Convicted felon arrested after bringing gun to Lakeside campus
A convicted felon was taken into custody Thursday while having lunch with his child on the Lakeside campus after a gun was reportedly found in his car, according to Hot Springs police and Lakeside
School District officials.
A news release from the police department said Lakeside Intermediate School contacted the school resource officer at around 10:58 a.m. Thursday in reference to a parent in the lunchroom who was wearing a holster.
Officers made contact with Dwight L. Grantham, 46, of Hot Springs, and noted he had an empty holster.
Shawn Cook, superintendent of Lakeside School District, told The Sentinel-Record that when the SRO made contact with Grantham, he saw the holster was empty. Cook said Grantham was cooperative and told the officer he did have a gun in his vehicle, which the police department noted was in plain sight.
“The law does allow for an adult to have a gun in their car on a school campus, but only if they have a concealed carry,” Cook said. “If they don’t have that license, they’re not supposed
to have it on campus.
“He was very cooperative and there was never a threat.”
Grantham is a convicted felon and is not permitted to be in possession of a firearm, the release said. He has been charged with felony counts of possession of a firearm on school property and possession of a firearm by certain persons, each punishable by up to six years in prison.
Grantham was being held at the Garland County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.
According to court records, Grantham was previously convicted of a felony count of possession of a counterfeit controlled substance, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, on May 21, 2007, in Pulaski County, and sentenced to three years’ probation.