10-year old Ohio boy brings BB gun to school to "fend off bullies"

A 10-year old boy was caught with a BB gun at an Elmwood Place, Ohio elementary school.

From the article:

Police say a 10-year-old Ohio boy told them he brought a BB gun to school to intimidate students who bullied him because he wears ankle braces and is small for his age.

The Cincinnati Enquirer ( http://bit.ly/d3rIUB ) reports he'll be charged in juvenile court with inducing panic for taking the BB gun to his elementary school Monday in suburban Elmwood Place.

Officer Leah Schindler says a principal reported Monday that a handful of students saw the weapon. Schindler says the children believed the gun was more powerful than a BB gun, and one said the boy threatened to fire it.

Schindler says the boy reported getting the gun from his mother.

The newspaper says the boy's mother didn't respond to an interview request, and school officials couldn't be reached for comment.

From a related article:

A 10 year old boy in Ohio has been charged with the delinquency count of inducing panic after bringing a BB gun to school to fend off bullies. He had been ‘stuffed in a trashcan’ the previous year and was being bullied about his small stature and ankle braces.

The police were called by the Elmwood Place Elementary School in Cincinnati, near the end of the school day after he received reports from at least five children that they had seen the boy with the gun. Police Sergeant Kevin Vanover noted that the plastic orange tip had been broken off to make the gun look more authentic.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.