Boy, 11, Arrested at Lancaster School With Loaded Pistol

A fifth-grade student at an elementary school in Lancaster was arrested Thursday after he came to school with a loaded .25-caliber pistol and threatened to use it against a classmate, sheriff’s deputies said.

The boy, 11, was taken into custody about 10 a.m., when a volunteer at Wilsona Elementary--alerted by another student--found the gun in the boy’s pants pocket on the school playground, said Sheriff’s Lt. David Collin.

The student told officials he found the gun on the floor at home and brought it to school to hurt the classmate because he felt scorned by her, according to a sheriff’s report.

Deputies went to the boy’s home in Lake Los Angeles and arrested the boy’s mother, Julie De La Cruz, 34, on suspicion of child endangerment.

Collin said the woman refused to cooperate with investigators. Five other children--ranging in age from 13 months to 15 years--were taken into protective custody at the residence and turned over to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, he said.

“The house was absolutely filthy,” Collin said. “There was more food for the cats and dogs in the house than there was for the children. Even some of the most hardened deputies were affected by this.”

De La Cruz was being held at the Lancaster station jail on $50,000 bail, Collin said.

Her son was in custody at the Challenger Juvenile Facility in Lancaster and will face a hearing on allegations of bringing a firearm to school, the lieutenant said.

Wilsona School District officials called an emergency meeting to discuss school safety issues Thursday night. The hourlong session, attended by about two dozen school officials, was designed to quell rumors and brief participants on events.

“One of things that came up was that students felt fearful of informing on other kids,” said school district Vice President Michael Brown. “But we discussed how to overcome the fears of children, especially in light of what happened Thursday.”

Brown said there is a need for more parental awareness and responsibility to prevent children from bring weapons on campus.

Collin said the boy had never heard of the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, in which two armed teenagers gunned down 12 other students and a teacher before killing themselves.

“This isn’t any kind of copycat crime,” Collin said. “We think this was an isolated incident. But people are still, very, very sensitive to this kind of activity.”