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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Good child, bad mistake

Bringing found gun to school wrong: mom

By: Gabrielle Giroday

26/11/2009 1:00 AM

The mother of a boy accused of bringing a handgun to a south Winnipeg school said he's a good child who made a mistake after he apparently found the weapon in a city park last week.

The 14-year-old is desperate to go back to Grade 9 at Arthur A. Leach School, she said, and is begging administrators to let him return.

He is charged with seven weapons and drug-related offences after police said he brought the .25 calibre gun to science class Monday, along with ammunition and a small amount of marijuana.

"We feel so bad," said the boy's mother, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of her son charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

She said her son is devoutly religious and worships with the family weekly.

Her family is devastated by the allegations, she said.

The Chancellor Drive school's principal seized the handgun from the boy at about 3 p.m. Monday after students told a teacher about the weapon, said Pembina Trails School Division superintendent of education Lawrence Lussier.

Police said there was no indication the boy planned to target his classmates.

The boy reacted calmly when a principal summoned him from a classroom, students said, and they do not want their friend to be expelled from the institution.

The boy later told school officials he needed the gun for protection, said Lussier.

A Pembina Trails official said Tuesday the boy was suspended for an indefinite time.

He is now at home, said his mother. He was released in court on a promise to appear.

He wants to pursue his studies, she said, and has written a letter apologizing to school officials for the incident.

"(He is) very studious," said the boy's mother.

She said he is a full-time student and had no job to make money to purchase a weapon.

She said her and her husband were baffled by the news of their son's arrest and "stressed."

The boy told his family he found the gun with his teenage cousin in a park late last week, she said.

However, the boy's mother acknowledged that, if the allegation is true, the teen should have turned the gun over to authorities. The boy does not have gang affiliations or prior police contact, Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said.

"I think a very poor decision was made," said Michalyshen.

The boy is charged with two counts of careless use of a firearm, posses--sion of a weapon for a dangerous pur--pose, two counts of unauthorized pos--session of a firearm, possession of a prohibited weapon, and possession of a controlled drug or substance.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 26, 2009 A6