Happy Development for NC Senior Expelled and Arrested for Mistakenly Leaving His Shotgun in His Pick-up

Aimee Herd : May 6, 2013
News Staff – The Blaze

After extreme measures were taken against an honors student who tried to fix his mistake, Liberty University comes through…

(North Carolina)—David "Cole" Withrow had tried to do the right thing.

When the Eagle Scout realized his mistake last week— accidentally leaving his shotgun he'd used the day before for skeet shooting in his pickup as he arrived at his high school—he locked the firearm in the vehicle and called his mother.

On the phone at Princeton High School, Withrow explained the situation to his mom and asked her to come get the gun. The student's conversation was overheard by a school official, however, and suddenly Withrow found himself arrested and charged with a felony, before his mother even arrived.

In the midst of his senior year, Withrow was told he would not be allowed to return to school—but is being allowed to graduate on time through an alternative school, the Blaze report says.

The good news?

After Withrow's story hit the media, on Thursday Liberty University announced it will "extend a scholarship to Withrow."

The University press release stated, "In reaction to the gun control debate in America, Liberty University recently loosened—not strengthened—its concealed weapons policy on campus, and is now providing a scholarship to a North Carolina high school student who was arrested for leaving a shotgun in his pick-up truck in the school parking lot." (Photo: Liberty University)

Since its decision to help Withrow, Liberty University has reportedly received a "strong show of support from all across the country" in the form of emails and messages to Liberty administration, thanking the school for standing with Cole Withrow.

Meanwhile, Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. learned that Cole's sister Hannah Walker, was a 2012 graduate of the university and is currently working there.

Hannah Walker commented on her brother, noting that he is "an honors student and an Eagle Scout, and Walker said he is very close to his classmates. Withrow is an avid outdoorsman and has been hunting since he was young," according to the report.

"The worst part about (the arrest)," said Walker, "is he was trying to do the right thing."

She also said that Cole had always wanted to attend Liberty University, and that their offer to him is "definitely a blessing."