Posted on 04/20/2005 9:21:45 AM PDT by fso301
Student says he hit other teen first He tells judge that other student threatened to kill him; suspension is upheld
BY MARK BOWES TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Apr 20, 2005
RELATED Clover Hill Student says he hit other teen first Officials uphold boy's suspension Clover Hill student facing gun charge accused of threats Fight prompts lockdown
A Clover Hill High School student testified yesterday that he initiated physical contact with another student -- who police later said had a loaded gun -- because the teen had twice threatened his life that morning and was acting very aggressively.
"I knew he had something in his pocket and was going to use it," the teen, 16, said of his April 13 confrontation with 16-year-old Chazz Gordon, who was charged with brandishing the weapon.
The teen, whose name is being withheld by The Times-Dispatch, was in Chesterfield County Circuit Court yesterday seeking to reverse a five-day suspension for his role in last Wednesday's incident, which resulted in Gordon's arrest on charges of brandishing a firearm and possession of a gun on school property. Both boys also were charged with disorderly conduct.
After a lengthy hearing, Judge Timothy J. Hauler ruled that school officials had acted appropriately based on their policies and procedures and that the teen had been "afforded administrative due process."
Consequently, the teen's suspension will stand. He will miss a total of seven days, including a two-day "cooling-off" period that was imposed immediately after the fight.
Yesterday's decision angered the teen's parents, who said their son's actions likely prevented a school-shooting tragedy.
"The message that's been sent today by the principal [and] by the judge is that perhaps my son should have walked away and let this guy just kill somebody," said the teen's father. "That's not the way I'm going to teach my sons, and I suggest all parents need to take a closer look at the school systems, especially Clover Hill. Because something is terribly wrong with an administration that does not really want to punish the predator here."
The teen had testified that after Gordon pushed away the teen's girlfriend in a hallway filled with students and threatened to kill him, he decided he had to act. "I knew I couldn't let him use it," he said. "I was scared for my life, and I had to defend myself."
However, the teen acknowledged he didn't see a gun until it fell to the floor during their struggle. But Gordon's "body language was very aggressive" and he had a hand in one of his pockets just before the fight, the teen said.
"I acted to subdue him first," said the teen, who punched Gordon in the face in an incident that quickly escalated. He said Gordon pointed the loaded revolver at him after retrieving it from the floor. The teen said he then ran, leaving the school in fear.
School officials locked down the school for a couple of hours after other students reported seeing a gun. Police found a gun the following day stashed underneath a weight scale in the school clinic.
Clover Hill Principal Brenda Mayo testified that the teen was not acting in self-defense, based on his statement to authorities and the statements of several teen witnesses.
The teen's "own statement says he started the fight," Mayo testified. "Other students said [he] started throwing punches."
It was disclosed during the hearing that the teen had been suspended for fighting in an unrelated incident last year.
Debra D. Corcoran, who represents the teen, argued that school officials acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in suspending her client after he acted to defend himself.
"He was the victim, yet the school is intent on blaming the victim," Corcoran said. "We shouldn't punish victims of a crime."
Gordon is being held in juvenile detention pending his next court appearance.
In her court filings, Corcoran alleged that Gordon had "been bringing the gun to the school in excess of one week," and had "wielded the gun and indicated to more than one or more persons" that her client and another teen were the intended victims.
"So [my son] was aware that [Gordon] could have had a gun," the teen's father said. "The only way you know [for sure] is if somebody pulls it and shoots you. I'm not going to teach my kids to wait until you're shot before you act. You must act before you're shot."
The teen testified that after Gordon first threatened him last Wednesday, he "prayed about it" and called home for guidance, talking to his older brother. The teen's mother said after learning her son had called, she telephoned the school to get a note to her son's coach.
"I wanted him to pull [her son] aside," as well as the other boy," she said. "As a mother, I had a terrible feeling that something was going to happen." She said her efforts were rebuffed.
Mayo testified that she took very seriously student claims of a gun being brandished during the fight, and she took appropriate action by calling police and having them search the premises with dogs. "We had every indication that there was a gun on campus," she said.
Robert D. Talley, administrator of student conduct for Chesterfield schools, said he took the gun under consideration in weighing the facts of the case and upholding the teen's suspension during an administrative hearing Monday. However, Talley said, "I had no evidence that it was intended to be used against" the teen.
Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or mbowes@timesdispatch.com
It appears to be the end of reason. Idiots are running the schools and courts.
I'm sure he just brought a loaded weapon to school for Show and Tell day.
Other than forstalling what would have been an excellent liberal news event had the kid started shooting, what the suspended kid did wrong (from the liberal point of view) was to take action himself to solve a problem rather than waiting for the government to solve his problem.
ping
I went to the high school right up the road. I used to hear stories about that school from all the transfer students. I'm glad I didn't go there.
Misleading headline. He hit the other kid with his fist, not with a loaded gun. "Suspended for hitting kid with loaded gun"...
Are they going to charge Chazz with violating the federal Gun Free School Zone Act and a half-dozen other gun laws too?
If not, then gun laws are clearly the joke that they are to begin with.
Schools and prisons have alot in common.
Good point. Anyway I can make a correction?
This is just part of liberal indoctrination that one should never take responsibility for your own in safety. That is the state's job.
Right. The guys who are paid to "serve and protect" tend to arrive at the scene of a crime--too late for the innocent.
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