Florida Keys News
Friday, March 15, 2013
Schoolboys face weapons charges
Fake gun led to Feb. 20 lockdown at Horace O'Bryant
BY TERRY SCHMIDA AND ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff

Three boys are under the legal gun for handling a look-alike .45-caliber pistol last month at Horace O'Bryant Middle School.

They face a third-degree felony charge of possession of a weapon on school property, said State Attorney Catherine Vogel.

The two 13-year-olds and a 12-year-old -- their names were not released -- will appear in court Tuesday before...

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They Should Face Adult Charges

Submitted on Mon, 03/18/2013 - 1:15pm by Italian Rose
They and thier Parents should face charges as adults and then all parents will make sure that this does not happen again. This is why the UK is also banning toy guns.

Prevention

Submitted on Tue, 03/19/2013 - 6:07pm by
Wouldn't have happened if the kids' CCW

You're ignorant and do not

Submitted on Tue, 03/19/2013 - 3:33pm by Sister
You're ignorant and do not know the gravity of what you are suggesting.

Weren't

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 8:28pm by Sal Gutierrez
we all kids at one time? This is stupid.............

Without consequences, these kids will learn nothing in their

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 4:19pm by *.* CLEARLY the original
lives. They're old enough to know and understand the rules. Mommy and Daddy clearly haven't bothered to parent them. Mommy and Daddy are too busy being their best friends. Hold the parents accountable as well.

You're ignorant. Their

Submitted on Tue, 03/19/2013 - 3:34pm by Sister
You're ignorant. Their parents are great. If you knew the details behind the situation you wouldn't be making a fool out of yourself.

Kids will be dumb but authorites go off the deep end.

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 3:54pm by KeyWestDan
Kids do dumb things. We all know it and there are studies on the subject. Now, this is not nearly as dumb as bringing a real gun to school, which would require serious action. However in the case of toys, I think the authorities have slipped into the deep end of the pool and are even dumber than the kids not to handle this in an informal way without involving law enforcement.

Stupidity not Criminal

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 10:29am by Voice of Reason
Yes, carrying toy guns to school was very stupid. Yet, they did not threaten anyone and did not hurt anyone. Rather than send them to junvenile detention where they will likely come out worse than when they went in, sentence them to lengthy community service. Maybe by helping others, they will become better people. The kids will certainly see it at punishment, but it's a punishment that will leave them better off once it is done instead of making them worse people.

Example

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 10:01am by a.serf
They do NOT have to make "an example" out of these kids. They made a harmless mistake and one that would NOT have resulted in any further transgressions because the INTENT was not to "shock" or scare anyone. It is completely different than a kid being angry, or in fear, and bringing a prohibited item as a weapon whether real or imitation. That is when things can escalate. Where did discretion and common sense go. Zero Tolerance makes Zero Sense.

Time to send a message.

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 9:50am by david2009
Time to send a message.

Use Reasonable Judgement

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 9:20am by TropFun
This plastic toy gun is not a weapon: "A weapon is defined under various federal, state, and local laws, which vary by jurisdiction. A weapon is generally something used to injure, defeat, or destroy and may cover many types of instruments, such as a blackjack, slingshot, billy, metal knuckles, dagger, knife, pistol, revolver, or any other firearm, razor with an unguarded blade, and any metal pipe or bar used or intended to be used in a club, among others." A sharpened pencil is more of a weapon . Are the young men not very observant to national news, what is politically correct or lacking little common sense; yes, but no charges!

Shouldn't we all expect Vogel to drop these charges

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 9:00am by Get Real
like she's been doing for others? Or don't these kids have the right last name to get the charges dropped?

WOW! Only in KW!

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 7:33am by jorgee
I can't believe the local crooked authorities in KW will prosecute these kids over a mistake and ruin their chances of having a real career one day because of the blemish on their record! WOW! Key west authorities are worthless and will do anything to get a conviction on anyone! Even a kid that made a simple mistake! The more I see what happens in KW everyday, the happier I am we left that place in the dust! Does KW wonder why spring break tourism is down? All college students I talk to tell me the same thing, "We would rather go to Cancun" or anywhere oversease where we don't get harassed by loser cops and won't go to jail! And most of all, alot cheaper! Key West slowly but surely kills itself! I never seen such a bunch of ignorant gov officials concentrated in one town! WOW! lol And for you citizens out there that are not familiar with local gov, well I know alot of them and most are a bunch of coke snorting, corrupt losers!

Really, WOW! ?

Submitted on Sat, 03/16/2013 - 10:31am by dalton2kw
So, all of these college kids whom you are speaking with, why didn't they go to Cancun if it that is where they would rather be & it is cheaper ? I guess any old idiot can get into college ?

Where have you been? LOL!

