Gun-bearing student put on probation

A Harris Middle School student has told Bedford County's Juvenile Court judge that he took a gun to school on Sept. 11 and on Monday he accepted state probation among other requirements for the act which would have been a felony had the boy been an adult.

Assistant Public Defender Cathy Hickerson entered a guilty plea for the eighth-grader before Judge Charles Rich, who imposed substantially the same sentence on the boy as one who appeared in court five days earlier. The only difference is 24 hours of public service work.

Monday's defendant told county officials he found a gun on a school bus and took it into the school where he showed it to other students, according to Capt. Tony Barrett, chief of the county's school resource officers. The boy hid the unloaded pistol in the back pack of a friend who didn't tell authorities. Then, apparently as officials were trying to investigate, the gun was placed in a wastepaper basket at the school clinic.

By 2:30 p.m. Sept. 11, more than a half hour before school ended for the day, both boys were in juvenile detention, named in petitions asking the court to declare them delinquent.

Taking a gun on campus is a "very serious offense," Rich told the boy on Monday. "I don't know what the school system's position will be on this, but if you don't follow the terms or conditions, you'll be in custody."

Barrett anticipated enforcement of the school system's policy of no tolerance on weapons at school, indicating that could lead to expulsion for the rest of the year.

Superintendent Ed Gray said Bill Pietkiewicz, principal of the middle school, advised him there'd been a violation of the zero tolerance police. Gray then advised the boys' parents.

"I've asked the Student Disciplinary Hearing Authority to review all the evidence in this matter and make a recommendation to me. The superintendent is the only one who can modify the zero tolerance policy. We also look to see what's in their past."

The 74-year-old grandfather of the boy in court on Monday said, "There's been no trouble. I never thought this would happen."

The boy's grandmother said he "is a very good kid. He's good about going to school. None of us own a gun. He's never had one."

The boy's mother was also in court with him and deferred comment until later.

State probation for both boys came with house arrest for an indefinite period, according to Rich. Both will lose any driving privileges that they might have had, or for which they were about to become eligible.

House arrest means that the boys cannot go anywhere where they might be out of sight or sound of their parents.

Both were directed to submit to evaluations at Centerstone, a medical facility in Tullahoma where defendants are frequently sent in such situations.