a precarious future after accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pickup truck in the school parking lot.
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….Withrow had been skeet shooting with friends a day before, and only noticed he had left his shotgun in his truck on Monday morning as he reached to grab his book bag, said family friend Kimberly Boykin. When he realized his mistake, rather than leave school grounds, he went to the front office to call his mother for help.
"He didn't know what to do," Boykin, whose son is friends with Withrow, told Fox News. "If you jump in the truck and leave, then they get you for skipping school…."
Withrow, who did his senior class project on gun safety, locked the gun in his truck before going to call his mother. But when he asked her to come and take the gun, the trouble started.
"He was overheard in a private conversation with his mother explaining what happened," Boykin said. "He could have told a story, but he told the truth."
A spokesperson for Johnston County Schools confirmed to Fox News that they found the shotgun in Withrow's locked vehicle.
"The law is very clear when a person knowingly and willingly brings a weapon onto educational property," spokesperson Tracey Peedin Jones said. "The situation was turned over to law enforcement immediately."
ABC News from Raleigh-Durham reports that there is wide community support for Withrow and questions about a double standard for students and administrators:
ABC11 has uncovered that two school officials both brought guns onto school property in recent years, but were never charged with felonies like Cole.
An assistant principal at Cole's school was suspended for three days, but never criminally charged. She still works in the same position at the school…..
The Johnston County Sheriff's Office told ABC11 that if a school administrator brings a gun to school, they will be charged with a misdemeanor. For a student, the charge is an automatic felony.
The school district would only say that they are following the law.
Now "Free Cole" has exploded in the small town thanks to all the people rallying behind the student.
"Everyone makes a mistake, he tried to do the right thing by it and it's upsetting," student Tyler Pope said.
For now, Cole's future is uncertain. He was admitted to Campbell University and East Carolina University to attend school in fall. He was also awarded a scholarship, but because he is currently charged with a felony it is unclear what will happen.
