Salisbury Police investigators charged a Salisbury teen with having an altered gun, which is considered a weapon of mass destruction. Police spotted the teen on the street, thinking he should have been in school, a report said.
Police charged Daquan Cornelius Lewis, 18, of the 1300 block of Hillsboro Street, with felony possession/manufacturing a weapon of mass destruction, misdemeanor carrying a concealed weapon and felony alter/destroy or remove identifying marks on personal property.
Officials said they saw Lewis Thursday talking to another man while driving by and turned around because they thought he should have been in school. Officers noticed Lewis had a backpack. When the officer turned the patrol vehicle around, the backpack was gone.
The backpack was found in a nearby trash can. The bag contained a sawed off 12-gauge shotgun that someone had tried to file off the serial numbers. The gun was not reported stolen, said Capt. Shelia Lingle.
The gun was loaded and the bag contained shotgun shells. Lewis was convicted in 2012 of willfully setting fire to a woodland, first-degree trespass and possession of drug paraphernalia. Lewis was given a $5,000 secured bond and placed in the Rowan County Detention Center. He has since been released.