Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 29, 1992 TAG: 9201290239
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
TEENS CAUGHT IN ROANOKE GUN INCIDENTS
Three teen-agers were arrested in gun-related incidents Monday in Roanoke, punctuating growing police concerns about deadly firepower in the hands of young people.Officials at Patrick Henry High School found a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol in the locker of a 16-year-old boy.
Roanoke police found a stolen pistol near an Orange Avenue motel after the manager confronted a young gunman.
Those incidents triggered a fiery response from Lt. Jerry Dean, the city's top juvenile police officer.
"There is something wrong with a community that is not standing up, raising hell and saying, `This must stop,' " Dean said. "We've got ticking time bombs walking the streets out here. When one explodes, is he going to take an innocent victim with him?"
Ray Rushton, the manager of Friendship Inn, could have found himself in that position Monday night.
As he left work, he spotted a teen-ager standing near a breezeway leading to a drink machine. Rushton got into his truck and drove toward the building.
When he looked into the breezeway, he could see two more teen-agers standing near the drink machine. The coin box was lying on the floor.
Rushton jumped out and went toward the youngsters, who started running out the back of the breezeway. Rushton drove his truck around the building and spotted the teen-agers climbing a hill.
Witnesses told police they heard several gunshots when Rushton drove toward the boys. He said he didn't hear the shots.
But when he finally caught up with one of the young men near the back of Casey's, a restaurant, Rushton saw the youngster tucking a black handgun into his coat.
Rushton, who said it looked like a pellet gun, ordered the youngster to stop.
"Look here," he remembered saying. "The cops are on the way."
The boy kept running.
Police later arrested two 17-year-olds in connection with the incident. They found a stolen 9mm pistol on the motel grounds, and a shotgun, knife and crowbar in the car in which the youngsters were riding.
Earlier in the day, students at Patrick Henry High School were worried about a classmate with a gun and went to school officials.
School officials searched the locker of the 16-year-old boy and found a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol. The youngster told police he had bought the pistol from two men on Salem Avenue early Monday.
When he was taken before a juvenile intake officer, he was turned over to the custody of his parents.
That decision disturbs Dean, a veteran officer known for his frank comments.
"They didn't think it was serious enough to lock him up," Dean said, pointing out that the boy already had an impeding-police charge pending in court.
"What do they have to lose?" Dean asked. "We've got kids carrying 9mms, Mac-10s and .380-caliber pistols. They think it is a joke. Odds are, unless they shoot someone, they won't get locked up. They'll go home to Mommy."
Dean's frustration arises from a society that he feels is ill-equipped to deal with the problem. Police, he believes, are placed in a position between apathetic parents and an overburdened juvenile justice system.
"The answer is not that the facilities are overcrowded, [so] let's turn them back onto the streets," he said. "These kids are dangerous."
He said police are trying to stem the tide through programs such as Drug Awareness Resistance Education and school resource officers, who work with students in junior high.
"We've got to get these kids early enough to make an impression," he said. "These officers may be one of a few people to stand up in front of these children and tell them that they are worth something."
Tuesday, Dean occasionally peered out his office window as he smoked a cigarette. He recalled watching "Dragnet" as a boy.
"They were facing many of the same problems we are facing today," he said. "Nothing has been done about them."