Toy gun causes scare at school

TORRINGTON -- Rumors fueled parents’ fears when school officials confiscated a toy pellet gun from an East School elementary student Thursday morning.


"(The student) did not bring the gun to hurt anyone," said Grace G. Michnevitz, principal of East School on Hogan-Petricone Drive, Thursday night. "He was upset that it was broken."


The male student, who is 9 or 10 years old, was carrying a clear-colored Airsoft gun that fires plastic pellets in his backpack, Michnevitz said.

The gun had a broken piece and the student was planning on going with his babysitter to get it fixed after school, but was upset on the bus ride and threatened to get a gun and kill himself to gain attention, Michnevitz said.

Rumors that the student threatened to kill everyone on the bus circulated throughout the day and eventually led some parents with children on the bus to demand the student be placed on another bus, Michnevitz said.

Concerned parents also called Torrington police, and an officer went to the school to investigate.

Michnevitz assured the officer that the situation was under control and the student did not represent a danger to others.

To quell parents’ fears, Michnevitz moved the student to a smaller bus and sent a letter home to parents to explain the situation.

"I talked to him with a psychiatrist," Michnevitz said. "The boy was fine."

The student served an in-school suspension for the day and was then taken home by Michnevitz.

During her research around East School Thursday, Michnevitz discovered about 20 other students in the school who have a similar type of toy gun that the children use to play a form of tag.

"These are very dangerous items," Michnevitz said. "Apparently these children are not being supervised (when using these guns)."

Airsoft guns have been around for about 30 years and are less powerful than traditional BB guns that fire metal pellets, Airsoft Extreme dealer Andrew Ho said.

Ho manages a store in Torrance, Calif., and sells hundreds of these guns from five retail outlets and a Web site.

"I deal in the higher-end guns that can cost up to $2,000," Ho said. "You must treat them like real guns."

While many of the mass-market guns are colored or clear to differentiate them from real weapons, others look extremely real and could be mistaken for a real gun, Ho said.

That is one reason Ho demands buyers to sign a waiver and be older than 18.

Models sold by BB gun manufacturer Daisy for around $25 are less realistic, but still require supervision, Ho said.

"I understand the concerns about children bringing them to school," Ho said.

Torrington Schools Superintendent Susan O’Brien had not been notified of the incident as of Thursday night, but said the letter to parents was a standard procedure.

"You can’t bring anything like that to school," O’Brien said. "Bringing any kind of weapon is a serious infraction."

Replica gun gets student in trouble

A 15-year-old girl was detained by Simi Valley police for allegedly taking a toy replica gun to Simi Valley High School on April 20.

Simi Valley Police School Resource Officer Arnold Baynard received information from a Ventura County sheriff's deputy that the student was in possession of a firearm on the campus. The deputy had received the information from a student in another city.

The girl was found and detained at school. Baynard took an Airsoft pistol out of the student's pocket.

The toy pistol was a replica of a Glock model 26 9-mm pistol. The toy uses compressed air to shoot small plastic BB-sized pellets. The toy is nearly identical to the real thing and looks and feels like a firearm.

There was no evidence that the student intended to use the pistol to commit a crime or to threaten or hurt anyone. The toy gun was not loaded.

The girl was cited and released. She will be dealt with in the Juvenile Court system on a criminal charge. The Simi Valley School District will address whether the girl can continue to attend school.

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Tishomingo Student Shot in the Face by Replica Airsoft Gun

A Johnston County boy was shot in the face with an airsoft pistol. After a boy brought a gun replica to Tishmingo Middle School on the anniversary of columbine. his friend took it out of his back pack and fired. KTEN's Sarah Lindenberg reports.

Police say the gun was an exact replica of a colt 1911 government model. A gun originally used by the US military..... And copied as a toy.

In this incident the boy brought the gun to school and was in his last hour at gym class when his friend took it out of his bag.

