3 children arrested in plot to shoot 3rd grader

[Kooperman]

March 18, 2004

Last modified March 18, 2004 - 4:41 pm

3 Forsyth children arrested in plot to shoot third-grade classmate

By BECKY BOHRER

Associated Press

FORSYTH - Two 8-year-old boys and an 11-year-old schoolmate were arrested after they buried a loaded handgun in a playground sandbox and plotted to shoot and stab a third-grade girl during recess, authorities said Thursday.

Sheriff Tim Fulton said the boys told investigators they intended to harm the young girl because she had teased two of them.

The plot was uncovered late Wednesday morning, about a half-hour before recess, when another student alerted school officials, said Michael Hayworth, the Rosebud County attorney.

The gun, a .22-caliber revolver, had two bullets in it, Hayworth said. School Superintendent Dave Shreeve said a box of bullets also was found nearby.

The boys were identified in court records as Klint Cook and Levi Strait, both second-graders, and Blake Belgarde, a fifth-grader. They were charged Thursday in juvenile court with conspiracy to commit assault with a weapon.

"From the interviews (with investigators) I don't believe that they fully comprehended the full significance of their actions," Hayworth said. "But they understood that this was going to bring harm to her … and they intended that."

The boys apparently brought the weapons from home to school Wednesday morning. The handgun was hidden in a sandbox. Fulton and Hayworth initially said the knife also was hidden in the playground, but a court affidavit indicates Belgarde had the knife on him when school officials questioned him.

Forsyth is about 100 miles east of Billings. The school has about 200 students in kindergarten through the sixth grade.

Many of the parents arriving to pick up their children Thursday said they were not even aware of the incident until they heard news reports of it Thursday.

The school was sending letters home with students on Thursday, and had a counselor available during the day to talk to any students. The letter urged parents in this rural area to lock their firearms and store the bullets separately.

"Needless to say, it is a frightening experience for a community and our schools," Shreeve said. "We believe it's an isolated incident but it does bring into reality that this can happen in any place at any time."

Fulton said an 8-year-old classmate of the two younger boys was the one who alerted the school of the plot.

"I need to commend that young man for such a brave act," the sheriff said. "He saved the lives of who knows how many people."

Shreeve said the classmate approached the principal in the lunchroom and told her about the plot. School officials found the gun, then pulled the three suspects and the intended victim out of class for questioning.

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?i...-schoolplot.inc

[DudeAsInCool]

Unbelievable..

[Kooperman]

It's the new culture of violence that we've allowed to develop.

[Shawn]

Just as unbelievable is the idea that 8 year olds could be charged with crimes.

[Kooperman]

Yeah, the system goes haywire in situations so out of the norm...

[Yoda]

They dont need to be charged.. They need help, serious mental help.

[Potato]

Why do children have access to guns? Why weren't they taught not to take things that aren't theirs, ESPECIALLY GUNS?

Man, when I was in elementary school it was all about sharing and caring. Now it's "Don't shoot other kids."

[Ken]

Parents?

Who's weapon is it?

Whoever owns that weapon, needs to be delt with, in the most severe way possible.

If you can't convince people to protect their weapons for the safety of others (especially children), you might as well send them a warning.......

"You're going away, and if fatalities occur, we're charging you with murder."

People need to go to prison for this incident, and I don't mean the children.

[Kooperman]

Hopefully we'll hear some follow-up on this story. Too often you never know later details on stuff like this.