“I killed my neighbor’s pet dinosaur,” Alex Stone wrote in a classroom assignment earlier this week. That fictional slaying led to real-life handcuffs.

On the first day of the new school year, the 16-year-old freshman at Summerville High School in Summerville, S.C., was directed by a teacher to pen a few sentences about himself and a Facebook-style “status” as part of an in-class assignment. Stone wrote about killing his neighbor’s pet dino, using a gun to “take care of the business.” His teacher notified school officials, who contacted the police.


On Tuesday Stone’s locker and bookbag were searched, and no gun was found. But Stone was still arrested and charged with disorderly contact, and school officials suspended him through the end of the week. Stone’s mother, Karen Gray, told local outlet WWBT-TV that school officials never contacted her about the incident.

Stone’s suspension caused him to miss most of the first week of classes, and he now has an arrest record. He is scheduled to return to Summerville H.S. on Monday, but he says he wishes he had the option to attend a different school.