Boy, 11, Shoots Deadly Missile At Classmate

[kellyhound]

Florida News

TAVARES, Fla.
The arrest of a sixth-grader in Tavares, Fla., accused of using a balloon and milk carton top to make a small “deadly weapon” slingshot and fire a pellet at a classmate was uncalled for and overblown by authorities, according to the boy’s mother.
Lake County sheriff’s deputies said Tavares Middle School student Kevin Cottle, 11, used his toy as a weapon when he hit another boy in the chest at school. Cottle faces second-degree felony charges of shooting or throwing a deadly missile in connection with the incident.


The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the boy’s actions were criminal.
The middle school student was charged with shooting or throwing a deadly missile and the sheriff’s office is standing behind the charge, the report said.
“In this case, this child shot a pellet at another student that caused a welt on the skin,” Lake County sheriff’s office Sgt. Christie Mysinger said.
The 11-year-old was transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Ocala, Fla. “


To see him in handcuffs, shackles around his ankles and (with) a chain around his waist, it was everything I could do to maintain myself,” Cottle said.
Tuesday afternoon, a judge released Cottle to his parents on home confinement. Cottle is due in court on March 1.


Only in America

[RW1]

The police put a 6th grader in handcuffs, shackles around his
ankles and a chain around his waist. WTF? ...like he's a hardened criminal !?!


* ( Remember when you would be sent to the principal's office and
get whacked by a paddle that usually had a knot-hole in it? lol )

[wally246]

Originally Posted by RW1

The police put a 6th grader in handcuffs, shackles around his
ankles and a chain around his waist. WTF? ...like he's a hardened criminal !?!


* ( Remember when you would be sent to the principal's office and
get whacked by a paddle that usually had a knot-hole in it? lol )

Yeah, I do remember. Hell, I got swats in fourth grade for telling my buddy I was playing doctor with the girl next door! This action is ridiculous!

[realist]

I don't know, obviously the method the authorities used was unorthodoxed. I hope they can learn from this mistake so they don't do it again. However, to play devil's advocate, nobody knows what goes through kid's minds these days. When we went to school, there was virtually a zero tolerance for any kind of violence. Somewhere down the line we slipped off track with that concept. Perhaps this school is attempting to set a precedent to get back to that 'zero tolerance' idea agian.

[chris]

watch, he will get 25 to life..


expel the kid for a year and be done with it..