3 Jersey City boys arrested after bringing two plastic pellet guns to school

December 23, 2011, 3:00 AM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

Three Jersey City boys were arrested and charged with various weapons offenses Wednesday after two were caught bringing plastic pellet guns into School 4 on Bright Street, according to a police report.

It?s the second incident in two weeks involving Jersey City grammar school students bringing weapons to school. On Dec. 7, a 13-year-old boy was arrested in the School 24 cafeteria after being found with a pellet gun.

The boys, ages 11, 12 and 13, were all released into the custody of their mothers after their arrests, reports said. They are now suspended, according to school district spokeswoman Paula Christen.

School 4?s vice principal told police that a staff member noticed at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday that several students were passing around ?an orange object? suspected to be drugs, according to police. The vice principal responded and asked the 11-year-old boy about the object, police said.

The boy then produced 36 plastic pellets he uses with his pellet gun, according to police. When the administrator asked where the gun was, the boy said he gave it to the 13-year-old, police said.

When the vice principal located the 13-year-old boy and asked him for the pellet gun, the boy reached into his waistband and produced it, according to police.

During a meeting in the school office with the vice principal, the 11-year-old said that he knew the 12-year-old also had a pellet gun, police said. When the 12-year-old was brought to the office, he produced a plastic pellet gun from his book bag, according to police.

Christen said the district has a ?zero tolerance? policy on bringing weapons to school. Students caught with them are sent to a 10-day program at School 3 at which they are counseled, she said.

Asked how many students attend that program in a typical year, Christen said she didn?t know. ?It?s not a heck of a lot,? she said.