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When we hear stories about teens and kids committing violent crimes, many of us automatically think: Where were his parents? Here's one case of an incident that could have well turned into the next Newtown but was stopped in part because of parents who were paying attention.
A 17-year-old Texas boy was arrested and will be tried as an adult after cops received a call from his worried parents, who had noticed their guns were missing and suspected their son had taken them. When police caught up with the sophomore at Madison High School, they found he was carrying two loaded handguns, ammunition, and a 12-inch knife in his backpack. The teen then admitted he had stashed a loaded AK-47 in a trashcan in the school bathroom and had planned to use it.
The boy, who is not being identified because of his age, confessed to authorities that he was planning to "commit a violent act." He told cops he was going to make a series of demands over the loud speaker during morning announcements and follow through with violent threats if those needs weren't met. The school was immediately placed on lock-down, which you can imagine wouldn't be a simple task considering it houses 3,200 students. Thank goodness, no one was injured and no shots were fired.
From what it sounds like, a nightmare scenario was avoided because this boy's mother and father were aware of the fact that their son was troubled and that he might have been capable of doing something violent. The craziness began after they discovered their son was missing from their home at 6 a.m. and reported him as a runaway. When they looked a short time later and noticed their guns had been taken, they rushed to their son's school to speak with authorities.
If it wasn't for their diligence, who knows what could have happened at this high school.
Even though he's underage, the teen is being charged on one count of making terrorist threats and a second count of possession of a weapon in a public place.
Do you think this teen should be charged as an adult or should he be treated as a troubled teen?
Image via brian.ch/Flickr
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