Student whose gun went off in classroom will be tried as juvenile, not adult

A 17-year-old Gardena High School student suspected of carrying a handgun that discharged on campus, striking one student and critically wounding another, will be stand trial as a juvenile, not an adult, officials said Tuesday.

In January, the  teenager allegedly carried a loaded 9-millimeter Beretta in his backpack to school. He then reached inside the backpack to get something to eat, and the gun discharged a round in a classroom about 10:40 a.m, authorities said.

The bullet struck a 15-year-old boy in the neck before hitting a 15-year-old girl in the side of the head, officials said.

The teen, whose name has not been released, faces two felonies: possessing a firearm in a school zone and discharging a firearm in a school zone.

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-- Richard Winton

Comments

[sam h]

Makes sense, seeing as how he is not an adult.
Wouldn't you change the punishment for juveniles if you wanted them to pay more for their actions, as opposed to temporarily raising their status to adult?
We should make the courts prove children are actually adults before they are tried as such.
Kids shouldn't be tried as adults unless they can apply to become an adult before coming of age.

[Carol]

What about the adult from whom he got the gun? Or who didn't lock the gun up securely? Will he or she be tried?

[SRC]

I am an advocate for responsible gun ownership, first off. Where did the gun come from? Was it stolen? Did it belong to the boy's parent(s)? If it was a legal gun, the registered owner needs to be penalized for not securing his weapon. There is no reason this should happen.

But at 17 years old, this "boy" knew what he was doing. Should be tried as an adult. Why do we coddle our youth? Teach him a lesson. This is why we now have a generation of useless entitlement children. No discipline. No Respect. No personal responsibility. Sad.