Former student caught with loaded handgun at Morristown High

🚨 Police had been looking for a suspect spotted in town with a gun

🚨 Suspect was detained at Morristown High School after being recognized

🚨 Weapons charges for 20-year-old

MORRISTOWN — A former Morristown High School student was arrested on campus with a gun.

Vincent A. Phinn III, 20, showed up at the school on May 15 to get his academic transcripts, officials said.

A police officer at the school recognized Phinn as someone who authorities had been looking for since May 8, when cameras at a municipal public housing complex on Clyde Potts Drive captured video of a man removing a handgun from a waistband and stuffing it into a tote bag.

An alert about the incident was provided to all municipal employees.

The officer at the school detained Phinn with handcuffs and then learned about a warrant for his arrest.

Police said his bag had a defaced Smith & Wesson handgun with a loaded magazine but no round in the chamber.

ALSO READ: Off-duty Morristown cop races DUI charges in crash

Phinn was charged with second-degree possession of a handgun without a permit, third-degree possession of a firearm on school grounds without authority and fourth-degree possession of a defaced firearm. He is being held at the Morris County Correctional Facility.

According to MaxPreps.com, Phinn played football and competed in track and field for Morristown High School.

About 1,800 students attend Morristown High School in the Morris School District.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom