Parents, Students React To BB Gun Incident At School
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - A 10-year-old boy has been arrested after shooting classmates with a BB gun Monday.
Lynn Setzer with Jefferson County Public Schools confirmed the boy brought a BB gun to Stein Elementary School in Lakewood and shot six of his classmates when the teacher wasn't looking.
None of the students were seriously hurt. Parents came to school to check on their injured children. Only one parent ended up taking her child home.
Lakewood police were called and arrested the 4th grader.
Parents say they only received a short message that said, "This is an important message for Stein Elementary parents. A student brought a BB gun to school today and used the weapon on several classmates. No students were seriously injured and police are investigating. More information will be coming home today with your student. Thank you." Parents say that message left them worried and hungry for answers.
"I just wanted to get to my kids as soon as possible," parent Michael Mascaranes said.
One student told CBS4 the suspect has a bad reputation at the school.
"He's very not good, he gets into a lot of trouble, lot of referrals," the student said.
The boy wasn't handcuffed and was taken to the police station by a family member.
One parent questioned how the boy got the gun.
"What are the parents thinking getting their kids dangerous stuff to play with?" she said.
Even after learning it was a BB gun and no one was hurt, it was still hard for parents to process.
"It's really sad to see at the elementary stage," Mascaranes said. "When you drop your kids off at school you just expect they'll be okay."
The boy faces municipal assault and dangerous missile charges. The boy and his parents are due to appear in court in June.
Letter sent to parents:
Dear parents,
I want to make you aware of an incident that happened at our school today involving some of our students.
A Stein student brought a BB gun to school today and during class time, used the gun against several other students in class. None of the students were seriously injured. Staff members confiscated the gun and Lakewood Police were notified - they are now handling the investigation.
The school district has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to weapons at school. The district's policy JICI spells out that zero tolerance.
Your student's safety is always our highest priority and our safety regulations are designed to take as many precautions as we can to prevent potentially dangerous situations from occurring.
Please take this opportunity to reinforce with your student that he/she has an important role in keeping Stein a safe place. If your student should ever hear of an unsafe situation, please contact a teacher, the school administration and/or the police immediately.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 303-982-7407.
Sincerely,
Socorro Alarcon
Principal, Stein Elementary
