Boy, 13, Draws Gun in Class, Is Disarmed by Teacher

A 13-year-old boy drew a loaded gun on a junior high school teacher Tuesday in a La Crescenta classroom filled with students who watched as the teacher wrested away the .357 magnum, officials said. No one was injured.

Hours earlier, the teacher, Allan Eberhard, had told the boy that he would not let the yearbook publish a picture showing the boy in a T-shirt with an anarchy symbol. Eberhard said the boy did not appear angry about the decision.

“I know the kid, I like him and I have a million questions as to why he would do it,” said Eberhard, faculty adviser to the yearbook. “I really don’t think he had any intent to fire the gun.”

The boy, whose name was withheld because of his age, was arrested at Rosemont Junior High School about 10:20 a.m. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and was held at Sylmar Juvenile Hall, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Pat Hunter said. Hunter said the gun belongs to the youth’s parents.

Photos Called Inappropriate

The boy had worn a T-shirt--printed with a letter “A” surrounded by a red circle--to the school’s Valentine’s Day dance despite Eberhard’s suggestion not to, Eberhard said. Eberhard said he showed the boy the photographs taken at the dance in a drama class early Tuesday and told him that they were not appropriate for the yearbook.

“I told him I wanted him to look nice,” Eberhard said. “I said I wasn’t going to use it, that we’d have to retake the shot.”

Later, as Eberhard walked into his classroom to teach a seventh-grade class, the youth confronted him outside, saying, “I have a surprise for you,” Eberhard said. Eberhard said he asked the boy to leave and offered to write him a hall pass but the boy, wearing a long green army jacket, followed him into the room.

As the boy leaned over his desk, he said again, “I have a surprise for you,” Eberhard said. The teacher said he again asked the boy to leave and was about six feet away from the boy when the boy’s coat opened to reveal a holster.

Seconds later, Eberhard said the boy took the gun out of the holster. Eberhard said he lunged toward the boy, knocked the gun out of his hands and wrestled him to the floor. Eberhard said he lay on top of the boy and shouted at the 25 students in the class to leave the room.

Eberhard said the students, silent and motionless up to that point, ran out of the room and to the school principal’s office.

‘I Was Nervous’

“I was nervous,” said Jenny Bandaret, 13, who had been in the “Skills for Adolescence” class when the youth confronted Eberhard with the gun. “I was scared.”

Eberhard said he remained on top of the struggling boy until the school’s vice principal came to the room and picked up the gun.

A team of psychologists met with students at the school after the incident, Glendale Unified School District spokesman Vic Pallos said. Rosemont Principal Lois Neil said she wrote a letter to parents explaining the incident. She said students were given the letter to take home at the end of the day.