Staff report

Two Livingstone College students have been suspended from the school after both were charged with having a gun on educational property.

Alfonzo Evans Taylor, 19, who lived in Room 227 of Tucker Hall, and Cedric Teron Scott, 21, who lived in Room 228 of Tucker Hall, were arrested by Livingstone and Salisbury police.

Both had been released from jail after posting $1,000 bond, a college official said.

Yvonne Tracey, vice president in the college’s Division of Student Affairs, said campus officials discovered the gun in a backpack belonging to one of the men during a routine check of residence halls.

Arrest warrants identified the weapon as a .40-caliber handgun.

Tracey said the gun belonged to one of the students and was found in a backpack belonging to the other, but she didn’t know Friday which student owned the gun and which owned the backpack.

Tracey said in addition to routine checks, college officials are “always on the alert” and listening to rumors about what might be going on around campus. That vigilance also helped to locate the gun, she said.

“One of our main objectives is to be able to have a safe campus. Therefore, we do not take it lightly, nor do we take it for granted our students are aware of state and local statutes” regarding weapons and other violations on campus, she said.

Livingstone has a zero-tolerance policy regarding weapons, drugs and other violations on campus, Tracey said. Both students have been temporarily suspended from the college.

Depending on the outcome of the case in court, one or both may ask the school to review the suspension.

If the school readmits a suspended student, she said, officials will help the student understand “sound choices and good judgment.”

“We take this matter very seriously,” Tracey said. “We want them to understand that whatever happened and the route that’s being taken right now is dictated because of the seriousness of what they did.”