VA - 7th-grader suspended for playing with airsoft gun in own yard

[gxm]

Thanks reader for posting this. So another kid could go blind if one of the pellets makes contact. The parents need detention along with the 7th grader instead of suspension. I really have trouble making sense out of any of this. JMO

I agree. I think the parents of these boys should be held accountable too, not just the boys.

 

[21merc7]

Since when has the school become the police? Is each and every student, everywhere, at all times, subject to the school rules? Is each and every bus stop their property? I'm seeing a lot of "odd" stuff here.

Oh no. The school does not bring the charge.

It is an additional charge that police give for whatever it is occurring within the school safety zone with extra penalties.

So, say someone shot someone in your yard. The police charge the person with that. If that someone shot someone on the school property they are charged with the shooting and the addition of it being in the school safety zone. It is a State law, not the school rule or option.

 

[21merc7]

I think this is the proper Virginia Code Section:

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-308.1

ETA: AND this one, discharging:

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-280





If not, there is a huge list of Code Sections dealing with firearms listed here:

http://vagunforum.net/virginia-laws/code-virginia-firearms-laws-t2.html

There are also some U.S. Laws about schools zones and drugs, guns/weapons, but I'm at work and can't look them up at the moment.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

Just an FYI...

Years ago my husband was driving down the street with our 2 year old in the backseat. My husband had a Silverado. Kids were playing around and thought it would be funny to shoot pellets at his truck when he was driving down the street. Something like 20 pellets were found inside of his truck - several were in the backseat! Some pellets dented the side of my husbands truck with tiny little dings. He stopped the truck, got out, snatched their airsoft guns. I called the cops & so did the boys' grandmother. She was complaining about my husband grabbing their guns. Wtf? We went to the police station. The boys were interviewed & disciplined. The investigating detective shot a pellet at a cement wall to show the grandmother & the father exactly what kind of damage an airsoft gun can do. It chipped the painted surface. Then they took pictures of my husbands truck - inside and out to document the damage. Then the boys, their father & grandmother were advised that if a cop would have seen that, or had it happen to them, they wouldn't hesitate to shoot to kill as their guns looked real. Then they were told they could have seriously injured my then 2 year old son, possibly killed him if pellets would have hit him in his temple, etc. My older boys had airsoft guns as well and we got rid of them after that. They always wore eye protection, but just like paintball guns - they most certainly leave bruises and can definitely be deadly if not used properly.

These boys deserve a suspension if they were shooting at unarmed, unprotected & unsuspecting people at a bus stop. If I had a kid at that bus stop that was being shot at, even considering that it was an airsoft gun, I'd press charges and could care less what the rest of the town thought about it. & I'll also point out that I'd win. The homeowners insurance of where this took place could be sued.

It's important people don't think airsoft guns are similar to play cap guns. They're not.

 

[gxm]

I really don't think the school had a choice but to suspend these boys. Once LE had informed them of the behavior, they had foreknowledge so if any of the boys had injured another child, the school could have been held liable.

 

[Deleted member 96356]

I agree that would have been much less dramatic and appropriate. However, I can understand why a parent might hesitate, because some folks aren't too keen on non-parents disciplining their children.

Sent from my Event using Tapatalk 4

Except her own kid was one of the ones playing, if the news story i read was correct. I can't imagine a parent being hesitant about shutting down something their own kid was involved with. Unless she got her kid inside and then called the cops.... This is why every parent should own a bullhorn. (I'm only half joking.)

It's sad to read that the kid who owned the airsoft was in increasing trouble. His mom said he didn't have permission to use the airsoft. Guess she just learned a valuable lesson in locking things away.

But i still haven't heard a good explanation for the guns rule and how it can possibly be enforced. To me that is separate from this incident.

 

[al66pine]

https://twitter.com/vbschools/status/382632025246552064/photo/1
^^statement from Daniel Edwards, chairman of the VB school board^^

Paraphrasing:
--- Khalid was not expelled or left without edu. services.
--- He may be able to return to same school, after a Jan. hearing.
---Students have right to go to school bus stop without being shot at by "pellet gun" by other student.
---Khalid has been disciplined by school "six times in less than 18 months, for increasingly aggressive behavior, including harassment, bullying, fighting that resulted in injuries."

 

[al66pine]

the gun issue.

What if a person at a public street curb formed both hands into fists and lunged and swung at other people closeby, and connected?
Ditto a butter knife/table knife?
What if a person gripped a heavy, hardback textbook and swung it at people closeby, and randomly connected?
Ditto an airsoft or pellet gun.

Aren't all the above actions battery under state criminal statutes?

IMO, a person doing the above is committing a criminal act (maybe a minor, little-bitty, teensy battery, depending on circumstances and injuries, but nonetheless a criminal act).

If the person is an adult, possibly a regular criminal proceeding.
If a minor, possibly a juvie proceeding.

For the posters who said it happened on private property, so school should not have butted in...

Since the case at hand involves students at a busstop, seems logical for the school to investigate and to consider discipline against the student committing the battery.
As the chairman of the school bd. said, other students have the right to go to the busstop without being shot at by a pellet gun.
We've not seen all the info from police reports, school's reports, etc.
Would I have made the same decision as the school's disciplinary committee, if I had been on it?

It seems the committee's decision would have been 'cleaner' re Khlalid if it had banned him from the school bus.
But the suspension, with possible return to same school after a Jan. hearing, does not seem unreasonable,
in light of Khalid's disciplinary history and these pellet gun acts.

The other kids? IDK.

JM:twocents:.

