Staff Reports
An 11-year-old W.D. Richards Elementary School student has been charged with a misdemeanor in juvenile court regarding allegations he told classmates on a school bus that he was bringing a gun to school.
The boy was initially charged with a preliminary charge of Level 6 felony intimidation in the case, after Columbus police and school resource officers were called to the school on Oct. 3 about the threat, police said.
A detention hearing was held on Oct. 4 at the Bartholomew County Courthouse for the male sixth grader, who is accused of making the claim about the gun while riding the school bus on his way to school.
A search turned up no weapon on the boy’s person or in his belongings, Columbus Police spokesman Lt. Matt Harris said in an earlier interview.
The detention hearing for the boy was closed on Oct. 4, and all remaining hearings will also be closed since the prosecutor’s office has decided to file the case as a misdemeanor.
Representatives from juvenile court and the prosecutor meet weekly to determine how cases involving defendants under 18 will be handled, although the choice is ultimately up to Prosecutor Bill Nash. Options in this case include filing a felony charge or a misdemeanor charge, or not filing any charges.
Under Indiana law, juvenile hearings involving charges that would be felonies if prosecuted in adult court are open to the public. Misdemeanor cases for juveniles are not open to the public.
The Oct. 3 incident was the 10th school threat reported in a Bartholomew County school since February 2018.
