Student shot at West Bladen HS, but didn’t realize it until he got on the bus

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The Superintendent of Bladen County Schools said one student was shot Tuesday afternoon at West Bladen High School as school was getting out out around 3 p.m.

“It sounded like a firecracker,” Greg Killingsworth said. “The young man who was shot rode the bus home, went to his home and his mother brought him back to school, and he was transported from the school to the hospital.”

Investigators are questioning two other West Bladen students, who are in custody.

The superintendent said the student was shot in the back, and the bullet is lodged in his kidney. He was airlifted to New Hanover Regional Medical Center Tuesday evening. WWAY was at the hospital when the student was flown in.

Security at the school will be ramped up Wednesday, and crisis counselors will also be on campus. The SBI investigated Tuesday along with the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office.

“I want to assure everyone that there will be a presence here with security and staff,” Killingsworth said. “We’re going to make sure West Bladen is the safest school in America tomorrow. We’re going to be proactive. It did occur, but don’t want it to take place again.”

Investigators are trying to figure out where the gun came from.

“It could have come from a car, a vehicle, it could have been brought back, but it was nothing that was ever inside the building,” Killingsworth said.