Cops track down tot at home to take away his toy gun
Toy gun prompts criminal probe
The 7-year old student took his toy to school last week and showed it to another student in the parking lot. That other little boy told his parents about it on Tuesday night.
They promptly alerted authorities and an investigation was launched by the Sheriff’s Office and school workers.
The alleged culprit and his parents cooperated with police, Bukoffsky said.
“They helped us locate the gun,” he said.
When the hammer of the toy is cocked, a red light shoots out of the barrel.
No one was injured.
The weapon was bagged into evidence Wednesday but the boy will probably not face criminal charges.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It must be a laugher - this seems like part of a script to a Mad TV skit or an item from the Saturday Night Live news desk. “No one was injured.” If that isn’t a punchline then I don’t know what is.
State laws involving fake weapons on school grounds are a bit hazy, Bukoffsky said, particularly when an alleged perpetrator is 7 years old.
The boy could face disciplinary action at school because the Beaufort County School District’s Code of Conduct forbids any toys that resemble weapons, said spokesman John Williams. But it will be up to his principle to assign any punishment.
Seven years old. Toy gun that makes a red light. Cops coming to the house to confiscate a toy gun. “Alleged culprit”, “perpetrator”. Possible criminal charges as well as disciplinary action at school. I’ve changed my mind - this is definitely one to cry over.
I also had to laugh at “no one was injured.” Beware the red light. HE’S SEVEN YEARS OLD! Talk about an overreaction.
UNBELIEVABLE !!!
I can accept the police checking to see if the weapon was real…but pending charges and disciplinary action? What’s wrong with these officials. I would have thought, being asdults, they would have used adult decision-making skills, not those of a three year old. Suggestion…Ask the seven year old how this should be handled. I’m sure his decision will be much more intelligent than that of the “supposed” educated adults.
They’re officials. One of the prerequisites for being an official is to blindly fall rules and never think independantly. This is taught to us in our “magnificent” public ed system. We have a generation of sheep, following one another blindly over the cliff.
Anyone else find it amusing that it’s up to his “principle” to assign any punishment?
Interesting, but not surprising. How can they find the time to learn english. They’re too busy protecting us from 7 year old villans.
Oops. Missed the “i”. Should be villains. Sorry about that.
Read My Lips Proudly Presents the 89th Edition of the Carnival of the Vanities
10 things about this Carnival of the Vanities:This is the first time I have hosted a Carnival of this type, although I did once host a review of the blogs on the New Blog Showcase over a year ago.This is…
Be careful to distinguish between what the police were doing and saying and what the media said. We have three agencies involved here - the school, the police, and the media. As of press time, the school hadn’t punished anyone and the police hadn’t done anything but a good job. Considering that children this age have killed each other with guns before, Don Popowich is correct in saying the police are justified in verifying that the gun was not real. Once they’ve gone through the trouble to do that confiscating the toy ensures that they can officially close the matter and put it behind for everyone’s sake. Zero Tolerance does equal Zero Intelligence, but this is not an example of the policy run amok. Change will only come through balanced understanding on both sides.
Alan, you are saying that the police were correct to confiscate private property after they verified that no crime had been committed.
The question I’m wondering, is why on earth the parents of the kid called the police in the first place.
Anyone have any ideas?
The only rational explanation I can think of is that the other student told his parents that it was a gun, not a toy gun.