‘It could have turned into a bad situation’: Pike County man behind bars after bringing gun near school campus

PIKE COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) - A man in Pike County was arrested on Thursday after he brought a loaded handgun near school property.

At Phelps High School, following a chilling call from a passerby who said he was “pacing and acting weird”, the School Resource Officer (SRO), who was also a Pike County Sheriff’s Deputy, responded and approached the man when he realized he had a gun.

“When he started approaching him, he could tell he had a gun on him,” said Pike County Sheriff Rodney Scott. “He asked him to lay the gun down, and he did... but you know, it could have turned into a bad situation.”

After the SRO placed 45-year-old Bucky Smith of Phelps under arrest, he examined the firearm. Arrest citations explain the weapon as a “.40 caliber semi-automatic handgun loaded with 12 rounds, one in the chamber.”

Pike County Superintendent Dr. Reed Adkins says the presence of the SRO means the world to the county’s schools.

“The fact we have a squad car sitting out in the parking lot, the fact that we have an armed deputy inside our building, a trained, armed deputy, it’s just- it’s incredible,” said Dr. Adkins, “and I can’t say enough about the job the Sheriff’s Department and SROs do for the Pike County School System.”

Sheriff Scott added that things went as smoothly as possible and wants to assure parents that safety is the Pike County Sheriff’s Office and Pike County Schools’ number one priority.

“The sheriff’s office and the school board, we’re doing everything we can to make sure your kids are safe at school,” said Sheriff Scott.

Sheriff Scott added that no students or faculty were in direct danger and Smith was intoxicated at the time of the arrest.

Smith was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon on school property and is being held at the Pike County Detention Center.

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