Are some schools taking their "zero tolerance" policies on guns too far? That question has been raised by the latest scandal surrounding airsoft guns in Virginia Beach, Va., after two seventh grade students were given long-term suspensions for playing with the toys while waiting for the school bus, WAVY News reports, while currently facing expulsion.
During a hearing Tuesday morning, school officials determined that Aidan Clark and Khalid Caraballo were to be suspended from school until June, the decision made with a unaminous vote. A follow-up hearing in January will determine whether or not the children will be allowed to return to school.
Caraballo and his friends were playing with "Zombie Hunter" airsoft guns, which use plastic pellets and are designated as non-lethal, on his private property, and he and Clark maintain that they never approached the bus with the toy guns, the stop being 70 yards away. Aidan's father, Tim Clark, told WAVY News that what happened to the children next defied "common sense," as they were "suspended for possession, handling and use of a firearm."
A concerned neighbor alerted 911 officers that Caraballo and his friends were shooting the "Zombie Hunter" guns at what appeared to be a target in a tree. The target, as it turns out, was part of the "Zombie Hunter" game, a picture of a zombie made for practice. It seems the neighbor was well aware of this, but it didn't stop them from phoning 911.
"This is not a real one, but it makes people uncomfortable," the neighbor told the dispatcher of the toy gun. "I know that it makes me [uncomfortable], as a mom, to see a boy pointing a gun."
WAVY News reports that in a twist of irony, the concerned neighbor's son was playing with Caraballo and his friends at the time, as there were a total of six children in the yard. It is believed that what prompted the neighbor to make the 911 phone call was when Clark shot his friend, and their son, in the back.
"He knew we had the airsoft gun. He knew we were playing. He knew people were getting shot. We were shooting at the tree, but he still came and even after he was shot he still played," Clark told WAVY News of the son of the concerned neighbor.
"My son is my private property," argued Khalid's mother, Solangel Caraballo, who was not at home when the incident occurred. "He does not become the school's property until he goes to the bus stop, gets on the bus, and goes to school."
Clark's father, Tim, told WAVY News that his son will be homeschooled instead of attending an alternative school, while Carabello will attend an alternative school.
As for how Khalid feels, he told WAVY News that the decision to have him pulled from his school has been "terrible," and he fears it will affect his chances of a better education down the road.
"I won't get the chance to go to a good college," he said. "It's on your school record. The school said I had possession of a firearm. They aren't going to ask me any questions. They are going to think it was a real gun, and I was trying to hurt someone. They will say 'oh, we can't accept you.'"
Click here to see a video report on the two tweens facing expulsion from middle school for allegedly shooting airsoft "Zombie Hunter" guns near their bus stop.