Principal Larry Davis said the boy should have reported it .....not fired it.

The boy that shot the weapon was suspended for five days.

The boy that brought it.....was suspended for ten days.

The Tishmingo Police Chief met with the Assistant District Attorney today to discuss whether the gun qualifies as a fire arm.

The A.D.A. said it was a toy and the boy will be charged with a simple assault.

Police say the only thing different about this gun and a real gun is the weight and its markings.

"It is pretty realistic looking alot of them have an orange tip what we seee is kids will paint over the tip or the tip will pop off," Shannon Smith Tishmingo Police said.

The 12-year-old boy's case will now move onto the juvenile services unit. The boy that was shot sustained a minor welt on his jaw.

Sarah Lindneberg KTEN News.

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Fake gun near Beaverton middle school results in arrest

This is a press release courtesy of the Beaverton Police Department
BEAVERTON, Ore. - On April 24 at about 3:45 p.m., Beaverton Police were summoned to Conestoga Middle School regarding a report of a man with a gun on school property.

Two parents waiting for their child to exit the school were parked at the curb when they noticed the suspect walk by and approach a group of students in the parking lot.

They saw him pull out a black handgun from the back of his pants and show it to the group that surrounded him.

At one point the complainants observed the suspect press the gun into the stomach of one of the students.

Other witnesses said he "worked the slide" back and forth and pointed it at the school pulling the trigger.

The suspect eventually put the gun into the back of his pants and rode off on his skateboard.

The school was put into lockdown while police attempted to locate the suspect.

The suspect was located by responding officers several blocks away and handcuffed until authorities could determine exactly what happened.

The suspect was armed with a sheathed knife and a realistic looking black Glock replica Airsoft handgun which fires small plastic BB-like projectiles.

The suspect said that he was just showing it to some friends and acknowledged that doing it in front of a school was probably a bad idea.

Dusten Jacob Williams, 20, was charged with Disorderly Conduct.

Conestoga students departure from school was delayed for less than ten minutes.

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Police find sure fire way to fund teams with Airsoft

AS police officers opened fire on each other with machine guns and pistols, a lone voice cried out "I've been hit".
But fortunately, the man had only been struck by a mock bullet as he took part in an exercise aimed at preparing officers for dangerous situations at work.

Two teams of Peterborough police officers took part in the unusual team building session at the airsoft base at former RAF Upwood, near Ramsey.

Clambering over rubble, stalking through glass strewn corridors and seeking shelter behind make-shift barricades, the 30 officers did their best to out-wit each other to win the game.

Dressed in combat gear, they fired small plastic "bullets" at each other from a range of weapons.

The outing was designed to encourage officers to work better together in potentially life-threatening situations.

Pc Lloyd Groves, who organised the event, said: "We wanted to do a team-building exercise and this was a chance to do something a bit different.

"You have to work with each other. A lot of the skills you learn here can be translated into working practices for when we are on the streets and up against difficult situations.

"It makes you really aware of each other. You're constantly aware of who's near you and exactly where they are. That is a massively helpful thing to be able to take back into jobs.

"And it's a lot of fun and a good way of getting rid of tension and stress."

Pc Lee Crane, who was taking part in Airsoft for the first time, said: "If you get into difficult or dangerous situations at work you need to be able to trust your colleagues completely.

"This kind of exercise gives us the chance to get to know each other and trust each other, and that will transfer to our work so that we're all better prepared for any situation."

Pc Rachel Schwinger added: "It's been really good and has been great for team building. We'll all trust each other much more after this."

ET reporter Sally Lowe has a go

Arriving at RAF Upwood, I was greeted by an eerie silence. The abandoned buildings at the former airforce site near Ramsey looked deserted, doors hanging off hinges and smashed panes of glass in windows.

Then the silence was broken by the sound of gun fire and the anguished cry of "I'm hit."

