Boy in trouble over air pistol

CEDAR CITY — A 12-year-old boy was charged with having a concealed weapon at Canyon View Middle School for bringing an air pistol on campus.

The boy was also charged with having a dangerous weapon at school and making threats against life or property on Thursday.

Cedar City police detective Sgt. Jerry Womack said the boy showed the gun to his friends, and his friends told the principal, which "was the right thing to do."

The school resource officer pulled the boy out of school. He will likely be expelled.

Paul Maggio, Iron County School District director of secondary education, said the safe school policy includes imitation weapons, particularly guns that shoot projectiles, even if they are not firearms. "That is grounds for suspension," he said.

Maggio said even if there were another middle school in the area, a juvenile who violates the safe school policy would still end up at Southwest Education Academy, an alternative school program.

"Transferring them is not a good solution," he said. "Instead, we put the student in an environment where there is more structure and a lower student ratio."

The amount of time students stay at the academy also depends on the situation, Maggio said.

"Depending on the circumstance, the expulsion could last for the maximum," he said. The maximum time a child could be expelled from the traditional school is one calendar year.