Searched 3 times, yet teen able to smuggle gun into Juvenile Justice Center

MILWAUKEE COUNTY -- Milwaukee County officials are trying to figure out how a loaded gun was smuggled into the county's Juvenile Justice Center. FOX6 News is told the gun was brought into the facility by a teenager arrested for being in a stolen vehicle.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele says the 16-year-old was searched three times -- twice by Milwaukee police and once by someone at the detention center. No weapon was found during those searches. The gun was discovered when it fell to the floor. It had apparently been hidden in the teen's rectal area.

Abele says an investigation is now underway.

"The fact that a 16-year-old was able to get in with a gun is profoundly concerning to me.  We take safety extremely seriously," said Abele. "So, what I've directed staff there to do is not just go over every aspect of our safety protocol, but to look at every sort of similar organization to look at best practices.  Are there things we're doing that could be doing that we're not? Because I want to understand exactly how this happened."

Abele says metal detectors are now being installed at the police entrance of the Juvenile Justice Center following this breach.

Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.