Alleged gun-toting middle schooler to classmate: ‘It's a good day to kill someone'
An 11-year-old boy who allegedly brought a .40 caliber handgun to East Paulding Middle School on Monday told a classmate, "It's a good day to kill someone," the classmate's mother told the AJC.
Kelli Blundell said she first learned of the threat from the school's principal in a voice mail message left on her cell phone Monday afternoon. Her son, a sixth-grader at East Paulding, confirmed it but didn't report the incident because "he didn't want to snitch," Blundell, 36, said.
Paulding County Sheriff's Office spokesman Brandon Gurley said he could not release details of the boy's arrest. The youth was charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds and released to his mother's custody, per a juvenile judge's order.
Blundell said East Paulding Principal Stan Ingram told her that the boy caught with the gun told school officials he had brought the weapon to school for self-defense.
Paulding schools spokesman Brian Otott, speaking on Ingram's behalf, said he could not comment on the investigation.
"He told them he was talking to some girl on Facebook and the girl's boyfriend threatened to beat him up, so the gun was for his protection," said Blundell, adding she believes the boy's parents should be held responsible for not policing their son's activities online. "Did they not have some accountability for not locking up their gun and ammo?"
Gurley said he doesn't expect the gun's owner -- presumed to be one of the boy's parents -- to be charged.
Students informed administrators about the weapon, and they in turn contacted the Paulding sheriff. A deputy with the department's school resource office responded and took the gun from the student without incident, Gurley said.
"It wasn't loaded, but he did have ammunition on him," Gurley said.
Each of Paulding's middle schools had its own resource officer on campus until this year, when budget tightening forced the school board to cut funding for the program, shrinking the force from 13 to seven.
"It was one of the most difficult budget decisions we had to make," Otott told the AJC.
Sheriff Gary Gulledge advised the board to keep a resource officer at every school, Gurley said.
"Maybe if the officer had been in my son's school, the boy might have thought twice about bringing the gun to school to begin with," Blundell said.
Otott said parents were informed of the incident in letters sent home with each student.
Paulding schools policy, in compliance with state law, requires a minimum one-year expulsion of any student found guilty of bringing a weapon on campus.
About the Author
A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.
