Police: Student Brings Gun To School In Jamaica, Queens For Second Time In 2 Days
UPDATED: 03/18/16 12:18 a.m.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- For the second time this week, a city public school student was caught bringing a loaded gun into school.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, both incidents happened in Jamaica, Queens, and some parents there are now worried about their children's safety.
Police said a student at York Early College Academy, also known as YECA – at 133-25 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. in Queens – brought a .38-caliber handgun to school Thursday morning. The boy has now been hit with criminal charges, CBS2's Jessica Schneider reported.
"It makes me feel kind of like scared and uncomfortable, because what if the kid would've like came into, like unfortunately, my classroom and he would've felt angry for some reason and took out the gun," said student Derrick Moore. "And the next thing you know, we're all on the floor dead."
"I'm shocked, because the kids at YECA are usually not known behavior like that," added parent Idris Murray.
The boy was having a quarrel with a group inside the school when he flashed the handgun that was in his knapsack, sources said.
He was grabbed by security and taken to the vice principal's office, where police were called. Officers searched the bag and found the gun, sources said.
The students were put on a soft lockdown until police arrived.
"They locked the door, and then the teachers were coming around to make sure that we were OK," said student Sydney Layne.
Many parents were appalled at the incident.
"We're highly disappointed that something of this magnitude could have taken place at a school that has a reputation of producing some of the brightest minds really in New York," said parent Danye Francois.
Police sources told CBS2 the boy was charged with three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds, as well as menacing.
He was being held at the 103rd Precinct police station late Thursday.
It was unclear late Thursday where the kid got the gun.
This was the second time in as many days that a student brought a gun to school in Jamaica, Queens.
The boy told police the gun belonged to his grandfather – Kenneth V. Miley, 54, of Queens, prosecutors said.
The boy said that he had gotten the gun from under his grandfather's bed and that he knows how to load and unload it, prosecutors said.
Grandfather Miley was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, first-degree reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, and city administrative violations, prosecutors said. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Back at YECA, some parents said their school needs to do more to protect their children.
"Well definitely, I'm suggesting scanners immediately," one parent said.
Teamsters Local 237, the union representing school safety officers agreed.
"What is the Administration waiting for? A gun to go off before it realizes that school safety must come first," Gregory Floyd of Teamsters Local 237 said in a statement. "The very students it fears will be offended by having to go through metal detectors, are the same students we want to protect."
Department of Education spokeswoman Toya Holness said the department is "working closely with NYPD to ensure that all students and staff are safe… (and) providing additional resources to support the school community."
Some parents said the solution needs to start at home.
