Deputies in Richland County arrested a 15-year-old Columbia boy after he was seen running into the woods off Lee Road with a shotgun. The juvenile has been charged with unlawfully carrying a firearm, said Richland County Sheriff's department spokesman Curtis Wilson.

Authorities launched a search of the wooded area after someone reported seeing an armed man run into the woods around 12:30 p.m. on Thursday. Helicopters, police dogs and search crews were deployed in the search.

Lee Road is in the vicinity of three Richland School District 2 schools: Rice Creek Elementary, Sandlapper Elementary and Ridge View High schools. All three were placed in "modified lockdown," Wilson said, but students were allowed to go home as classes were dismissed.

The teenager had reportedly been involved in a domestic dispute at his home before he fled into the woods with the shotgun, Wilson said.

Kelly Davis and R. Darren Price