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

DATE: FRIDAY, December 17, 1993                   TAG: 9312170148
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

STUDENT SUSPENDED FOR BRINGING GUN TO SCHOOL

A 15-year-old boy was suspended from school Wednesday morning after his principal found a 9mm pistol in his lunch bag.

The student caught the attention of personnel at Villa Heights Education Center, a special-education school, because he was being overly attentive to his lunch bag.

"We're just careful," Principal Roger Magerkurth said.

When Magerkurth confronted the youngster and asked to look into the bag, the student offered no resistance.

Magerkurth took the bag into another room, opened it, and found the pistol, 14 rounds of loose ammunition and an empty clip wrapped in a T-shirt.

The principal called police and suspended the youth for 10 days in accordance with Roanoke School Board policy.

The student now faces a disciplinary board, which could expel him from the school.

He also faces a criminal charge of possessing a firearm on school property. He was taken to Coyner Springs Juvenile Detention Center.

The student refused to tell Magerkurth or the police why he was carrying the gun.

by CNB