A Mesa second-grader who fired a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol on a school bus full of about 50 children will not face any charges. Neither will his parents, who had kept the gun in a case with an inoperable lock.
Mesa police Sgt. Ed Wessing told the Tribune on Tuesday that after investigators spoke with the 8-year-old and his parents, the boy "clearly did not understand" the hazards and dangers that come along with a loaded gun.
"After speaking to the boy and his parents, it was determined that there was no type of criminal negligence on the part of the boy or the parents, and we believe that the parents' actions did not rise to any criminal activity," Wessing said.
However, in an incident that Mesa school officials believe to be a first involving one of the district's elementary school students, the second-grader at Franklin Northeast is facing expulsion for bringing the loaded gun to school last Friday.
No one was injured as the bullet lodged into the bottom of the seat that the boy was sitting on, according to police.
The handgun, which was a target pistol, did not have a magazine containing bullets in it, but when the magazine had been removed, one bullet remained in the chamber, and that was the one that was fired. The boy had taken the gun out of a case which had a lock on it from his parents' bedroom closet, but the lock was not functional, Wessing said.
The incident also has caused school officials to examine security measures after no one was aware throughout the course of the school day that the student had a loaded .22 caliber handgun in his backpack, according to Helen Hollands, a Mesa Unified School District spokeswoman.
The boy was handling the gun on the school bus about 2:45 p.m. on Friday when it fired and the bullet became embedded in the back of the seat.
"This definitely has caused us to think about our security measures," Hollands said.
The student was released to his parents on Friday. Talks are under way at the school, located at 7042 E. Adobe St., to determine how he will be disciplined.
"There are a number of processes that we'll go through during the due process talks before a recommendation is presented to the school's governing board," Hollands said. "The first step is the principal of the school sitting down and talking with the student and the parents of the students, but the first recommendation always is expulsion."
According to district policy, "a student who, after notice and a hearing, is determined to have possessed a firearm or transported a firearm to campus, shall be expelled by the governing board for a period of not less than one year."
However, the board may, on a case-by-case basis, provide for a lesser disciplinary action after consideration of all relevant circumstances - such as the student's age.
School districts throughout the state have zero-tolerance for students bringing weapons to school and those policies do not discriminate in terms of the age of the student.
"This truly was an anomaly," Hollands said. "This was a shock to all of us."
The fate of the student could be discussed during the district's governing board meeting on Jan. 24, Hollands said.
Currently, there are no metal detectors in elementary schools to screen what students are carrying on their person or in their backpacks.
• Contact writer: (480) 898-6533 or msakal@evtrib.com
Contact writer: (480) 898-6533 or msakal@evtrib.com
Dale Whiting posted at 2:08 pm on Mon, Jan 9, 2012.
Seems like "after consideration of all relevant circumstances such as the student's age" a lesser punishment beside 1 year's explusion would be in order. The whole process of punishment assumes the person punished can appreciate what they did wrong and learn to conform their future behavior accordingly. Here, given age, the maximum punishment does not seem to meet this criterion.
Let's see what turns up. Keep us posted EVT!
commonsenseaintcommon posted at 2:48 pm on Mon, Jan 9, 2012.
Dale Whiting,
You are expecting a rational, thoughtful, reasonable response from the districts administrators? Are you living here permanently or just visiting this planet?
evresident posted at 4:47 pm on Mon, Jan 9, 2012.
Rational or thoughtful -- NEVER!
"This definitely has caused us to think about our security measures," Hollands said.
Don't you feel reassured? Helen Hollands was hired to attract students to Mesa schools, while sitting on the school board in Gilbert. Definite conflict -- which district will she help, which district will she trash??? Maybe Mesa should pay Helen Hollands more if Mesa wants to tamp down bad news like a gun going off on a school bus. It's national news now, but Helen Hollands has just shown she's not ready for the local stage, much less the spotlight on this incident.
Bob G posted at 9:15 pm on Mon, Jan 9, 2012.
No charges filed??? Kid as a juvenile? Parents?
JMJ posted at 11:01 pm on Mon, Jan 9, 2012.
CommonSense, You have cracked me up. You apparently get how Mesa works. Thanks for such a good, hearty laugh!
Slabside posted at 12:52 am on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
Maybe the investigation into the incident should focus on the handgun's magazine. It may turn out to be the dreaded 33 round type that Dale posts about over and over over and over over and over over and over over and over over and over over and over over and over over and over over and over over and over over and over over and over over and over.......
Dale Whiting posted at 1:33 am on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
Slabside,
Grow up! Mere age is not the determining factor.
