Raleigh Teen Arrested After Taking Knife on School Bus

RALEIGH, N.C. — A Raleigh high-school student was arrested Thursday morning after she pulled out a knife during a confrontation on a school bus full of children, police said.

Barbara Jones, a 10th-grade student at Sanderson High School, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a weapon on school property.

Wake County Public School System spokesman Bill Poston said the bus was headed to school at about 8 a.m. when the driver heard students talking about a weapon. The driver pulled over at the school system's bus lot on Noble Road and alerted transportation officials.

Jones, 17, told WRAL she was carrying the knife to protect herself because the girl had been bullying her.

"She was threatening me over the phone, so I had to protect myself," she said.

Her mother, Denise Jones, said she and her daughter had complained to the school about the bullying but administrators never did anything.

"Yeah, she took the knife out to protect herself, because she ain't about to get hurt by no kid on no school bus," Denise Jones said. She said, however, she did not know her daughter had taken a knife from their home.

Poston said the school system is reviewing the incident for weapons policy violations as well as harassment policy violations, including bullying.

But he said he could not talk about details of Barbara Jone's case, or say whether bullying preceded Thursday's incident or if the school knew about it.

Denise Jones said her daughter was suspended but that she plans to meet with the administrators Thursday to see if she can finish out the school year in some capacity.

Barbara Jones was released to her mother's custody and was also placed under curfew, in which she's only permitted to go to work and church.