Teenager with assault rifle arrested on Metrolink, police say

A 15-year-old boy carrying a semiautomatic weapon was arrested on a Metrolink train from the Antelope Valley, authorities said today.

The boy, whose name was not released because he is underage, was toting the assault rifle in his backpack Tuesday and was bragging to passengers about the gun, said Sgt. Dean Currie of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

A passenger who saw the firearm told the conductor, who called deputies at Metrolink, Currie said. The boy was arrested when the train pulled into the Santa Clarita station at 2:45 p.m., he said. The gun was not loaded and its serial numbers had been scratched off, Currie said.

The boy, who lives in the Antelope Valley, told sheriff’s deputies he was headed to downtown Los Angeles, but he did not say why, Currie said. Investigators did not know why the boy was carrying the gun or where he got it. The boy, who has had run-ins with the law, was booked into Sylmar Juvenile Hall and will soon face illegal weapons possession charges, Currie said.

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Comments

[TJB]

That may seiously be about the single dumbest thing I've ever heard of someone doing. Wow!

[Guy Jones]

This kid would be better off toting a book than a rifle, but somehow I doubt he even knows what those are...

[G. Lover]

This young brother is one of many displaced Section 8 housing victims, forced to seek domicility in the AV. He remembers what it is to walk alone in the urban jungle of decay and hopelessness, and that is why he had to bring a defensive weapon with him.

[Danny]

So what kind of a rifle was it? I hate how most news agencies label a non-selective firing weapon as an assault rifle when it clearly is not.

[Carol]

G. Lover, you have got to be kidding! He is a stupid 15 year old with absent parents. Whatever adult had a hand in getting him that gun needs to be prosecuted, and this boy needs to be placed in some sort of situation with a lot of discipline and a lot of education. Otherwise, we'll be seeing him with his full name in print soon after his 18th birthday, when he kills someone.

[Jayel]

A semi automatic rifle is not an assault rifle !!

[iD]

Based on a photo on another news site, it looks like a MAC-10 or MAC-11. Totally impossible, though. Those are illegal in California, so there's no way he could have had one. ;)

A criminal can get on a train with a submachine gun, but I can't have my semi-automatic pistol on me to defend myself against him. Fantastic.

[Jim W]

Is it any wonder why Antelope Valley residents are outraged at the influx of people who bring their ghetto behavior with them? It's only going to get worse in this failing economy. Section 8 pays the rent, which is better than foreclosure, I suppose.

[Charlton Heston]

So what's the problem? Why can't an honest law abiding citizen carry a rifle in public?

[walker member]

You know what they say when one assumes something. The article did not say the youth was on section 8 or was from the ghetto. It says the youth lived in Antelope Valley and was carry the assult weapon TO L A. Everyone in Antelope Valley is not on Section 8 or lives in a ghetto. Our Cities are beautiful and youth and Senior focused. Stick to the story and stop downing our towns. We do look our for each other here. The kid was 15 and didn't understand that it was illeagal otherwise he wouldn't have bragged about carring the weapon. EVERY 15 IS NOT IN A GANG! Remember oneday you will have children and you will understand then "that kids do some of the dumbest things"

A Granny of 10 a Great Granny of 3