SANFORD – A 17-year-old Sanford High School student was arrested on drug charges after another student spotted a gun in his illegally parked car.

School resource officer Michael Gordon was notified May 9 of the suspicious vehicle by a student who saw the gun in a car parked illegally near the school’s vocational wing.

A search of the car turned up marijuana in a glass jar, a digital scale, a rifle, a shotgun, ammunition and hunting gear, including a compound bow.

The 17-year-old male student, who was in class, was removed from school grounds and charged with two counts of aggravated furnishing of scheduled drugs. The juvenile, who is not being identified because of his age, was released to the custody of his mother.

“This is an excellent example of an observant citizen – in this case a student – being keen to their surroundings and noticing something out of place and alerting authorities immediately,” Gordon said in a news release.

Sanford police didn’t return a phone message seeking further details. The headline of the department’s news release said the student was “arrested for drugs and firearms,” but the body of the release doesn’t mention gun charges.