Boy Charged for Having Gun in Class

LISBON, Ohio (AP) - To Dan Kemats, it seemed like time had stood still.

The 24-year-old English and social studies teacher at McKinley Elementary School had been ordered to get down on the floor by a 12-year-old student wielding a gun. Twelve of the boy's sixth-grade classmates were also in the room Thursday morning.

``It seemed like forever we were sitting on the ground. It was probably a few minutes,'' Kemats said.

Linda Robb, another teacher summoned by a student who heard the exchange in the hallway, persuaded the boy to give up the gun and no one was hurt.
  The boy was charged this morning with inducing panic, aggravated menacing, carrying a concealed weapon and illegally carrying a firearm in a school zone, Columbiana County Prosecutor Robert Herron said.

He will be held at a juvenile detention center until Monday, when he will be arraigned, Herron said. If convicted, the boy could be held in custody until he is 21.

 The boy had been on crossing duty with another sixth-grader, Katie Hartman, Thursday when he told her: ``Goodbye, Katie. I won't be back,'' The Vindicator of Youngstown reported today.

She said she asked what he meant, but he didn't answer.

The boy said before that ``his biological mother was in jail and he wanted to visit her, be with her,'' said Anthony Krukowski, superintendent of Lisbon schools.

Police Sgt. Fred Carlisle confirmed the boy wanted to reunite with his mother. ``Yes, that's what he told a teacher and one of the police officers,'' he said. Authorities didn't release information on the mother's situation but the Akron Beacon Journal said she was in prison on a drug-related charge.

The boy's father told police the weapon - a loaded, 9 mm semiautomatic - had been stored on a dresser top with a fully engaged trigger lock. Police Chief John Higgins said the boy apparently found the key and removed the lock.

No classes were scheduled for today but the school will be open for students who want to come in for counseling. Lisbon is about 25 miles south of Youngstown, near the Ohio-West Virginia-Pennsylvania lines.

Robb told NBC's ``Today'' show this morning that she realized the gun was real when the boy ``took the clip out and then he put it back in.''

``The only time I really felt a little bit of fear was when he was walking toward me with the gun and I realized at that point he could just raise it and shoot me,'' she said.

``I hugged him and I held onto him and I said, `Give me the gun,' and he handed it to me.''

Earlier Stories

• Boy With Gun Could Be Charged Today(March 24)
• Boy Held Classmates At Gunpoint(March 24)
• Boy Holds Classmates At Gunpoint(March 23)
• 6th-Grader Holds Class at Gunpoint(March 23)