A 12-year-old Waukegan boy has been temporarily suspended from school for allegedly bringing a loaded handgun to class to scare other students, police and school officials said Tuesday.
Nobody was injured in the incident, which took place Friday afternoon at Benny Middle School.
Waukegan Superintendent of Schools George Kurtz said the boy–a 7th grader at the middle school–was suspended Friday for 10 days pending a formal hearing by the school board. He said the board will meet in private within a week to discuss the student’s punishment, which could be expulsion.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy with regard to weapons,” Kurtz said.
At a school board meeting Tuesday, Kurtz defended the suspension.
“We did the things that I think were appropriate,” Kurtz said. “We were lucky and fortunate and we have to maintain our vigilance, but that is about all we can do.”
The meeting was attended by several parents who say school officials failed to keep them apprised of the matter. School board members said a letter had been drafted and would be distributed to parents on Wednesday.
According to police, the boy was sitting in class with a loaded .38-caliber handgun in his pants pocket when a teacher noticed the weapon’s bulge. Police would not comment on where the boy got the gun and school officials said they didn’t know. Waukegan Police Capt. Donald Johnson said the teacher notified a security guard and the dean, who removed the boy from class without incident.
Johnson said school officials called police at about 1 p.m. about the incident, and that officers went to the school and took the boy into custody. At the police station, he said, the student told officers that he brought the gun to school because he was afraid of a group of kids.
Johnson said the boy told police that about a week earlier, he had thrown a rock at a girl and hit her. Since then, the boy said, a group of kids were after him for hurting the girl, so he brought a gun to school to ward off a potential fight, Johnson said.
Police Chief Scott Burleson said the boy never actually threatened anybody, or pointed the weapon at anyone. He was charged as a minor with unlawful use of a weapon.
“He indicated that he brought the gun to school to scare them. There was never any indication that he brought it to shoot anybody,” Burleson said.
Tom O’Rourke, principal at Jack Benny Middle School, would not comment on the issue beyond saying, “We don’t believe there’s imminent danger” to any students or staff. He said the issue is being handled by the superintendent’s office.
School Board President Robert Taylor also wouldn’t comment on the weapons incident pending further investigation.
Meanwhile, the school’s handling of the incident has outraged some parents, such as Cindy Landree. She said she had not yet received a letter from the school, or the superintendent’s office, notifying parents about the incident. Instead, she said, she learned about it from her son.
“I feel that as parents, we should be notified of these things. What if somebody said something that really made this kid explode,” Landree said. “We cannot sweep these problems under the rug.”
