Boy, 9, Suspended for Taking Gun to Class

A 9-year-old third grader familiar with firearms was suspended from his Poway elementary school for two days because he took an unloaded handgun onto campus, authorities reported Friday.

The child took the gun off his grandfather’s dresser, put it in his lunch sack and took it to school Thursday, where it was seen by other students during the lunch period, said Fred Van Houten, principal of Midland Elementary School.

The child had a bullet in his pocket that would not fit the gun, and the gun itself was not loaded, Van Houten said.

Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene and talked to the youngster, but no arrest was made and no crime report taken, said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Al Bates.

Released to Grandparents

The child was released to the custody of his grandparents, who are his legal guardians.

Van Houten on Friday talked to the school’s students, classroom by classroom, to clarify the incident, which he said had been wrongly characterized by rumor and exaggeration.

Among the reports circulating the campus were that the child displayed the gun while trying to get another student to turn over some of his collector toys.

Some parents called school officials Thursday and Friday because they were concerned about the incident, but apparently no children were kept out of school Friday because of it, Van Houten said.

He insisted that the gun never left the child’s lunch sack, although the mother of another child, who asked not to be identified, said her son was the one who first noticed the weapon.

“He asked, ‘Is that a squirt gun?’ And the other boy said, ‘No, it’s a gun.’ He took it out of his sack, showed my son, and put it back in his sack.”

Students then reported the weapon to the school office, and the youngster was brought in.

“This kid knows his guns,” Van Houten said Friday. “His grandpa takes him shooting.”

‘Rarely Gets in Trouble’

Van Houten said the boy “rarely” gets in trouble on campus, but apparently took the weapon to the school because “he was looking for attention from adults.”

Law enforcement authorities downplayed the incident. “I think more publicity will feed overreaction,” said sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Bob Takeshta. “No report was taken. The school is handling the incident.”

Said Bates: “No one was in danger at any time, and no threats were made. It’s just a show-and-tell type thing a lot of times.”

Mike Fickel, director of pupil services for the Poway Unified School District, said a student who takes a loaded firearm on campus would face expulsion and possession of an unloaded gun could bring about expulsion as well.

Among the criteria for discipline, Fickel said, is the student’s intent, and that incidents on elementary school campuses are typically handled by the school principal “based on the children not having an understanding of the total significance of what harm they could create.”