Student arrested after gun fires in classroom; parents want answers

An 11-year-old Deskin Elementary School student was arrested Wednesday after a .45-caliber gun went off in a classroom, and police are trying to figure out how the boy got hold of the weapon.

Parents of other students are trying to figure out what took the Clark County School District so long to let them know.

There were other students in the room when the gun fired, school police Capt. Ken Young said during a Thursday morning news conference, but no one was hurt.

The gun discharged about 3:21 p.m. Wednesday at the school, 4550 N. Pioneer Way, near the intersection of Craig Road and U.S. Highway 95, Young said. Classes had just let out for the day.

Staff pulled the student aside and called school police, Young said. Officers later found a BB gun in the boy’s backpack.

The gun was in the boy’s backpack when it fired, Young said. The bullet hit a desk.

Cherie Many said her 10-year-old foster daughter, a fifth-grader, was close by when the gun fired. She said she wanted answers from the school Wednesday, but said calls and emails got no response.

“Her hand was about 8 inches from where the bullet put a hole in the table,” Many said. “The splinters hit her hand, and she smelled the burning wood.”

Police called it an accidental discharge. They’re not sure why the boy brought the gun or BB gun to school.

“We still don’t know where the gun came from,” Young said, adding that police consider it to be stolen because the serial number doesn’t track back to the boy’s parents.

The boy remained in custody Thursday morning, Young said. He is facing one felony count of possession of stolen property and one misdemeanor count each of having a dangerous weapon on school grounds and one count of discharging a gun at a school.

School administrators spoke to parents as they picked up their kids Wednesday, Young said, and sent out emails to parents early Thursday and letters later in the day.

Young said that he couldn’t comment about any other problems with the boy.

The district has seen a 50 percent increase in the number of real guns confiscated this school year compared to the previous year, Young said. The number of pellet and BB guns confiscated is down 50 percent.

Since July, school police have confiscated eight firearms and 14 BB guns, Young said.

The boy’s standing with the school was not immediately available, Young said, but he could be removed and put in an opportunity school.

Young noted that Deskin Elementary does not have metal detectors at the entrance but stressed that safety in schools begins with parents.

“It starts from the home,” he said. “I encourage parents to know what their kids could have in their bookbags. ... We are working on everybody wanting their schools to be safe.”

Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites Contact Neal Morton at nmorton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @nealtmorton