Claudette Riley

CRILEY@NEWS-LEADER.COM

A 10-year-old Springfield student who allegedly brought a loaded, semi-automatic gun to school told authorities he had it for protection during an after-school drug delivery.

The Portland Elementary student reportedly showed the 25-caliber Raven Arms gun to classmates Oct. 15, but didn't plan to use it at school.

During an interview after the gun was discovered, the boy allegedly told law enforcement officials he needed the weapon in case he was beat up or ripped off while trying to deliver marijuana to a friend, another juvenile, after school.

An incident report obtained this week by the News-Leader shows the boy told authorities he was prepared to use the gun. Pressed if he was serious, the boy allegedly said: "You never know. They might pretend to be your friend."

Three months after Portland school employees found the gun, the Springfield district's school police services released the four-page incident report. The News-Leader has repeatedly requested the document.

The redacted report provides detail about what prompted the discovery of the gun and what the boy reportedly told authorities about where he got it and why it was in his backpack.

The student's name and grade level were not released.

The incident started shortly after noon on Oct. 15. School employees, acting on a tip from two students, approached the boy in class and asked if he had anything in his backpack that did not belong there. He started to cry.

The boy's backpack was on his classroom chair — not hanging on the wall hook, where it was supposed to remain during class.

In the main office, a quick search of the backpack reportedly turned up the loaded gun as well as marijuana. A school official locked the gun in an office and summoned school police officer Donna Harris Davis.

"It was silver in color with a brown panel on the handle. There were six bullets in the magazine. The magazine was in the gun. There was not a bullet in the chamber," Harris Davis wrote in the report. "There was a large amount of green leafy substance, some of it in chunks, in the bottom of a black with silver color and red trim backpack. A baggie was laying in the bottom of the backpack with the green leafy substance.

"The odor of marijuana was extremely strong in the office and backpack."

School police supervisor Greg Hall contacted the Greene County Juvenile Office and the boy was notified that he would be transported to the facility. The boy, who was still crying, reportedly asked the supervisor "Will I get out when I am 18?"

According to the report, the boy told school police officers he brought the gun and drugs to school because, he said, "I owed somebody."

The boy was placed in handcuffs and transported to the juvenile office, where he was read his Miranda rights and interviewed by deputy juvenile officer Dustin Hathcock. The boy's mother and the school police officer Donna Harris Davis were also in the room.

According to the report, the boy told authorities he took the gun and the marijuana from drawers in his mother's nightstand.

The mother told Hathcock she obtained the gun for protection following a home invasion and because a family member was "murdered two years ago," according to the report.

Asked why he brought the gun and marijuana to school, the boy allegedly said it was because he "traded" with a friend, a juvenile. He said the friend recently gave him a Little Wayne shirt, a pair of blue and yellow Nike shoes and both Nike and Kevin Durant socks in exchange for marijuana.

"I asked (the boy) how he knew how much marijuana to bring (the other juvenile) for the items traded for. (The boy) shrugged his shoulders and said 'I don't know,'" according to the report.

The report said the boy was asked if he brought all the marijuana that he found in the drawer and he answered "no."

The boy was asked how the juvenile knew he had access to marijuana and he gave a long, rambling answer that didn't make much sense. According to the report, Harris Davis said the boy appeared "restless and evasive" and "very uncomfortable." She also wrote that the boy "seemed to be trying to think of what to say next instead of being truthful."

The boy also reportedly told authorities he had $92 at school in his desk that he earned "doing errands for his grandparents."

Later in the interview, the boy reportedly told Hathcock he planned to walk home after school and then deliver the marijuana to the other juvenile. No name, age or gender is provided in the report for the juvenile he allegedly planned to meet.

In the weeks following the incident, Acting Chief Juvenile Officer Bill Prince told the News-Leader that a petition had been filed in the case. A petition is similar to a charge in the adult court system.

Asked Tuesday what happened in the case, Prince said was not allowed to provide that information without the consent of the juvenile judge in the case.

"He is in the system but I can't go into any more detail," he said.

Following the incident, Prince said the boy was not booked into the juvenile center's detention facility or allowed to go home. He said there were other options, including placement in a secured shelter or treatment facility, where mental health and substance abuse issues can be addressed.

Prince would not disclose where the boy was initially sent or where he is currently.

Jim Farrell, director of school police services, noted Tuesday that the "kid changed his story a couple times."

Farrell said he initially blocked the release of the report because authorities were looking into whether others ought to be investigated in the case. It was unclear Tuesday if others had been investigated.

The News-Leader believes the district's incident report was open under the Sunshine Law, even if it was being used — by another law enforcement agency — in an ongoing investigation.

"Before we released it, we confirmed that no other law enforcement agencies were investigating any adults with this report," he said Tuesday.

Months later, Farrell reiterated his appreciation that two students tipped off school employees.

"The schools are their own little communities and a couple young people in this community stood up and said it wasn't OK," he said. "You think about how bad this could have been. I don't know if it could have gone any better — except if he hadn't brought the gun to school."

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