Boy Arrested For Cap Gun Scare

Sun., Jan. 30, 2000

From Staff Reports

Spokane police arrested a 10-year-old boy and booked him into Juvenile Detention after he fired a toy cap gun at a group of kids at Grant Park on Friday.

After getting into an argument with other kids while sledding in the park near Ninth and Ivory, the boy told the group he was going to go home, get his gun and shoot everyone, said police spokesman Dick Cottam.

Minutes later the boy returned, aimed the gun and fired several times. Police were called and shortly after found the boy in the 1200 block of East 12th and took him into custody, Cottam said.

Officers discovered the gun, which had been colored black to look like a real gun.

“These kids were pretty shook up,” Cottam said. “With all the random shooting in the last couple of years I could understand why.”

The boy was booked for felony harassment and was being held at Spokane County Juvenile Detention.

Cottam said when the boy was interviewed he became belligerent and said, “It’s only a cap gun.”

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