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Subscribe to RSSA Utah boy claimed he brought a gun to school for protection after the Connecticut massacre, but his classmates say he threatened them. KSL's Andrew Wittenberg reports.
A sixth-grade student in Utah is in police custody after he was accused of bringing a gun to school Monday, reportedly claiming he wanted to protect himself in the event of a school shooting.
The 11-year-old is a student at West Kearns Elementary School, in Kearns, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, and brought the .22-caliber handgun to school in his backpack, Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley told NBC News.
The boy, whose name has not been released because he is a juvenile, indicated that he wanted to defend himself if there was an incident similar to what happened in Newtown, Conn. Last Friday, 20 students, ages 6 and 7, and six school staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School were killed when a gunman burst into the school and opened fire before fatally shooting himself. The gunman had killed his mother earlier that day.
“Obviously that’s not the correct approach,” Horlsey said of the 11-year-old's action. “We teach these kids on a regular basis that they have a responsibility to keep their school safe.”
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Some witnesses have said they saw the boy brandish the gun on the playground and point it at another child's head. Other reports said the boy verbally threatened another student with the gun. Police have not yet been able to confirm these accounts, Horsley said, noting that it's sometimes difficult to sort out the facts when all the witnesses are children.
Horsley said two of the boy's classmates complained to a teacher at about 3 p.m. MST, about 45 minutes before the end of the school day. The teacher immediately secured the boy and took him to the principal's office. It was the principal who retrieved the boy's backpack from his classroom and contacted Granite School District police. Police were able to find the weapon and secured the situation in three to five minutes, Horsley said.
The boy also had ammunition, although the gun was not loaded and it was not immediately clear whether the bullets were the appropriate ammunition for the gun, Horsley said.
The student was charged with one count of possession of a dangerous weapon on school property and three charges of aggravated assault, which is a third-degree felony, involving the alleged waving of the weapon at other students in a threatening manner.
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Horsley said the student obtained the gun at home from an extended family member who moved out of the family’s house last week.
Previous reports indicated that the student claimed his parents told him to bring the gun to school for protection. Horsley said those claims are not accurate and said the parents have been "very cooperative.”
Horsley said the student is likely to face severe criminal penalties, adding that he was suspended from the school and will not be let back into the traditional school setting ever. “We have a variety of alternative placements for kids who violate school safety policies,” Horsley said.
No one was injured in the incident, and the school was not placed on lockdown, school administrators said, because the situation was resolved immediately, and, more importantly, they feared startling students.
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The kid's in custody,give me a fricken break!With all the dinosaur media coverage of this tragic situation,any kid would of been scared to death.I don't blame the kid,all he wanted to do was protect himself.He really didn't know any other way!However it doesn't make it right. It's the parents who should be held accountable.
I have guns no kids in the house and they're LOCKED UP PERIOD!Then you hide the key or combination,to where ever they're locked up!
If you're going to have guns you dam well better know what the Hell you're doing,or don't have them!
Don't have a problem with your gun security attitude. As I was growing up in rural Virginia, there were guns in everyone's home. Hanging on the wall, in a corner. If I, or a cousin ever touched one without an adult granting permission, we got our butts spanked. I was taught never shoot at a living thing unless it is to be dinner (we called it supper) I had fired shotguns, rifles and a .22 wheel gun by 12 years of age. My uncles, aunts, my father, my mother were all off in the war effort. But I learned a lot from my grandfather, grandmother. When a kid acts out today, there is no penalty (Time-out) So they have no constraints, if it feels good, do it!
BINGO Woodysr!
Yes, I have a mini-14, an AR-15 and a PMR-30. They are locked in a combination full length safe. Blame the stupid woman who left it lying around for sonny to kill babies in Sandy Hook. If gun owners are reckless people get upset ( GO FIGURE). This is what is wrong. Back in the old days we had smart gun owners. Now idiots are buying guns.
This is making us think we might have to give up our collection, because gun regulations may be needed.
wtf is happening in that country of yours people?!
They're going Whacko! It's the anti depressants,which they, the illustrious medical establishment, hand out like candy bars,and those Whacko Violent Video Games,they push down everybody's throats! Deadly Combination those two!
Everybody thinks they're on Youtube,or in a Video Game and everybody is watching them.When in Reality,nobody really gives a flying rat's behind.