Slabside posted at 1:59 am on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
33 round magazines! My soldier buddies were machine gunned down by Islamist extremists on a bus but Islamist extremists are ok in my book still. I like William F. Buckley! Neo Cons! Neo Cons! Neo Cons! Neo Cons! Neo Cons! Neo Cons! Neo Cons! Neo Cons! Neo Cons!
soricobob posted at 5:09 am on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
How about suspending the parents?
Masterrogue666 posted at 7:15 am on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
"It wasn't known how the student acquired the gun, but parents are legally responsible for their children under the age of 18."
Where the heck are the parents? My daughter's in 2nd grade, and I check what she takes to school, and what she takes back from school. I don't check every day, but I do know that she's NOT ABLE to take any of my guns with her to school....
brainfreeze posted at 10:05 am on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
Parents are to blame on this one. The gun was not properly secured. How about a lock box or a trigger lock?! Thank God no child was shot.
Butters posted at 12:01 pm on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
Brainfreeze, you must have superpowers. Amazing how fast you were able to determine that the gun belonged to the parents. Maybe you should eat your ice cream a little slower so you don't get, well, so you don't get brain freeze.
Slabside, Dale Whiting comes from the planet Demodopia. It's located in another solar system known as Fullofcrapia..
Slabside posted at 12:15 pm on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
Good one butters.
RSB posted at 4:43 pm on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
No charges filed - Thank you Mesa PD - My daughter was on that bus and you're telling me that there wasn't any negligence. How about child endangerment? From what I can tell there were 50 other children on that bus and each one was endangered as well as a bus driver. As a parent I have unanswered questions, the first one is why the chamber wasn’t checked BEFORE it was put away? 2) Why wasn't the lock fix? 3) If the boy "clearly did not understand" the hazards and dangers that come along with a loaded gun then why hasn't the parents taught him this, especially if they have weapons in the house. As a parent of a child on this bus I'm not satisfied the way that this has been handled from the beginning. Auto phone calls from the district and the fact that the other children were placed on another bus and taken home? WHY weren't the parents of these children called immediately after the incident and asked what to do with the child/children? You people brush this off as a small incident yet there could have been worse consequences - the bullet could have struck the driver and then what . . .
Butters posted at 5:31 pm on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
RSB, what's your solution, sentence an 8 year old to doing 25 to life working hard labor on a rock pile? What happened will be dealt with in due time. Maybe not to your liking or even the liking of many others, but it will be dealt with. I think it's reasonable to assume that an 8 year old doesn't fully understand the seriousness of what they did. Hopefully this child will never do this again and the owners of the firearm will have learned from it, including how to properly store a firearm so as not to let any firearm fall into the hands of a child.
As for the child, expulsion from school for a year is pretty serious. Think back to when you were that age. Having friends in school was an important part of growing up. Being shunned by those same friends is going to be a very hard thing for that little one to have to deal with.
Masterrogue666 posted at 8:24 pm on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
Butters: I'm not sure if an update gave this info:
"The boy had taken the gun out of a case which had a lock on it from his parents' bedroom closet, but the lock was not functional, Wessing said."
It was the parent's fault, no if's, and's, or but's. They had to know that the lock was "not functional". Personally, I think that someone just didn't lock it. Also, you never store a gun with one in the chamber, unless you are a complete moron.
I don't think the kid knew it was loaded, but I have no doubt he knew what he was doing was wrong. One year expulsion seems fair to me, and the parents should thank their lucky stars......
Dale Whiting posted at 8:50 pm on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
No Slabside, as usual you misstate the facts. A friend of mine and four former subordinates who used to work for me were machined gunned while stepping off a bus in Istanbul, Turkey, a bus I took from time to time, myself. But it was only incidental that these Kurdish separatists doing the machine gunning were Muslims. Heck, had we been in Northern Ireland, they might have been Irish Catholics who received support from the US.
Kurds in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and even Syria are discriminated against, not unlike Catholics in Northern Ireland. Recall it was Kurds who were the targets of Sadam Husein's chemical weapons of mass destruction that so excited Bush 43.
And when people who feel powerless act their frustrations out, whether or not they have second amendment rights, they turn to violence. It's having 33 round magazines available to lunitics like Laughner that makes no sense. Unless of course we also are having to shoot targets before they pick up and run off! Recall, Glocks do not come with magazine extensions. But maching guns do! By controlling machine guns, we control all but those darn bullseye targets that can pick up and run off range!
Dale Whiting posted at 8:59 pm on Tue, Jan 10, 2012.
RSB, it was not clear to me who put the pistol away. But you are correct. No pistol ought to be stored away until its magazine has been separated and the chamber is cleared. And that ought to be done on the firing range as one leave his assigned firing position on the firing line! I recall being taught to clear the chamber, then point the pistol back down range and pull the trigger to release tension on the firing pin. [And I fired my 45 caliber M1911A1 with an expert marksmanship badge.]
