Here is an interesting story. Should there be leniency?
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/15747016.htm
Girl with gun in car expelled
Uncle on Picayune school board
By RYAN LaFONTAINE
rlafontaine@sunherald.com
PICAYUNE - Education officials have expelled a 17-year-old girl for stashing a .38-caliber handgun in her car before driving to school, according to the girl's uncle, who sits on the school board.
Duane Wheat, a longtime member of the Picayune School Board, said his niece, a high school senior, needed just two more classes to graduate. He said she was a good student, maintained a high grade point average and was involved in many extracurricular activities.
Wheat said a fight during a weekend party in mid-August sparked a feud, which has played out on personal pages of MySpace.com and cell phone text messages. The quarrel eventually led to his niece packing a Walther pistol registered to her father and driving to school.
"There was a fight and my niece did grab a beer bottle and hit one of the girls and she got in her car and called 911," Wheat said. "She got a lot of threats."
Picayune police discovered the gun in the girl's car on Aug. 24, three weeks after the new school year had begun. She was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property, according to the police report.
Students told the Sun Herald this week that Wheat's niece had posted messages on the Internet, but Wheat disputed that. He said messages were posted about his niece. Law enforcement officials are reviewing at least some of the messages.
Because of news the school board was considering allowing the girl back in school, many parents and other students have been living in fear for weeks, wondering whether the girl would return and whether tensions on campus would reach a boiling point.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/15747016.htm
Girl with gun in car expelled
Uncle on Picayune school board
By RYAN LaFONTAINE
rlafontaine@sunherald.com
PICAYUNE - Education officials have expelled a 17-year-old girl for stashing a .38-caliber handgun in her car before driving to school, according to the girl's uncle, who sits on the school board.
Duane Wheat, a longtime member of the Picayune School Board, said his niece, a high school senior, needed just two more classes to graduate. He said she was a good student, maintained a high grade point average and was involved in many extracurricular activities.
Wheat said a fight during a weekend party in mid-August sparked a feud, which has played out on personal pages of MySpace.com and cell phone text messages. The quarrel eventually led to his niece packing a Walther pistol registered to her father and driving to school.
"There was a fight and my niece did grab a beer bottle and hit one of the girls and she got in her car and called 911," Wheat said. "She got a lot of threats."
Picayune police discovered the gun in the girl's car on Aug. 24, three weeks after the new school year had begun. She was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property, according to the police report.
Students told the Sun Herald this week that Wheat's niece had posted messages on the Internet, but Wheat disputed that. He said messages were posted about his niece. Law enforcement officials are reviewing at least some of the messages.
Because of news the school board was considering allowing the girl back in school, many parents and other students have been living in fear for weeks, wondering whether the girl would return and whether tensions on campus would reach a boiling point.