Two 5th-grade Washington boys brought gun and knife to school in murder plot

Two fifth-grade boys, ages 10 and 11, brought a loaded gun and a knife to their Colville, Washington elementary school, intending to kill an "ex-girlfriend" and others in their class.  Luckily, a fourth-grader saw one of them with the knife and reported it.  A third boy was also charged with hiding the plot.

From an article:

The 5th graders at Fort Colville Elementary School were taken into custody Thursday morning after a search revealed one of the boys had a knife and a handgun in his backpack. Interviews by police revealed that the boys intended to use the weapons sometime Thursday, Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen said. 

“These young men conspired to kill,” Rasmussen said. “It was interrupted by the bravery of a 4th grader who saw something and said something … and interrupted a murder.” 

Both boys have been expelled in addition to a third, unidentified boy who knew about the two weeks of planning and intended targets but agreed not to say anything after he was promised $80 for his silence. 

The plot was discovered prior to the start of school Thursday, Colville School District Superintendent Michael Cashion said. 

“We’ve been told that the boys had a plan to kill an ex-girlfriend – I don’t know what a girlfriend means in 5th grade – and harm other students,” Cashion said. “There was no list, but names were given to the police. I can’t get my mind around it.” 

Deputy Stevens County Prosecutor Lech Radzimski asked the judge to order that the boys have no contact with eight other children identified only by their initials. Fort Colville Elementary Principal Clayton Allen said all of the alleged victims were part of the same 5th grade class.

One of the boys said the gun was stolen, but it doesn't say from whom.

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

7-year old Virginia boy threatens kids on bus with loaded gun and brings it to school

A 7-year old, second-grade boy brought a loaded handgun onto his bus, in Richmond, Virginia, and threatened other students with it.  He then brought the gun into his school before being discovered.

Luckily, he did not fire the weapon.

From an article:

A 7-year-old boy brandished a loaded handgun Monday morning on a school bus bound for a Henrico County elementary school, according to police. 

No one was injured in the incident, which involved a second-grade student at Ratcliffe Elementary School, but the boy displayed the gun while on the bus and threatened other students, Henrico police officials said. 

"He brandished it at several students while making a threatening statement," said police Lt. Linda N. Toney, who declined to elaborate on the nature of the threats. 

The gun wasn't discovered by officials until after the boy got to the school, located on Thalen Street in East Highland Park. 

School officials learned the boy had a gun at about 8:40 a.m., according to police. The gun wasn't discovered until after the students were unpacking their bags at the school, said schools spokesman Andy Jenks. Upon further investigation, officials learned the gun had been brandished on the bus. 

"To my knowledge, nobody said anything to the bus driver or immediately coming off that bus," Jenks said.  .... 

The incident occurred less than a week after school officials held a public forum on school safety and security as part of the local response to the mass shootings at a Connecticut elementary school. 

At the forum Thursday night, Henrico schools Superintendent Patrick J. Russo told a crowd of several hundred that Henrico schools are in the upper echelon when it comes to security.

The article didn't say where he got the gun.

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

Oregon school bus hit by gunfire, with kids onboard

A school bus was going down the road, near St. Paul, Oregon, when a bullet struck the windshield, just above the driver.  Luckily, neither the driver nor the two elementary children on the bus were hit.

It wasn't determined if the bus was targeted or if it was a stray bullet, but it is thought to be unintentional.  No one has yet been caught.

From an article:

The St. Paul School District bus was westbound on St. Paul Highway at about 1 p.m. when the driver heard the impact.   

The bullet hit the windshield about 10 inches above the driver's head but did not penetrate the glass. The impact left a spider-web like crack in the windshield. 

There were two elementary school age children on the bus at the time. Neither the children nor the bus driver was injured.  

Sr. Deputy David Wagner inspected the damage to the bus.   

Wagner determined that the bus was struck in a very open, flat area, but the driver saw no one in the area.  Given that it was a single shot, Wagner suspects the incident was non-intentional.  It more likely came from someone shooting a firearm in the fields surrounding the area where the incident occurred.   

Wagner was unable to identify the caliber of the projectile, but he suspects it was a 22 caliber or a pellet from a pellet gun.

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15-year old Oklahoma boy shoots self to death in school bathroom

Triston Stephens, age 15

A 15-year old ninth-grader, Triston Stephens, brought a loaded gun to school, in Coweta, Oklahoma, went into the bathroom, and shot himself to death.

From an article:

The ninth-grade boy died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound about 8:35 a.m., Superintendent Jeff Holmes confirmed at an afternoon news conference.  

The school was placed on immediate lockdown, and police arrived within seconds, he said.  

Police Lt. Donnie Krumsiek said the student died of a single gunshot wound just as the first-hour classes had started. Police don't think anyone else was in the restroom at the time.  

"Unfortunately, a life was lost, but it could have been a lot worse," Krumsiek said, referring to other school shootings in which multiple people have been killed.  

The state Medical Examiner's Office identified the boy as Triston Stephens.  

"According to his principal and counselors, he was a very fine young man," Holmes said.  

Authorities don't know how the teenager carried the gun into the building or where he kept it, Holmes said. He also said they did not know how or where he obtained the gun.  

Krumsiek said the school was not equipped with metal detectors.  

Police have not received any information indicating that Stephens had been bullied, and they are continuing to investigate the circumstances of his death, he said. 

....
At a candlelight vigil Monday night just outside Coweta High School, students, parents and area residents wept openly, still in shock over the tragedy that hit too close to home.  

"I'm sad and depressed," said freshman Jeremy Summers, who described Stephens as "a good friend" who participated in activities just as his peers did. "He was a happy guy. Triston would always make people laugh."  