But there is nothing in the second amendment right to bear arms which mandates such training or proceedures. And in Arizona, trying to pass such laws would be shouted down. So don't expect much from this crowd! It just ain't gona happen. Thankfully your daughter escaped unharmed. Can't say as much for the coed sitting at my nephew's library table at Columbine High in Littleton.
JMJ posted at 2:54 am on Wed, Jan 11, 2012.
While the back and forth about whose horror story is worse than whose horror story rages on among the petty in this "discussion", know that the only reason you all even know about this is that the gun went off and there were so many wintesses. If this is truly in the national spotlight, it gives Mesa a chance to justify hiring "a" Mesa spokesperson for as much as they're spending for her to mouth what the uppity-ups tell her to say.
Yes. What if the bullet had hit the driver? What if the kid had accidentally shot himself? Thank God neither scenario played out.
But, make no mistake in assuming Mesa will ever answer any of your questions about the safety of your children. There are gun and lethal weapon incidents in Mesa schools that none of you will ever know about because it's usually kept very quiet. "A" spokesperson doesn't get to have the national limelight because other incidents never sees the light of day. Now, Mesa can "look good" in the national spotlight because the district has been handed a very public problem, but it's long overdue that something gets done. All Mesa is interested in is keeping students in its seats.
Sadly, this kid will take the fall for his poor decision that has become a public embarrassment for Mesa, and a threat to the children on that bus and in that school.
Maybe Mesa will actually do something, this time.
wdgnas posted at 8:05 am on Wed, Jan 11, 2012.
where is the outcry from the from the pro life contingent. what if a child had been killed? to quote slabside: it is the law, get used to it.
RSB posted at 9:16 am on Wed, Jan 11, 2012.
Butters – your comment is ignorant and no, he doesn’t need to do 25 years to life, but his parents need to be held accountable – pure and simple. Being expelled is enough for him, but he is at an age of accountability and he does know right from wrong. He may not know what a firearm will do to a human but, he still knows taking that pistol was wrong.
Dale Whiting, Masterrogue666 & JMJ – Thank you.
The bottom line here is PARENT RESPONSIBILITY, Firearm Education & Safety especially if you are a firearm owner and you have children.
I thank God that this worked out like it did – yes this could have been much, much, worse and I’m very glad it wasn’t - but this will happen again here in Mesa and across the country – we as parents need to be more vigilant in making sure it doesn’t .
As far as Mesa PD and the School District – well . . .
quietgardens posted at 2:27 pm on Wed, Jan 11, 2012.
So, is that what the administration is going to tell the parents of a dead student the next time this happens?? "Oh, he didn't mean to shoot him/kill his best friend," or "The parents didn't inted any harm to your dead son/daughter."
Come on! Regardless of the intentions, strict consequences need to take place. Enough to remind the child, and the parents that this CANNOT happen again. Schools are as strict as a limp noodle. Complete overhaul is needed in this area.
Poorman posted at 4:14 pm on Wed, Jan 11, 2012.
Never thought i would agree with much of wizzzzzard Whiting puts out on here,but i have to go with him on this one.
Slabside posted at 8:31 pm on Wed, Jan 11, 2012.
"It's having 33 round magazines available to lunitics like Laughner that makes no sense."
OK, let's out law them this instant. So what happens now Dale? Do the evil 33 round Glock mags disappear in a puff of smoke? Do the police go door to door and demand Americans hand in the magazine they paid $35.00 dollars for? Where does it stop Dale? What you are after is the leftist agenda of an unarmed America.
"Glocks do not come with magazine extensions. But maching guns do!"
No, machine guns do not use magazine extensions. Dale, you don't even know what a magazine extension is therefore you show all here how really ignorant you are in the area of firearms.
Stick to the Book of Mormon Dale and leave firearm discussions to the adults.
dahlimama posted at 10:31 am on Sun, Jan 15, 2012.
This kid is saying he didnt know that pulling the trigger of the gun would fire it. Really? Has this kids lived a life where he has never watched tv or movies? And he NEEDS to be expelled for the parents and his reminder of how close they came to being in FAR more serious trouble. My niece was sitting in the seat in front of this kid. What if he had shot her? Also they have no idea how many kids have been traumitized by this. What if a child already has a severe fear of firearms? and this just makes it so they never want to go to school again? Are the school and parents of this kid gonna pay for the therapy kids are gonna need? I doubt it. And if this kid is not expelled you can bet there will be a giant uproar from ALL the parents at Franklin.
KnuckleDragger posted at 11:19 am on Mon, Jan 16, 2012.
Well I guess if they suspend kids for drawing a picture of a gun or having one of those plastic green Army men with a gun he should be expelled.
How do the parents get off? They were obviously negligent. If your kid gets your gun you are negligent period.