A 12-year-old boy was arrested after taking his grandmother’s loaded pistol to school in Leesburg.
Several students reported the boy had displayed the gun Friday at Oak Park Middle School. The school resource officer went to the boy’s classroom with the assistant principal and removed the boy and his backpack from the classroom. The backpack contained a .22-caliber pistol loaded with 10 rounds, a shotgun shell, a small bottle of alcohol and some women’s jewelry. The boy told the officer that he found the gun on his way to school near a dumpster. The boy was then placed under arrest .
When the boy’s stepmother and grandmother arrived at the school, the grandmother immediately identified the pistol as her property. The jewelry also belonged to the grandmother. The boy was questioned with both woman present. The boy said he brought the gun to school for protection as some seventh-graders had threatened to beat him up. He also claimed he had not shown the gun to anyone.
A number of students told the officer and administrators that the boy told him he was going to shoot and kill three students at the school.
The boy was charged with possessing a firearm in a school, exhibiting a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of alcohol by a minor and giving false information.
The student was then turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.