Boy arrested after taking gun to school

Cops say 9-year-old aimed weapon and threatened classmates

LAUDERHILL — A 9-year-old boy was in custody Tuesday after Lauderhill police say he brought a handgun to school and, while in a classroom, pulled the weapon from a backpack and aimed it at three classmates.

The child is a third-grader who attends Lauderhill Paul Turner Elementary School. The weapon was displayed in front of a teacher and other students, police said.

They are investigating whether bullying was happening between the four kids involved and who may have been targeted.

Police at first said the gun was loaded, but later said it was not confirmed that the child had ammunition when he brought it to the school, at 1500 NW 49th Ave.

He told his classmates, “You see this, this is a real gun” and made other threatening comments, Lauderhill Police spokeswoman Yvette Marquez-Perkins said.

After seeing the gun at about 10:20 a.m., the teacher called the vice principal who then alerted the school resource officer, she said.

The school resource officer was on campus and able to quickly disarm the child without anyone being harmed, Marquez-

Perkins said.

“We don’t know yet where [the child] found the weapon,” she said.

The boy faces charges of possession of a firearm on school property and three counts of aggravated assault, police said.

“The child’s parents were visibly upset,” Marquez-Perkins said. “There are no charges against them at this time.”

Police did not release the names of the boy or his parents.

“It is apparent that the juvenile’s actions were solely intended for the three victims and not for other classes or school members,” she said. “Mental illness is not a factor in this case.”

Investigations by Lauderhill police and Broward School District police are continuing and it was too soon to know Tuesday whether the boy’s parents could face any charges, Marquez-Perkins said.

Police were able to quickly take the gun from the third-grader and to determine that it was an isolated incident, so the school — where 693 students are enrolled and attend kindergarten through fifth grade — was not evacuated or locked down, she said.

Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan said any alleged bullying was not to be tolerated, and neither was bringing a weapon to school.

“An investigation needs to be done to take appropriate actions and resolve the situation so it doesn’t happen again,” Kaplan said. “A 9-year-old is way too young to be dealing with a weapon. I’d love to know where he got it.”

“The school board needs to put a stop to this immediately and get to the root of the problem,” he said. “The kids need to be safe, whether in school or off campus.”

There are no metal detectors in the school.

Kaplan said installing them “would be fine, but before the kids come to campus, they are walking to school and see each other in the street. The violence could happen outside the school before they ever got there and hadn’t even gone through a metal detector.”

Broward School District spokeswoman Tracy Clark shared a copy of a notice from Principal Richard Garrick that was sent to parents.

Garrick said a student reported to officials that another student had a gun, and that staff and the school resource officer “immediately investigated and safely resolved the situation.”

Garrick added, “I commend the student who came forward with the information today. By [the student] speaking out, we were able to respond swiftly, enact all proper protocols and ensure students and staff remained safe.

“The safety and security of our students and staff are always our highest priorities, and we encourage all students, parents, employees and community members — if you see something, say something.”