CAIRO — Authorities say students at Shiver Elementary School were never in danger Monday morning after a non-custodial parent was arrested with a loaded firearm on school grounds.

Deputies with the Grady County Sheriff’s Office caught wind Sunday night that Levaughn Sellers, 34, was planning on removing his biological child from school the following day.

Sheriff’s deputies and school resource officers stood by outside Shiver the next morning in anticipation of Sellers’ arrival. When Sellers pulled into the school’s parking lot at around 7:35 a.m., they spotted a loaded 9mm handgun in his vehicle’s cup holder.

A deputy ordered Sellers to exit the vehicle while keeping his hands away from the firearm. Once outside, Sellers was detained and handcuffed.

“It’s something that happened rapidly,” said school system police chief Reddell Walton. “It was over pretty quick.”

Walton said a pipe typically used for smoking drugs was discovered in Sellers’ front left pocket and a substance that authorities believe to be methamphetamine was found inside the vehicle. The substance has been sent to a crime lab for further testing.

The school was never placed on lockdown during the incident, Walton said. Most students were already in class and the incident took place far enough away from campus that no students were ever in any danger.

Sellers also never came close to making contact with his biological child, Walton said.

Sellers has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, possession of a firearm on school property and misdemeanor obstruction.