GILROY
– The 13-year-old Gilroy boy charged with felony assault with a
deadly weapon for firing a pellet gun into a group of Gilroy High
School students Wednesday could face up to six years in juvenile
hall and jail, according to a deputy district attorney.
GILROY – The 13-year-old Gilroy boy charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon for firing a pellet gun into a group of Gilroy High School students Wednesday could face up to six years in juvenile hall and jail, according to a deputy district attorney.
Deputy DA Johnny Gogo, who will prosecute the boy, said Friday that the boy will remain at juvenile hall until the Dec. 30 court hearing and possibly much longer if he is convicted. The boy is being charged with three counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor for giving a false name to a police officer.
“In the penal code a pellet gun is listed as a deadly weapon,” Gogo said. “If you read the code it says assault with a deadly weapon, or by means likely to produce great bodily injury. A pellet gun can produce that injury.”
Meanwhile, GHS has taken disciplinary action against several of its seven students involved in the incident across the street from the high school, said GHS Principal Bob Bravo.
“I won’t go into specifics,” he said Friday, “but I can say multiple students did have action taken against them.”
Bravo said the disciplinary action taken against the students was in line with the district policy for a situation involving a confrontation in the school zone, but he would not say if any suspensions were handed down, citing school-parent confidentiality.
The confrontation began shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday when a group of four male and one female Gilroy High students met up with a group comprised of the gunman, a district student who does not attend GHS and two female GHS students, according to police.
After a brief exchange of words, the 13-year-old brandished the gun from his pants and fired six to seven rounds into the group from a close distance, grazing two students’ pants with pellets and hitting another near the ankle, according to police. The pistol contained an air cartridge, making it more powerful than most BB guns, police said.
District Superintendent Edwin Diaz could not be reached for comment on the punishments.
