No charges for air guns/ DA says Air Academy students broke no

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Nov 13, 2003 | by LAURA B. MARTINEZ

The 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office will not file criminal charges against Air Academy High School students accused of taking air guns to school and firing them on campus.

After reviewing the case, the District Attorney's Office decided no crime had been committed, Assistant District Attorney Dan May said.

For criminal charges to be filed, it would need to be proved the Air Soft Pistols were deadly weapons and that the students planned to use them in such a manner.

"Although a facsimile of a deadly weapon, they do not meet the definition of an actually deadly weapon either in the way they were intended to be used nor in the way they were used in this case," the District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Air Academy Principal Dr. Erik Fredell said several students fired a pellet gun on school grounds Oct. 31 while involved in some type of game. One student was hit by a pellet, but there were no serious injuries.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office confiscated two air guns from the students Nov. 4.

The investigation was completed Friday and turned over to the District Attorney's Office that same day, said Lt. Rodney Gehrett of the Sheriff's Office.

Although the students did not violate criminal law, they did violate Colorado statutes by taking the air guns on campus.

The statutes call for immediate expulsion.

A student can be expelled for one calendar year or for a semester, depending on the recommendation by the school's principal. A student has the right to appeal the expulsion.

Nanette Anderson, spokeswoman for Academy District 20, which oversees Air Academy High School, said Wednesday some stu- dents involved in the incident will be expelled.

Others have been suspended for 10 days. She declined to say how many students will be expelled and how many were suspended, citing student privacy matters.

School district officials repeatedly have declined to say how many students were involved in the incident, saying it was a private matter and the rights of the students must be protected.

They declined to say whether any teachers have been placed on administrative leave because that is a personnel matter.

Students gathered last week at the school to protest the suspensions. School officials said the students gathered to express their concerns to administration.

"A lot of the students have been questioning it and are upset about it, but it's state law," Anderson said.