Boy Held After Gun Found at School

An 11-year-old Wilsona Elementary School student was taken into custody Thursday after authorities said he came to school with a loaded .25-caliber pistol and threatened to use it against a female classmate.

The fifth-grade boy was taken into custody about 10 a.m. when a school volunteer--alerted by another student--found the gun in the boy’s pants pocket when he was on the school playground, said Lt. David Collin of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’S Department’s Antelope Valley Station.

The student told authorities 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 who went to the boy’s home in the 15800 block of Newmont Avenue in Lake Los Angeles found squalid conditions there and arrested the boy’s mother, identified as 34-year-old Julie De La Cruz, on suspicion of child endangerment.

Collin said De La Cruz 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 cat feces and vomit all over the floor. There were clothes and trash strewn throughout the residence.

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

De La Cruz was being held at the Lancaster Station jail in lieu of $50,000 bail, Collin said.

The woman’s son was in custody at the Challenger Juvenile Facility in Lancaster and will face a hearing on allegations of bringing a firearm to school, he 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 officials on events.

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

Brown added that schools were being held accountable when students bring weapons onto campuses. But parents need to be more aware and responsible to prevent their children from bringing weapons on campus in the first place, he said.

Officials agreed they would discuss the arrest with students at Wilsona, Brown said.

“We want to reassure them that the student who brought the weapon is not on campus any more,” he said.

Collin said the boy had never heard of the Columbine High School shooting in which two armed teenagers last month killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher.

“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.”