Teen Arrested For Bringing Gun To School

A 15-year-old Bowdish Junior High School student was arrested and expelled Tuesday after he brought a gun to school, Central Valley School District officials said.

Students began complaining to faculty members on Monday that the boy was bragging about having a gun at school, said Deputy David Reagan, a sheriff’s department spokesman.

When the school’s principal questioned the boy on Monday morning, he denied having the gun, but later said it was in his locker, Reagan said.

School officials checked the boy’s locker, but did not find the gun.

A janitor found the Thompson .44-caliber handgun in a boys’ bathroom after school Monday and turned it in to the principal.

The boy was questioned Tuesday by the principal and admitted bringing the gun to school “because he was going to need protection out in the world,” Reagan said.

He was arrested for possession of a firearm in a school zone, a gross misdemeanor, and released to his mother, Reagan said.

The boy also was expelled for the remainder of the school year, said Mike Pearson, the school district’s director of secondary education.

The unloaded gun was shown to other students, but not pointed at anyone, Pearson said.

Reagan said the boy took the handgun from home without his parents’ permission. Deputies returned the gun to the boy’s mother.

The incident was the first involving a gun at a Central Valley school this year. , DataTimes