BAY CITY, MI -- A Bay County Sheriff's deputy alleged to have fired a pistol in a high school classroom, causing a bullet to strike a teacher in another room, has waived his right to a preliminary examination.

Deputy Adam J. Brown, 51, on Thursday, Jan. 26, appeared before Bay County District Judge Mark E. Janer for the scheduled hearing.

The judge bound Brown's case over to Bay County Circuit Court, where he will face trial or enter into a plea agreement.

Brown is charged with single counts of tampering with evidence, a four-year felony; careless discharge of a firearm causing injury, a two-year high court misdemeanor; and careless discharge of a firearm causing less than $50 in damage, a 90-day misdemeanor.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred in November inside the Bay City Western High School and Middle School building at 500 W. Midland Road in Auburn.

Police reports obtained by MLive/The Bay City Times via a Freedom of Information Act request state Brown, the school's resource officer, at about 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11, was in the school's robotics classroom with another teacher. They used a force machine to test the trigger pull on Brown's personal Springfield EMP 9mm handgun.

After the pair left the room, Brown returned alone and used the machine to test the trigger pull on his .380-caliber Sig Sauer, another personal handgun that he brought into the school that day. The gun was not empty of bullets and the experiment caused the gun to fire a round through two pieces of drywall. The projectile entered a classroom containing about 30 students, traveled toward the ceiling, scraped a tile, proceeded to hit a cement wall, ricocheted off it, careened across the room, and struck teacher Brenda Amthor in the neck.

Amthor was sitting at her desk when struck by the bullet. She was uninjured apart from a small scratch, police reports state.

Though Brown was engaged in conversations with school staff on the projectile's origin, he did not admit to having fired a gun, reports indicate. As a result, the school was placed in secure mode while administrators attempted to discern what had happened.

School staff gave Brown the bullet to hold, but he then tossed it in a grassy area covered by leaves, according to police reports. A K-9 Unit recovered the bullet and Brown confessed that he attempted to destroy the evidence, according to police reports.

Arndt spoke with Brown, who was "extremely emotional and explained that he had been in contact with his union representative who had advised him not to provide a statement. He did say, 'It was a total accident.'"

Following a Michigan State Police investigation, the report was filed with the Bay County Prosecutor's Office. To avoid any conflict or appearance of impropriety, staff in Bay County requested a special prosecutor. State Attorney General Bill Schuette on Nov. 29 signed an order granting the request, appointing the Tuscola County Prosecutor's Office to the task of determining whether charges are warranted.

Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene announced the charges against Brown on Dec. 29, the same day Brown was arraigned. Tuscola County Assistant Prosecutor Kathleen Miller was present when Brown waived his hearing on Thursday.

Brown is represented by attorney Christopher Tomasi, with the Police Officers Association of Michigan.

Brown, who has been on the force since 1996, is free on bond and is suspended without pay from the Bay County Sheriff's Office. His next court date is pending.