Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 17, 1992                   TAG: 9203170304
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: NEAL THOMPSON EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ANOTHER GUN BROUGHT TO SCHOOL

A William Byrd High School 10th-grader was suspended from school last week for 10 days for bringing a loaded handgun to school - apparently to protect himself against vicious dogs near his bus stop.

Another William Byrd student had heard about the gun and told a teacher, who then told Principal Robert Patterson. Patterson said he called the student into his office, where the student pulled the small gun from his coat pocket and handed it over.

"Yeah, it was loaded," Patterson said. "I wasn't really nervous. We've never had any problems with the youngster before."

The youth told Patterson he was carrying the gun to use as protection against some vicious dogs near his bus stop, but that he didn't mean to bring it to school.

"He said that he had put this in his pocket and just forgotten about it," Patterson said.

The incident occurred March 10 and the gun was turned over to the Roanoke County Police Department, which will conduct its own investigation.

The youth was suspended for 10 days but faces the possibility of a longer suspension or even expulsion. A review committee will investigate the incident and interview the student and his parents to determine whether to recommend a harsher punishment.

Patterson said it was a one-time incident and he didn't think it signified a larger problem.

"This is the first time I've ever had a situation like that," he said.

The William Byrd incident joins a growing list of incidents involving teen-agers and guns. A Patrick Henry High School student was suspended in late January for bringing a handgun to school and stashing it in a locker. And a 14-year-old at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Franklin County brandished a .357-caliber Magnum in his classroom until a custodian talked him into giving up the gun.

Patterson said the problem of teens with guns may be perpetuating itself. He thinks students may be getting the idea to carry a gun from the increased news attention to the problem of kids with guns.

"There's been so much in the media about that stuff," Patterson said. "It gives them ideas. . . . When they see things in the newspaper or on the television, it just puts things in their minds."