 

[flourish]

Except her own kid was one of the ones playing, if the news story i read was correct. I can't imagine a parent being hesitant about shutting down something their own kid was involved with. Unless she got her kid inside and then called the cops.... This is why every parent should own a bullhorn. (I'm only half joking.)

It's sad to read that the kid who owned the airsoft was in increasing trouble. His mom said he didn't have permission to use the airsoft. Guess she just learned a valuable lesson in locking things away.

But i still haven't heard a good explanation for the guns rule and how it can possibly be enforced. To me that is separate from this incident.

Okay I'm confused
Are you saying it was the shooter's mom who called police? That makes no sense.

Sent from my Event using Tapatalk 4

 

[txsvicki]

I didn't know kids were running around with bb guns shooting at each other as a game. My GS has a gun that shoots the little round things filled with water but no way would he be given an airsoft.

 

[Sonya610]

---Khalid has been disciplined by school "six times in less than 18 months, for increasingly aggressive behavior, including harassment, bullying, fighting that resulted in injuries."

Somehow this is not at all surprising.

I don't see this as a school "gun" issue at all so I don't understand how that is coming into this.

However a school violence issue that has become an increasing problem at the school and now bus stops? Obviously!

 

[musicaljoke]

Surely every grade seven boy knows how to safely play with a quasi-gun-toy. Shooting at a kid waiting for the bus is not acceptable. At all. Good for the school to jump right on this situation.

Furthermore, he should be forbidden from owning a gun of any sort for a number of years, and after that, owning one only after taking a gun safety course, and proving that he has no criminal record and no mental health issues.

I'm sure that the people of Virginia are doing everything they can to prevent another Virginia Tech massacre, including dealing with monsters in the making.

That kid was 12 years old, plenty old enough to know better.

 

[al66pine]

Somehow this is not at all surprising.

I don't see this as a school "gun" issue at all so I don't understand how that is coming into this.

However a school violence issue that has become an increasing problem at the school and now bus stops? Obviously!

Sonya I think we agree. :seeya: Not a 'zero-tolerance for guns at school' issue.

IMO, doesn't matter much whether the kids in question were using fists, a butter knife or a big book to batter other students.
Whatever the weapon, not appropriate. Not on campus. Not at busstop.

Hypothetical: If a student uses an airsoft gun to hold up a gas station (not on campus),
I don't see a school considering discipline (although I can see a juvie proceeding, or perhaps being cert'ed for trial as an adult). As always, I could be wrong. :seeya:

 

[gxm]

Except her own kid was one of the ones playing, if the news story i read was correct. I can't imagine a parent being hesitant about shutting down something their own kid was involved with. Unless she got her kid inside and then called the cops.... This is why every parent should own a bullhorn. (I'm only half joking.)

It's sad to read that the kid who owned the airsoft was in increasing trouble. His mom said he didn't have permission to use the airsoft. Guess she just learned a valuable lesson in locking things away.

But i still haven't heard a good explanation for the guns rule and how it can possibly be enforced. To me that is separate from this incident.

I think the caller you are referring to made the first call on 9/9. The call LE responded to came in on 9/12 from a motorist who said they had just witnessed a boy with a gun chasing another boy in the street. The second call, not the first one, is what prompted the investigation.

 

[keeponsearching]

Seems like a lot more to the story, than when I first read it.

I don't think school should be able to punish him. moo

 

[Linda7NJ]

Seems like a lot more to the story, than when I first read it.

I don't think school should be able to punish him. moo

I do, kid sounds like a menace...he needs to understand and get it now that society is not going to put up with his crap.
Hate to see him end up in a prison cell someday because he failed to understand the consequences of his own bad choices because all he ever received was a slap on the wrist.

 

[atm9533]

Seems like a lot more to the story, than when I first read it.

I don't think school should be able to punish him. moo

He hurt kids on the way to the bus stop, it does not appear his parents would do anything about it. If my kid was hurt on the way to the bust stop I would be mad as hell.

 

[Ladylub]

I do, kid sounds like a menace...he needs to understand and get it now that society is not going to put up with his crap.
Hate to see him end up in a prison cell someday because he failed to understand the consequences of his own bad choices because all he ever received was a slap on the wrist.

So are now schools allowed to police our children when they are at home? I think that is my issue with story. The police and the parents should handle this not the school.



What will be next for the schools to dictate what can or can not happen near bus stops? Will kids that live close to these bus stops whether they ride the bus are not have to follow rules as if they are in school all the time?

 

[Linda7NJ]

So are now schools allowed to police our children when they are at home? I think that is my issue with story. The police and the parents should handle this not the school.



What will be next for the schools to dictate what can or can not happen near bus stops? Will kids that live close to these bus stops whether they ride the bus are not have to follow rules as if they are in school all the time?

I thought public schools were supposed to be in the business of teaching? They have the child the bulk of the day and it's obvious whatever his parents/caregivers are doing is having zero effect. He's escalating.

Assuming goal is to get this child on the right path & protect other students and with any luck make him a productive member of society. The school has a duty to step in. These children were in route to school.

 

[gxm]

I thought public schools were supposed to be in the business of teaching? They have the child the bulk of the day and it's obvious whatever his parents/caregivers are doing is having zero effect. He's escalating.

Assuming goal is to get this child on the right path & protect other students and with any luck make him a productive member of society. The school has a duty to step in. These children were in route to school.

I agree. I think the best thing for these boys is intervention. Place them into an alternative environment where they will get the attention and supervision they need. I hope the alternate school is a good one.