Team leader John Dean was soon on hand to kit me out. After making me pull on a gas-mask style face guard, he then handed over the gun, an alarmingly powerful-feeling rifle –

with the power to fire plastic bullets a distance of more than 20 feet.

I was drafted in to the red team – our aim to attack a blue-team bolt hole, "kill" the occupants and seize control of the building.

Fearing a little for my safety, I decided to stick close to John, tailing him along the side of a building before ducking in through a door, gun raised.

Scrambling down a corridor, John warned me to keep pressed up against the wall as we darted into a room.

Heart pounding, I crept over to the window and crouched beneath the sill just as a hail of bullets came streaming through the window above me. Luckily none of them hit.

Peering out through the window, I could see a red team member lurking behind a window in the opposite building. Shaking with nerves, I raised my gun above the ledge and fired, hoping for the best. I failed to hit my target, instead shattering several panels of glass, and I was greeted with a further shower of bullets for my troubles.

Scrabbling across to the next window, I could get a clearer view of my target. Took aim, and hit! Fantastic!

I only experienced a sample of what Airsoft has to offer, but it certainly got my blood pumping and gave me a taste of how it feels to be in a life-threatening situation.

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Military-style game gaining popularity in the Upstate

Crawling on his

stomach through the

South Carolina woods with

a gun aimed at his enemy on a recent Sunday, James Goey was living his idea of the ultimate hobby.

Goey is just one of many people in the Upstate -- and across the country -- who are catching on to a game called airsoft, a game in which players participate in the simulation of military or law-enforcement combat with replica military firearms and military-style tactics. The firearms used can be made of metal or plastic and usually fire 6 mm or 8 mm spherical projectiles -- known as BBs -- that weigh 110 to 600 milligrams.

Most airsoft BBs are standard plastic pellets; others can be starch-based biodegradable, metal-coated, graphite-coated (often used by snipers) or steel.

The game is popular in Asia where it got its start because firearms are difficult or impossible to obtain because of local laws. Because of this, most airsoft guns, accessories and aftermarket upgrade parts are made in these countries. The hobby has a huge online presence that fuels its growth.

It was that online community, as well as the weapons, that drew in Goey.

When a friend showed him a gun and explained the game, Goey decided to give airsoft a try. But at the time, very few people were playing the game in the Upstate, so he started playing with a few friends in the woods behind his house. It was ultimately a trip to Dalton, Ga., where he played with more than 120 people that got him really excited about the game. He now has his own team -- Wolf Pak.

"We were hooked after that," he said, while his fellow Airsoft players nodded in agreement.

Mark Schreiber, 32, organizer of the S.C. Airsoft Association from Simpsonville, said only a year ago there were just a handful of players in the area, but now there are more than 100 in the Upstate and double that in the state.

"It's still kind of new," Schreiber said, "especially in the South. But I can guarantee you that in a year we will double or triple the number of players that we have now. It's growing week by week and day by day."

Scott Mills, 42, and his son Richard Mills, 26, enjoy the hobby together, and travel from their home in Newberry to various Airsoft events. Mills realizes that people might think his hobby is silly, but Airsoft players are the first to mock themselves.

"It's playing army men," Scott Mills whispered with a smile.

While Airsoft is just now entering the radar of Southern sports and hobby enthusiasts, the average person on the street has probably never heard of Airsoft.

Various aspects of the game draw in Airsoft players.

Larry Davis, a high-school student from Greenville, got involved three months ago when he realized the short-term cost of playing Airsoft was cheaper than paintball, a gateway sport that draws in many Airsoft players.

"I can buy 5,000 rounds for $5 dollars at Wal-Mart but only 2,000 cost $75 in paintball," Davis said, while he showed off his gun from Japan.

If you ran into any of the Airsoft players on the street you might be fooled into thinking they are military. Davis was outfitted right down to his snakebite kit and boots, not to mention the Kevlar hat and bulletproof vest.

