In Cary and to east, west of Triangle, guns found at schools in NC

At Cary High on Wednesday, a student was found to have a firearm during an unrelated search, Principal Nolan Bryant wrote in a message to parents. That weapon was not loaded, but by simply bringing it to campus, the student faces up to a year's suspension.

"Bringing a weapon to school is dangerous and unacceptable," Bryant wrote.

He did not release the name or grade of the student involved.

Cary Police told WRAL News it is aware of the situation, and there is currently an SRO officer who works at the school who has a consistent presence here at the building.

In Elizabeth City, two schools were locked down on Tuesday after deputies found a student with a gun on a school bus. The bus was stopped at River Road Middle School en route to Northeastern High School when deputies searched it and seized a firearm and drugs. Both high school and middle students were on the bus at the time.

Sheriff Tommy Wooten told the Daily Advance that deputies seized "a short carbine-type rifle with a fully loaded magazine."

He said a bus driver reported that a student smelled of marijuana, prompting the search.

At Western Alamance High School, a student surrendered a gun to officials Wednesday afternoon after a lockdown of about 30 minutes. The lockdown and subsequent search were spurred by a tip, but deputies did not offer further specifics, including the name of the student.

WRAL News pulled the numbers and found, during the 2018-2019 school year, these districts had the highest number of firearms on campus according to DPI: