A juvenile fired a weapon at Royal Live Oaks Academy in Hardeeville at an after-school event on Thursday and two adults are facing firearms charges, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. The JCSO was called to the charter school after 5 p.m. in reference to a male juvenile who discharged a firearm into the air and fled into the woods adjacent to the soccer field.
The school was hosting a grand opening for its new cafeteria and music room.
Investigators learned the juvenile was with two adult men. The juvenile and both men also had handguns. After a search, the JCSO found the three suspects near the school. The juvenile was transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia and charged with discharging a weapon on school property, carrying weapons on school property and carrying or displaying a firearm in a public building or adjacent areas. The two adults, David Mijia-Horta and Juan Garcia, were booked into Jasper County Detention Center. Both men face charges of carrying weapons on school property and carrying or displaying firearms in a public building or adjacent areas.
There were no injuries.
According to Karen Wicks, school executive director, there was a fight between two students on Wednesday. She said it was not an overly violent fight, but on Thursday evening a family member of one of the individuals in the fight brought two friends to campus as a “scare tactic.”
Wicks said the shots were blank cartridges. The school was on lockdown Friday as a precaution, Wicks said, but there were no incidents.
“It was a quiet day,” Wicks said.