A ninth grade student at Sparkman 9th Grade School was taken into custody today after being found with a handgun on campus, reports said.

WHNT News 19 quotes a statement by school Principal Marcia McCants saying administrators learned of the possible weapon and a school resource officer (SRO) placed the student and his belongings into custody.

“During the search of the student’s backpack, an unloaded handgun was located,” the statement said. “The Madison County Sheriff’s Office has taken the student into custody.”

Due to the quick action by administrators and the School Resource Officer, McCants said, “there was no disruption to the school day, and we avoided having to heighten our security measures on campus.”

The gun was found a day after a special, called Madison County Board of Education meeting to discuss a Friday night “flash mob” disruption of the Sparkman-Hazel Green high school football game.

(This story is developing)