A 22-year-old male named Matthew French (pictured) was arrested at Collierville High School on Tuesday morning after he gained entrance through a side door and was found with an unloaded pistol.
At around 10 a.m., the suspect arrived at the school on a bicycle.
He reported to the main office and asked to speak with a teacher but was denied entry.
Shortly after, another student alerted a teacher that he had been approached by a stranger who asked about the “easiest point of entry into the school.
School resource officers were immediately contacted and began searching for the suspect who had already left the campus.
At around 11 a.m., the unidentified man returned to the school and knocked on a side door.
The door was opened by a student.
The man was apprehended moments later and taken into custody without incident.
He was carrying a backpack that held a small, unloaded handgun, seven loose bullets, a knife, vaping pens, a flask of alcohol and a small quantity of marijuana. He was transported to the Collierville Jail.
“Since this morning’s incident,” said Jeff Jones, chief of staff, “students have been reminded never to open doors for anyone outside the school building.”