Griffin Qualls, a freshman, said Stephens appeared to be well-liked and that no one saw any indication that the boy would take his own life. 

It is not known where the boy got the gun and ammo.

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

3-year old South Carolina boy killed when playing with pink handgun

Tmorej Smith, age 3

3-year old Tmorej Smith and his 7-year old sister were in their parents' bedroom in their Greenville, South Carolina apartment when they found a loaded, unsecured gun and began playing with it.

One of them discharged the gun, and a round hit Tmorej in the head, killing him.

The parents were gone at the time, but their grandparents were in another room of the apartment.

No charges have been filed.

From an article and news video:

Police responded to a call about a shooting at Haywood Plantation Apartments in Greenville, S.C., at 7:30 p.m. Friday night, the Associated Press reported. There, officers found 3-year-old Temorej Smith dead from a single gunshot wound to the head. 

On Monday, police reported that the shooting occurred while Smith and his 7-year-old sister were in a bedroom at home, playing with a pink handgun they might have thought was a toy, according to CBS local affiliate WCSC. 

"If you have guns, if you own guns mostly we would prefer you have them in a lock box," Johnathan Bragg of the Greenville Police Department told the news station. "At least have them out of the reach of children." 

Smith lived in the apartment with his parents, grandparents and sister. The parents were not home at the time of the shooting, the county's deputy coroner Jeff Fowler told Greenville Online. 

The shooting has been ruled an accident. No charges have been filed yet, but the investigation is ongoing.

The gun was pink, and could have been mistaken as a toy.  This is the risk of making lethal weapons "cute."

(a related article)

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

Three Denver children shot, two fatally, by mother in possible murder/suicide

The Perez children, with mother

Around 5 AM, residents in a Denver neighborhood heard gunshots.  When police investigated, they found that a mother, 22-year-old Mayra Perez, had shot three of her young children and then herself.  

From an article:

Two children and a woman were shot and killed Wednesday morning in a possible murder-suicide at a Denver home. 

A third child was rushed to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries sustained during the shooting incident, according to KDVR-TV. The child, who was seen by neighbors being wheeled out of the house on a stretcher, is currently listed in critical condition at Denver Health Medical Center. 

Authorities appeared to be zeroing in on the theory that the tragic incident was a murder-suicide involving the mother and her children, according to KDVR. 

The names of her two slain children are Erick Perez, who was 2 years old, and Nevaeh Morales, who was 6, the Post reported. Three-year-old Isabel is the third child, who is clinging to life at a local hospital.

However, there may be evidence of another person involved:

A neighbor, 21-year-old Rosalinda Bustillos, told the Post that her father-in-law heard a gun go off around 5 a.m. 

“Right after that a truck took off really fast,” Bustillos said. 

Perez, along with her husband Ricky and their children moved to the neighborhood from Canutillo, Texas, more than a year ago for his job in construction, Perez’s cousin Irene Nuñez told the Post. 

"I think they were having arguments," Nuñez said, speaking from Perez's mother's home in Texas. “We just know they had been having problems."

(a related page with news videos).

Two California teens shot and killed by father in murder/suicide

Alex Marshall, age 17

Two teens, Alex Marshall, age 17, and his sister, Macaila Marshall, age 14, were asleep on the couch in their Forest Meadows, California home when their father, Philip Marshall, 54, came in and shot each of them one time in the head, killing them. He then turned the gun on himself, committing suicide. A group of teens, who came to visit the home, looked through the window and discovered the scene, alerting 911.

The father, Philip, was estranged from his wife, Sean, who, along with her sister, had filed battery charges against him.

Philip had been an airline pilot who had also worked with the CIA and DEA, and had co-authored a book about a 9/11 conspiracy theory.

From an article:

A Murphys man killed his two children with a Glock 9mm handgun before turning the weapon on himself at his home in Forest Meadows late last week. 

Macaila Marshall, age 14

Former airline captain Philip Marshall, 54, killed his son Alex, 17, and daughter Macaila, 14, each with a single bullet to the head, as they slept nestled under blankets on the living room couch. He then pointed the gun at his head and committed suicide. Both children attended Bret Harte High School. 

Alex was active on the Bret Harte football team, known for his good sense of humor and well-liked by his classmates. Macaila was very outgoing. 

“She was just one of those girls who was full of vim and vigor and so much fun,” said Mike Brown, who lives two doors up the street. “The first time she came over was to borrow a cup of sugar,” he remembered fondly. ...

“The investigation revealed there was no foul play involved in this crime,” Hewitt said. “All evidence and information at the scene confirmed this was indeed a double-murder suicide and there was no evidence to suggest there was an outside party who entered the house and committed a triple murder.” 

It is not clear exactly when or why the incident occurred. Hewitt said investigators believe it occurred sometime between Thursday night and Saturday. 

School friends exchanged text messages with both Alex and Micaila as late as midnight Thursday and nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, parents said. Neither of the children showed up for school Friday. 

When asked whether Marshall had a history of mental illness, Hewitt said he could not comment, however he did say Monday that he discovered both Philip and his estranged wife, Sean, had a history with law enforcement. 

“Philip Marshall filed a burglary report against his estranged wife in November 2008,” Hewitt said. “Sean Marshall and her sister Erin Chamberlain filed a report against Philip Marshall in December 2008 for battery, annoying phone calls and disturbing the peace. He was arrested for battery against Erin Chamberlain.” 

Hewitt said investigators believe the murders occurred sometime between Thursday and Saturday morning. Hewitt said the coroner will take a liver temperature to get a more accurate time of death.

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