BATON ROUGE, La. -- A 13-year-old student was arrested Tuesday for allegedly bringing a loaded gun to Westdale Middle School in Baton Rouge a day earlier.
Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office, said the student, who is in the sixth grade, was booked into juvenile detention on charges of illegal carrying of a weapon on school property and aggravated assault. The student's name and whether he was released on bond was not disclosed because of his age.
Hicks said a student told school officials that the 13-year-old had a gun at a bus stop Monday afternoon and allegedly threatened to shoot a student. Investigators found that the teenager allegedly took a .40-caliber semiautomatic weapon from an adult relative's car without the adult's knowledge.
Hicks said the arrest was the seventh of the year -- the second this month -- involving a student and a gun.
"In five of out of the seven cases, students reported the weapon," Hicks said. "I think through the increased outreaches, students are realizing the severity of this type of situation, and are more likely to come forward."
The sheriff's office said a loaded gun was found inside a gym bag underneath some bleachers at Mayfair Middle School also on Monday. Hicks said it was the second time a loaded weapon was found there this year. Authorities are working to determine who brought the gun to school and for what purpose.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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