Hilldale Senior Arrested After Gun, Marijuana Found In Car On Campus

Muskogee Police report they have no reason to believe there was any kind of malicious intent behind a student arrested for having a gun on campus.

Hilldale senior Bryce Barrett was arrested after police say a random K9 search in the high school parking lot found a gun and marijuana inside the athlete's car.

Hilldale Superintendent Erik Puckett said they do random K9 searches several times each school year.

"It's completely preventative," he said. "We want to do everything we can do provide a safe learning environment for our students."

Puckett didn't want to speak about this week's incident specifically, but said they never hope to "catch" a student in the wrong...much less, send them to jail.

"We never want to find anything," Puckett said. "But we live in the real world, too."

Police said during this latest random check, a K9 officer alerted them to Barrett's truck.     

Officers said they were concerned when school administrators found a gun and marijuana in the backseat, but as of now, they don't think the public has any reason to worry.

"He's never made any statements, he's not said anything remotely related to having a gun for any violent encounter at school," Officer Lincoln Anderson said.

Anderson said they have no reason to believe the student athlete had any bad intentions, but regardless, having a gun on campus is illegal.

"In this situation, I don't think it was anything related to something like that," Anderson said. "I think it was just a really bad decision."

Barrett was booked into the Muskogee County Jail after his arrest, but he's no longer listed as an inmate.