That's what's wrong with this country! Sad isn't it?
early on people were saying the US has the highest rate of gun violence... um ... no no we don't.
Exactly!
Highest homicide rate of developed countries. In addition we are tied with Yemen. That is something to be proud of.
An average of 87 people per day are killed by a guns in the US. Many of these are suicides and "bad people". Think about how utterly low that number is. Something like the Sandy Hook shooting (where the guns were stolen BTW) seems to loom large in the collective psyche because one person did about 30% of the nation's average gun homocide for the entire day, etc. It is a black sheep event.
Once you give up your freedoms, you never get them back without a war. They are like "temporary taxes" that never go away even after the original reason for them no longer exists.
If teachers and caregivers in schools carried guns, there would probably more deaths due to accidents and other issues than from gun deaths from bad guys. On a good year there are over 500 deaths do to simple gun accidents...
The NRA has over 4 million members, dont let that small amount rule the rest of us...
Common sense gun control is needed...
more opportunities for students to steal the teacher's guns... not have to worry about bringing one home as there would be a smorgasbord of them at the school..
In Israel, all elementary and high school teachers are armed. They never have a school shooting. In Israel. Just sayin'.
Plus, the guns in these recent tragedies are all stolen. So how is gun control going to solve that little issue? A serious question, no?
Now kids are bring guns into schools to protect themselves. The NRA must love it. BAN high-capacity
magazines and assault weapons.
Nah. Just make it illegal to steal guns. That would have prevented most of the recent tragedies. Plus we should designate schools as gun-free zones, so any criminals who actually have a gun legally, can't use it there! Come on guys, these ideas are gold.
Gotta Love those young NRA members - learning how to shoot their fellow man!
Bob have you been on the NRA web site? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you read that on the web site NO!!!!!!!!!, it's all in you're head
Fantastic. Another new marketing demographic for the NRA: 6-graders. Think of the profit fellas.
This kid did NOT bring the gun to school to protect himself. He brought it to school to try to be a BULLY on the playground. "He was seen pointing it at another childs head!" WHAT does that tell you?
He has a future at the NRA???
Scary
Great idea. Blame the NRA. Now which of the perpetrators of the last several mass gun killings was an NRA member? Did any of them subscribe to The American Rifleman? In that same vein, we should go out and execute all people adjudged as insane. (As all were) Soon we'll be burning witches again (Well...there is a legislator or two who may suffer a rock pressing)
StephenW - had to laugh at your post 63.1, that was funny
I love how you choose to ignore the line about how it wasn't confirmed by police.
You did not read the story Dave
Woodysr, Concerning your post #63.3, What the most recent perpetrators seem to have in common is that they stole the weapons they used to commit their crimes. I don't know what the answers are, but I think first we should make it illegal to steal guns.
Just cause you heard it on Fox news doesn't make it a good idea.
Insanity.. they name off a list of charges for the 11 year old.. but not 1 criminal charge for the parents whose responsibility it is to make sure an 11 year old has NO ACCESS TO GUNS. Even if it is true that the gun their child took to school belong to a family member it is still the responsibility of the parents to know when someone brings a firearm into their home and make sure it is secured and out of reach of all children in that home. Gun advocates always chime how they are responsible gun owners.. but how many times have we seen toddlers kill themselves or other siblings .. because their parents left loaded guns within their reach sometimes those negligent parents have even been police officers.. when the public wants to know why those parents aren't being charged , the answer we get from police is ... there isn't any law we can charge them with.. How about child endangerment for starters, but since it involves guns.. the parents get a free pass. Gun control laws are long overdue !! No more free passes for gun owners who are reckless with gun storage around young children and mentally ill members who live in the homes where firearms are owned !!
Ban all assault weapons !!
Oh, but there needs to be MORE guns! Really? So ridiculous.
So...you'll be a whimpering bystander when I take out the thug and save you and your family.
Then, you'll whine about how dangerous I AM.
Why does no one ever consider the mass killings that have likely been prevented by armed citizens?
Google "Mass Killings Stopped by Armed Citizens". Surely that's worth some consideration?
No, the child should not have brought the gun to school, but thanks to the NRA and ALEC this child believes he has the right to stand his ground.
You have no idea what that child "believes". It sounds to me like he was just very scared.
