Posted on 08/28/2003 4:38:10 AM PDT by bullseye1911
Toy Gun Gets Child Suspended
Kristin Moore, Fox 47 News August 27, 2003
A seven year old in Jackson has been suspended from school, because a police officer spotted him with what he thought was a gun. The gun turned out to be a toy and no one was hurt.
The child's mother thinks the situation was blown way out of proportion. The boy and his mother were waiting for the bus this morning.
That's when a police officer driving past saw the gun and assumed the worst.
Now the seven year old and his mother know that even toy guns can cause a lot of trouble. Billy Jo Hannah was waiting at her son's bus stop on Wesley and first when she says a police car passed them, then made a quick U-turn.
"Came back flying in the parking lot, jumped out of his car like my son had really did something wrong. I didn't know why he had jumped out of the car, but he jumped out because my son had a toy gun," said Hannah.
The officer thought it was real. Police say the toy was silver and looked similar to a semi automatic 1911 model handgun. "This gun is very realistic looking. It looks like a real gun. He's pointing what we perceive to be a real gun at a car and we're going to respond accordingly," said Chief Deputy Matt Hines.
Even though the incident happened here at the bus stop, police say they had no choice but to get the school involved. "It's normal protocol for us to notify schools of problems at the bus top that are severe in nature,” said Chief Deputy Hines.
The child was taken to Muculloch Elementary in a patrol car where the principal says she had follow her protocol and suspend him. "We are teaching our children that they should not have any guns of any type playing or pointing them or whatever," said Muculloch principal Frances Reeves. Hannah says she and her family have learned just how serious having a gun is, even if it is just a toy. "I won't buy another one, not after all of this. And I don't think he'll want to play with anymore," said Hannah.
Chief Deputy Hines of Jackson police says most toy guns like the one the child had come with an orange cap to make it look more like a toy, but his didn't have one. The mom says it had fallen off. She says it was just a cheap toy that she bought from a dollar store.
Police are sending a report of today's incident to the prosecutor's office. The boy's mother says he was suspended for three days and will return to school on Tuesday.
Yea right, a seven year old with his mother standing by him at a street corner. God, what's happened to judgement? Oops, sorry, I already know!
And the police officer thought that it was real. Something tells me he is not the brightest light in the chandelier.
Perhaps their district's weapons policy has a definition of "School" as something like this:
"School" includes the buildings of, the grounds of, school-sponsored activities on or off school property, bus stops, walking students to and from school, any conveyance providing transportation to or from "School," and circumstances in which the district is acting in loco parentis.
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