Submitted on Sat, 03/16/2013 - 6:18pm by jorgee
first of all, if you were a longtime resident of KW like I was, you would know that the crowds were alot bigger back then, MTV was there, big things were happening in KW back then durring spring break and everybody knows that! Lots more than lil stranglers your getting these days! I know, i'm in real estate and follow all this closely! Either way, I couldn't care less about that trashy wannabe island anyway! I lived there when it was the real Key West! lol Nowadays I fly over KW on my way to the real islands where I don't have to worry about every single law enforcement agency all around me boarding my boat while im trying to enjoy my life! Basically, no one bothers me! :)

First, KW Spring Break 'tourism' is up, not down. We're rated

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 4:17pm by *.* CLEARLY the original
amongst the trashiest spring break destinations. Your post truly shows that you aren't old enough to make any sort of decisions for anyone's life.

Key West cops are doing nothing to enforce the law when it comes to breakers. Has anyone seen Smathers in the morning lately? It looks like Duval Street after Fantasy Fest! The trash, the beer cans, the coolers all left behind by your 'college student' buddies is disgusting. The cops aren't enforcing the law about booze on the beach. And of course, there are the cops collecting fake id's. Why? Are they going to re-sell at $100 per pop? No one makes money on Key West except those who sell beer. Hotels are going room to room with guards to kick out kids that are in a room that are not supposed to be there. Most reputable lodging won't even book them, but Mommy and Daddy will call ahead, book in their name for their little precious and then it's filled with drunk brats.

Please tell your buddies to PLEASE, PLEASE GO TO CANCUN. No one is making money here off them. They just COST us money.

Hmm...in reading your rant, you could be the complicit Acevedo brat.

Wow! Haha

Submitted on Sat, 03/16/2013 - 6:20pm by jorgee
You really need to get over it, You chose to live in that dump! lolol

Yea, it was dumb, but

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 6:54am by fisherman
these are kids. At their age they are thinking more with their hormones than their brains. I'm sure all the fuss has gotten their attention and any detention would be counter productive and a waste of everyones resources. It wasn't a real gun and they couldn't and didn't try to hurt anyone. Let's not get too carried away

You can't have it both ways:

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 6:33am by none
Under the "right" circumstances.....one of these kids could have EASILY have been mistaken......for someone with a REAL gun......and been shot dead. It happens all the time. Then.....WHO is to blame? All 3 of these kids were at the "age of reason". Surely....they were aware of the Newtown tragedy. How TOTALLY STUPID was it...for them to bring ANYTHING....that even RESEMBLES a gun.....into a school.....considering all of the paranoia right now? WHY...is the question? WHY......would they bring this toy gun into the school? If an example isn';t made of their idiocy......others will try it too. It's called "shock value" . But when one of Key West's little darlings is laying dead on the floor from a Policeman's bullet.......EVERYTHING.....would be a whole lot different. They were stupid.

Wow

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 1:13am by
"The trio could be sent to a juvenile detention center until they are 18 due to the nature of the charges; a third-degree felony for adults carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. School District policy bans possession on school grounds of look-alike weapons such as the Airsoft model the boys brought into HOB."

So, these kids face up to 5-6 years in a juvenile detention for bringing a plastic pellet airsoft gun? What has society come to?

It's not like the kids painted the orange tip and use it to threaten other kids/adults.

Unbelievable. Hopefully the charges get dropped because this isn't something worth wasting three young lives.

Guns in School

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 10:01am by Tarpley
Remember: Guns don't kill Kids. The NRA kills kids.

That has nothing to do with anything.

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 7:37pm by
How can I subscribe to your newsletter?

C'mon Man

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 4:43pm by EYW Dude
You must have a Guns Kill People sticker on your scooter. You'd win if you bet that less than 5% of the violent criminals currently in prison are NRA members. Tink about it while you buying your lotto tkts

Concerned

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 8:06am by !!
Make these boys serve hundreds of hours in community service and have to speak to the school about their actions and why it was wrong. Don't ruin the lives of three boys for doing something very stupid. Remember they are just YOUNG boys acting out.

What is wrong with the kids

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 7:41am by george
What is wrong with the kids in this town is that rarely are there consequences to actions. Let these kids go and they will screw up again and again and other will follow suite, Just look at the unpunished vandalism of the high school, and it continues every day.

Punish them, that's fine

Submitted on Fri, 03/15/2013 - 7:40pm by
...But send them to juvenile detention for 5-6 YEARS?

Patrick Stickney has been a menace to society since he was a little kid--even HE didn't spend 5-6 year in Juvie.

Granted, the kids should receive some sort of punishment. There is NO NEED to send them to jail. If there is a time and place where common sense is needed, it's right now.

Extended jail sentences will ruin this kids.

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