Exactly what the NRA wants. Governor Moron, Rick Perry of Texasis already calling for all teachers to be armed. I wonder if he ever thought to ask whether or not teachers WANT to be armed. They are already paid peanuts to do way more than educate kids and get treated like crap. Why would they now want police responsibilities?
Not to agree or disagree with you regarding the arming of teachers, but did you know that at the Texas State House, if you can show your CCW, you DO NOT have to go through the metal detectors?! That is, anyone who is legally armed may bypass security! I think that might be one of the coolest things I've ever heard, but I can guess you probably think otherwise.
to MoreEveryDay - a in Texas, a firearms class for teachers sold out in 24 hours.
Many teachers probably carry concealed when they are not in school anyway. Why should they have to stop carrying just becuase they are in school ?? Are they responsible people only sometimes ??
To not allow teachers the ability to defend themselves and the students with a firearm is criminally negligent on the part of the school system. They are just pretending all is well when it is not.
TonyJ - in Texas, a firearms class for teachers sold out in 24 hours.
Any other questions ??
For this... This child is going to be FOREVER brandished a criminal. Unfit for traditional school settings EVER? He is untrainable, unable to learn a lesson, unable ever to make a mistake that didn't hurt anyone. He may have been lying about the self defense stuff. But the child was a sixth grader. An elementary school student. Not a career criminal, not a career bully, a nut case.
THIS is part of the problem. Zero Tolerance. Thoughtless educators who remove and compartmentalize. Rather than teach, and mainstream. BOOOOOO!
More than likely his record will be sealed at 18 and he can have the arrest expunged. Just saying.
Speaking as a resident of Utah, I can say that is correct. But at this time the child is in custody and I don't think he has been charged with a crime. Also I think everyone should simmer down, and get the facts. Example- it is said the gun was left behind by a guest in the home and the parents did not even know the weapon was in the home.
charge the parents with negligence, or worse
Okay, I've come full circle...put capital punishment back in the schools and start by giving this litle @!$%# a good whopin'. It is now officially time...also he should be fined, expelled, his parents fined too and also pistol whipped with the same weapon. It's really come to this hasn't it? but if so many of the simple minded enthusiasts think up simple solutions, this one is the best. Next in line....Ted Nugent...drop em, poontang.
You want to execute an eleven year old for bringing a gun to school? Don't you think that's a bit harsh?
I think Texas meant corporal punishment....a lot of people get the two terms mixed up. I argued with one person who said capital meant body and still argued with me even when I posted the actual defintions of the two. She kept saying that when someone is executed their "body" is killed so that meant it was corporal punishment.
Loving those posts!
"Them NRA haters sure talk tough for people real close to bein' dead."
Need any more proof that the media is over-sensationalizing this?
You can blame the press for this kind of nonsense - I so wish we could go back to the time when we didn't hear about anything and everything instantly. Technology has ruined mankind.
You are right as far as you go, but it is the elite international jews who CONTROL all the mass media who are to blame for all this hellishness. They report what they want you to hear, and do NOT report the rest. They are constantly sowing the seed of our destruction.
The "chosen people" run the worldwide banking system. And the television. And most newspapers. And Hollywood. And the universities. And most boardrooms. And Congress. Can you see it? And if you can... Can you see a future for white children?
Can you blame the kid? His heart was in the right place...
My dad taught me how to use a gun at 10. I've never killed anyone, and I hope I never have to. Proud NRA member!
Heart i right place...threatening other kids? pointing the gun at kids head. You didnt read the article at all you stupid cretin.
and he will be severely punished? By the school....right?
Another GREAT lesson.
Our society needs mental health treatment because they are scared of everything and becoming increasingly paranoid. Now the kids are paranoid and you can hardly blame them.
Good luck living in those states with their stand your ground laws with all the mental cases running around carrying loaded guns on them shooting first and asking questions later.
Right or wrong: At least the KID got offa his A$$ & did SOMETHING! All I hear from ADULTS & LEADERS is talk-talk-talk!! If YOU people want to do SOMETHING: Put some METAL DETECTORS at the entrances!!! Install DOOR MAG-LOCKS to keep mental-misfits OUT after schools in session!!!! Have a couple of BIG GUYS at the doors when kids are filling-in and have THEM pull these CREATINS (You know: the ones with a '20 mile stare') off to the side for some "Airport Screening"!!!!!
Ban saturated fats!
Saturated fat didn't slaughter 30 6 year old.