Lorain/Elyria, OH
Seventh-grader faces charges for bringing toy gun to school
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LORAIN — A seventh-grade student found with a plastic gun at school Wednesday afternoon will be charged with inducing panic, police said.
Lorain Schools Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson said the boy will also face suspension or expulsion.
A couple of Longfellow Middle School students overheard the boy talking excitedly about the toy, which he was keeping in his backpack. They told the principal and the Louisiana Avenue school was locked down about 2:30 p.m., district Security Director Ken Klein said.
The gun was black and looked like a semi-automatic pistol, he said.
“They couldn’t determine whether it was real or not, so they went the safe route for the students,” Klein said.
Halls were cleared and the school’s sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders were told to stay in their locked rooms. Teachers continued with classes as normal while police examined the gun, Klein said. Dismissal proceeded as normal.
Atkinson said a letter was sent home to parents explaining what had happened and the safety measures that were taken.
The boy — whose age was not available Wednesday — was taken home and later, to the county detention home, Lorain police Sgt. Marty Carreon said.
Contact Jason Hawk at 329-7148 or jhawk@chroniclet.com.
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And they claim to be qualified to teach children? If they can’t tell a toy gun from a real one, they aren’t even qualified to breath.
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The detention home??? Talk to the kid and tell him the importance of not bringing toys like this to school and then give him a few days suspension but I think taking him to the detention home is a little bit too far. Then they wonder why our kids are so screwed up these days.
Bring back the paddle and send him back to class.
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It is not the teacher’s responsibility to determine the authenticity of a weapon. If an unqualified person mistakenly determined that it was a toy and it fired, somebody may get hurt. Teachers are there to teach. The teachers and the police did their respective jobs and nobody got hurt.
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HIP HIP HOORAYYYYYY!!!!!!! Hats off to the teachers, administration, and Police!!! You handled everything great, except that the parents should have to pay restitution to all involved. Let them stay in the brink for a few!! Maybe this would get some other parents’ attention and they would pay more attention to what their kids are doing. As for the kid, C’mon, He knew better, I mean he was smart enough to keep it hid in his bag, so he KNEW it shouldn’t have been in school!! Just not old enough and mature to keep his mouth shut!!
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Hey Mitch,
Wrong dude. As teachers, they accept authority and responsibility for the kids. It IS their responsibility to keep the kids safe in class. The real problem is that most teachers think like you, and desert that responsibility, and then blame parents for their lack of teaching ability. Supporting that, is a legal system that allows parents of rotten kids to sue the schools when the teachers try to lead. To solve the problem, we have to get the schools out of government jurisdiction. Privatize might work, but won’t happen soon.
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Oh by the way. When the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office says crime is on the rise, this is the type of crime he refers to.
Do we want to pay higher taxes???
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