Two high school students from Bristol Plymouth Regional Technical School were suspended for 10 days after posing for a picture holding rifles that shoot plastic pellets, according to multiple reports.

On Oct. 24, Tito Velez and Jamie Pereira posed for a pre-homecoming dance photo holding Airsoft-style rifles, which resemble assault weapons, and posted the photo to Facebook, according to the Taunton Daily Gazette.

Oct. 24 was the same day a Washington state high school student shot five classmates, killing two, before fatally shooting himself.

Bristol Plymouth’s school superintendent, Richard Gross, told the Gazette the teens were suspended after school officials learned that news of the photo had created a disruption among students.


Tito Velez defended his actions in an interview with WBZ-TV.