Rocky Mount police officers conducting a license checkpoint Tuesday afternoon at the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Pinecrest Drive were able to respond quickly when they heard a gunshot echo through the area near the tennis courts at Rocky Mount High School.

Responding officers reportedly located four teenagers — Dylan Grant Whitley, 16, and three 15-year-olds. Through further investigation into the incident, officers learned Whitley took a relative's .38-caliber revolver earlier then used the gun to threaten and shoot at one of the other teenagers.

Thankfully no one was injured in this incident and the gun was recovered, but who knows what would have happened if the police response time had been a little longer. No rationale was released for the shooting, so who knows whether Whitley intended to injure or kill the teenager and was just thwarted before his plans could be carried out.

Whitley was charged with assault by pointing a gun, larceny of a firearm, three counts of contributing to the delinquincy of a minor and discharging a firearm in the city limits. He was released after posted the $10,000 unsecured bond.

Do you think more should have been done to the teenager? Do you think the boy's gun-owning relative should face charges for not securing his/her weapon? This is not the only time in recent memory that firearms have been connected to juvenile crime, so what more do you think could be done to keep guns out of the hands of teenagers?