Mark Waggoner, 37, from Easley is also a newcomer to the hobby. Waggoner served active duty in the army for 10 years, so you might think he'd be tired of all of the guns, but his love of the game was evident during a recent game. He acknowledged that he is one of the "older players" in the group, but praised the younger players' discipline and knowledge. He dispelled what might be some people's first impression of Airsoft -- a bunch of guys running around shooting off fake ammunition carelessly.

"You would be surprised at how mature the players act out here and how responsible most of them are," he said.

Responsibility is a key issue, since many players have to be careful where they have their guns, even just taking them to a game in their cars on the weekend. There have been cases of Airsoft weapons being mistaken for their real counterparts.

Airsoft does have a few drawbacks, most notably that players get so immersed in the game they might not realize the financial burden. Waggoner pointed out that Airsoft is "just like any other hobby" where people don't realize the long-term accumulated costs.

There is also a fee that players must pay the owner of the facility where a game is played. At big events that draw teams from all over a region, that fee can reach up to $150, such as events held at actual military training facilities. Typical local fees are much lower.

But the fees don't stop more and more people from jumping into the Airsoft scene.

Valerie Adcock, one of two female Airsoft players at a recent game, said there are usually only a couple of women at the events. She and her boyfriend, Kyle Chanko, play together -- what some might consider an unusual date.

"I know I'm good at it, and I like the whole hide and seek thing," Adcock said.

Her boyfriend agreed.

"I just like to play games with other people," Chanko said. "It's a good community."

And the exercise and fresh air are a bonus, even if the price is ammunition whizzing by your head.

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High school student cited over replica airsoft gun

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High school student cited over replica gun
April 21, 2006

A Simi Valley High School student suspected of bringing a replica gun to campus has been cited, officials said Thursday.

The 15-year-old female was arrested, then released to her parent or guardian, the Simi Valley Police Department said. She is expected to appear in Juvenile Court on an undetermined date. Police are not disclosing her name because she is younger than 18.

The school district office was closed when police released information about the incident. It is unknown if the district took separate disciplinary action.

A Ventura County Sheriff's deputy was told that the teen had a firearm. The deputy called Simi Police Officer Arnold Baynard, who notified school officials and arrived just before 1 p.m. to detain the student. Baynard allegedly found an airsoft pistol that looked like a 9 mm Glock handgun in her pants pocket. It uses compressed air to shoot small plastic pellets, police said. It was not loaded. Police Lt. Paul Fitzpatrick held the toy gun and said it looked and felt like a real firearm.

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Teens charged in pellet gun shooting

LONG HILL -- Two teenagers are charged with firing a pellet gun at another group of juveniles, police said.

Daniel Silvershein, 18, of Warren Township and a 17-year-old Stirling boy, whose identity is being withheld because of his age, were charged with possessing a firearm for unlawful purposes and disorderly conduct following a short investigation, police Capt. Dan Hedden said.

Police were called to Somerset Street 9:50 p.m. Thursday after getting a report that two juveniles had been struck by pellets fired from a passing motor vehicle, Hedden said.

At the scene, police were told that someone discharged a pellet gun at the group of youths who were gathered on the lawn of the Stirling Manor Apartment Complex. One juvenile was hit in the thigh and another in the area of her collarbone although neither suffered any injuries, Hedden said.

Police were able to locate Daniel Silvershein hours later at his Warren home, where two Airsoft pellet hand guns and a bag containing 10,000 pellets were recovered in the family's garbage can. Silvershein had turned himself into the Long Hill Township Police at 9:30 a.m. on Friday.

Township Municipal Court Judge James Bride issued a complaint warrant for Silvershein charging him with possessing a firearm for unlawful purposes, a crime of the second degree. He was also charged on a separate complaint for disorderly conduct before being released from police custody on his own recognizance with a pending court date.

