Boy Arrested After Pointing Gun at Vice Principal

RENO — An eighth-grade boy armed with a small arsenal of semiautomatic handguns was arrested after pointing a weapon at a school vice principal.

Vaughn Middle School Vice Principal Pat Schellin disarmed the 14-year-old without incident.

None of the guns were loaded and no one was injured in the confrontation Tuesday that involved the boy, Schellin, a teacher and 12 students in a reading class, school officials said.

“I’ve never heard of any kid of any age with this many weapons,” district spokesman Steve Mulvenon said. “It was a small arsenal.”

The incident unfolded shortly before the boy’s second-period class when teachers noticed a commotion around the boy’s locker, and a number of students told Schellin they had seen the youth remove weapons.

Schellin said that when he confronted the boy, he pulled a TEC-9 pistol from his waistband and pointed it at him.

“He tried to be a tough guy about it. But you could see it in his eyes, and I know him well enough to know he wouldn’t do anything,” Schellin said.

Schellin demanded the gun and the boy handed it over, then pulled out another. The vice principal took that gun, also, then frisked the boy and found two more tucked in his waistband.

“Any time you see that many weapons, especially with other students around, you get a little nervous,” Schellin said.

Besides the TEC-9, the boy possessed a 9-millimeter pistol and two .38-caliber semiautomatic handguns, officials said.

The boy was arrested on 14 weapons-related charges and taken to juvenile detention. He also faces possible expulsion from school.