Weapons resembled 'real guns'/ Air Academy incident may not have been

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Nov 6, 2003 by ANSLEE WILLETT, THE GAZETTE

Two air guns confiscated from Air Academy High School students this week look similar to actual handguns, making it "potentially a very dangerous situation," a sheriff's official said Wednesday.

Football players used the airsoft guns, which are spring loaded and shoot plastic BBs, as part of a game on campus Friday, school officials and investigators with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said. No one was seriously injured.

Students were suspended for having the guns.

"That's a big concern that these types of weapons are on campuses because they do look like real guns," sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rodney Gehrett said.

"From a distance, a responding sheriff's deputy would have a real tough time telling these were not real guns," he said. "This could have escalated into a fatal shooting on the part of a deputy who did not know this was not a real gun."

The airsoft guns were confiscated Tuesday.

Sheriff's officials would not say what make and model the guns are.

Deputies still are talking to students about what they saw and are afraid if they release the make and model, some will look up pictures of it, which could affect what they say.

Gehrett would not say how many students were involved because the investigation is ongoing and the number could change.

"Right now, we're just trying to figure out exactly what happened," he said. "It was indicated to me it was more than a one- time thing."

Once the Sheriff's Office completes its investigation, the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office will review it to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.

Academy School District 20 officials would not say how many students were suspended or whether staff members were placed on administrative leave.

"Personnel and student disciplinary matters are always private to protect the rights of students and employees," D-20 spokeswoman Nanette Anderson said. Staff members are being investigated for "perhaps not taking the proper actions," she said.

No students have been expelled, she said, but bringing weapons to school calls for mandatory expulsion.

"They're not even supposed to bring anything that looks like a gun to school," Anderson said. "Even if it's bright neon orange and you could tell they were plastic, it doesn't matter.

"The fact they do look like real guns is worse."

Following Colorado state law, the school, which is at the Air Force Academy, has a zero tolerance policy for weapons on campus.

The law defines a dangerous weapon as "a firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, or a firearm facsimile that could easily be mistaken for an actual firearm. Any pellet or BB gun or other device, operational or not, designed to propel projectiles by spring action or compressed air."

Air Academy principal Erik Fredell sent a notice to parents, saying "several students" found playing with the guns at school Friday were suspended.

The investigation was widened and more students are thought to have been involved with possessing and using the guns at school, he wrote.

"Colorado state law is clear on this issue that this is a serious offense and cannot be taken lightly. ...Our first concern is always student safety. Our hope is that other students will learn from their mistakes and that we will continue to have a safe school for all," Fredell wrote.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0366 or awillett@gazette.com