Apr 24, 2008 12:41 am US/Eastern
Fourth Grader Fires Handgun In Linden, N.J. School
Cops: Boy Shows Off By Discharging .380 Caliber Weapon
LINDEN, N.J. (CBS) ―
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Police were called to Linden Elementary School after a shot was fired by a 10-year-old inside the school on April 23, 2008.
CBS
There were some scary moments Wednesday in Linden when a gun was fired inside a school by a student. But what had everyone stunned was the age of the student.
He wasn't a teen, but instead a 10-year-old.
It was the kind of curiosity that could have killed someone when a fourth grader brought a handgun to School No. 2.
"I just went to go get my book bag and when I turned around he had the gun in his hand and then I got so scared I left," Christian Perez said.
Perez said the show and tell happened in a coat closet and that his friend then showed the gun to a girl.
"She said I dare you to shoot it because she thought it was a fake gun," Perez said.
The 10-year-old took the dare and fired into a wall, proving to all this was the real thing.
"He wasn't shooting at anybody," Linden Police Lt. Keith Aslin said. "He wasn't trying to hurt anybody."
Police say the boy then dropped the gun out of fear, a weapon he found and may have been carrying around for a few days.
On Wednesday night concerned parents came to the school armed with questions.
"I'm very scared," Carol Minarchenko said. "I want to know what, how this happened and why it happened."
Added Verona Carter: "I was just wondering why this little boy had the gun in the class. Just coming to school, what's the mind frame of that?"
Investigators seem to have a theory.
"I think it was more of a young child showing off or trying to look older than he should be," Lt. Aslin said.
And that's why it's unlikely the boy will face charges, because there wasn't any criminal intent. As for punishment from the school, administrators aren't talking about what happened but the school does have a zero tolerance policy against weapons.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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