Last Friday an 11 year, in Florida, was arrested on 2nd degree felony charges of using a "deadly weapon", which in this case was a slingshot.
The slingshot in this case appears to be a scratch built "toy balloon", made of a balloon, plastic milk jug top and some rubber bands, slingshot. The child says he shot a plastic pellet at a locker and it bounced off that and hit another boy in the chest.
a quote:
'I wasn't trying to hit him. It was an accident to shoot him,' he said soon after he was released from the Marion Regional Juvenile Detention Center Tuesday night. 'I just want to say I'm sorry.'
more below the fold
This diary is from this article: Boy, 11, released from jail
The boy was released from jail about 72 hours after he was arrested on Friday.
Kevin's mother, Pam Cottle, said authorities overreacted, charging her son with a felony and locking him up in an Ocala facility with violent children.
'We just want the correct punishment,' she said. 'We'll accept community service, go to teen court, whatever the case may be -- but we do want the charges changed.'
Exactly who made the decision to arrest the boy wasn't totally clear in the article. The school and the arresting officer made calls to the State's Attorney's office before the arrest.
His family's attorney believes that the charges will be reduced in the future.
The school has started an explusion process. It does have a zero tolerance for any weapons policy.
as far as his parents go:
When asked about his release from jail, Kevin said he was hungry.
Despite the seriousness of the allegations, Pam Cottle said she'll worry about disciplining Kevin after he's back home. First, she'll feed him. 'It's not like I'm gong to reward him,' she said. 'But the kid is starving to death in there. . . . He is in trouble with his father and me. But that will wait until the day after he gets home.'
Hmmm...
Properly made and with the right ammo a slingshot can be dangerous, but a "home" made one?
I know that various laws and the fear of lawsuits have twisted some aspects of "normal" life into weird shapes.
But...
Surely there should be some room for rational adults to address minor problems like this and not HAVE to involve the police and other authorities.
Shaking my head...
thank you for reading
jeff