By Shavonne Walker
shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

ROCKWELL — Rowan County authorities brought additional charges against a teenager arrested for taking a gun to East Rowan High School, and three other students were charged in the incident.

Those charged include a 13-year-old boy.

Donald Marion Maness, 17, of the 7000 block of Red Road, was charged Thursday with felony possession of a weapon on school property.

Officials said he had a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun wrapped in a T-shirt in his backpack. He also had a magazine with bullets.

On Friday, Maness was additionally charged with possession of a firearm by a minor, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, larceny of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm.

Authorities said the four teenagers stole the gun Nov. 12 from a home on Bird Dog Trail.

Maness was issued an added $5,000 secured bond, bringing his total bond to $10,000.

Austin Connor Sechler, 16, of the 700 block of Crescent Road, Rockwell, was charged with possession of a firearm on school grounds, possession of a firearm by a minor and possession of a stolen firearm. He remains in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $10,000 secured bond.

Trey Keith Beshears, 16, of the 1100 block of Safe Haven Lane, Rockwell, was charged with possession of a firearm by a minor, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, larceny of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm.

Beshears remains in the Rowan County jail under a $10,000 secured bond.

A 13-year-old student was charged with possession of a firearm by a minor, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, larceny of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Nazareth Children’s Home saying it had received a report about students having a gun from the Wilkes County Department of Social Services.

The initial information was that three students were suspected of having a gun on campus. Officials at East Rowan High and Nazareth Children’s Home, as well as Rowan County Deputy Scott Flowers and School Resource Officer Tommie Cato, worked to identify the students and determine if there was a weapon at the school, a report said.

Officials said Maness was initially identified as the lone suspect. He was arrested at the school.

The case remained under investigation and the three other teens were charged.

Contact reporter Shavonne Walker at 704-797-4253.