Boy Arrested After Shot Is Fired at Principal

A 14-year-old boy who was angry at being sent home from school brought a small handgun to class and fired once at the school principal, police said Wednesday.

He missed, and no one was injured.

“He had been angry over an incident that involved his friend. He was upset,” said the principal, Matteo Rizzo. “We had him go home [March 20] to cool off.”

The eighth-grader, whose name was not released because of his age, was taken to San Mateo County juvenile hall, where he was booked on charges of attempted murder and several other weapons-related charges.

The boy told detectives that he shot at Rizzo from about 20 feet away in a courtyard crowded with students heading for class at Fernando Rivera Middle School, Police Sgt. Matt Bushong said.

After he fired, the boy ran across a baseball diamond and tossed the .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol in a bush before slipping into math class, Rizzo said.

Rizzo, who was crossing the courtyard at the time, said he was unaware he was the target.

“I heard a loud noise. It sounded like a firecracker,” he said. “It sounded real loud--I guess it was the echo. By the time we realized what had happened, all the kids were in class.”