The 17-year-old boy turned himself into police at 1:30 p.m. and he was charged with possessing a firearm for unlawful purposes, a crime of the second degree and disorderly conduct The youth was turned over to the custody of a parent with a pending court date in Morris County Juvenile Court.

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Toy guns lead to A very close Cal

Toy guns that resemble the real thing were at the heart of a tense encounter April 1.

By Sheila Hagar of the Union-Bulletin

``My main concern is, it's an accident waiting to happen.''

Linda Coronado

her son Tony was among three people detained by police while playing with toy guns.

It could have been taken from a cop reality show. Three males were on their knees with wavering hands held high in the air. A young man gave a frightened sob as flashlight beams sliced through the dark.

Behind the kneeling figures, a neatly manicured lawn in front of a family-sized porch added a touch of the surreal.

In fact, nothing was quite what it seemed at first glance.

On April 1, Walla Walla police officers responded to what a caller told them looked like an armed robbery of a neighborhood convenience store. When they arrived at about 10 p.m., it looked like the caller suspected - three figures were in the street, running, ducking behind trees, darting into car ports. All had hoods tied close around their faces and wore glasses or goggles.

All were carrying pistols in their hands.

At least, that's what officers assumed from what they saw.

It turned out the only lethal weapons that night were in the hands of law enforcement. The three men became one adult and two youths, ages 12 and 14.

And the armed robbery was actually a form of tag one night during Walla Walla's recent spring break.

The game was meant to chase away cabin fever, said Nathaniel Vickers, a Union-Bulletin employee.

Vickers, 43, was spending time with the two neighbor boys while his daughters were at a church youth dance, he said. Boredom had set in until he suggested going outside with the ``soft air'' guns belonging to one of the boys.

These air guns are increasingly popular for target practice and recreation, police say. The toy weapons shoot brightly colored and almost weightless plastic BBs, and are lumped in the same category as paint ball and pellet-style guns. By law, soft air guns must have red or orange tips.

``I made sure everyone had goggles or glasses on, because you don't want to get one of those plastic pellets in your eyes,'' Vickers said. He also advised the boys to snug their sweatshirt hoods down tight, to keep the eyewear in place and to protect their ears and skin.

He was under the impression toy gun play is legal, he said. ``I've seen so many kids under the age of 18 with them.''

It was when he laughingly shouted for the boys to stop - he'd dropped his ammunition - that Vickers slowed down long enough to notice the trio was no longer alone on Park Street. ``The next thing I knew, we were surrounded by the police and they told us to drop our weapons.''

It seemed to Vickers at the time as if he and the boys had assault weapons pointed at their heads, he recalled.

All three responded promptly, eager to demonstrate the guns were fake. ``I held it out like this,'' Vickers said, extending clasped fingers far from his body. ``I said, `Sir, it's a toy weapon.'''

Nonetheless, all were kept on their knees and searched while police kept their guns at ``low ready.''

``They were detained with weapons drawn,'' agreed Sgt. Michael Ralston of the Walla Walla Police Department. He noted it was two officers on the scene, while two others stayed in the distance. The weapons were the .40-caliber Glock handguns Walla Walla officers routinely carry.

The officers responded completely appropriately given the information they received of a potentially dangerous situation, Ralston said. The air guns were on the street in plain view at 10 p.m. next to the Alder Street Apex Food and Deli convenience store.

The tag players got the message, Vickers said. ``The police were determined to explain it was a serious situation.''

He added he didn't like the way the officers spoke to them. Nonetheless, his embarrassment at being on his knees in his neighborhood as a result of playing with a toy gun equaled his momentary anger, Vickers remembered.

The mother of one of the boys liked her son's involvement even less. Linda Coronado was asleep on her couch 20 feet from where her 12-year-old son, Tony Manns, was being searched. ``When they came in and told me, I thought it was an April Fools,'' she said.

It was Tony's 14-year-old friend Michael who brought the guns over, she said. Coronado is opposed to toy guns, and even keeps her son's cap pistol out of sight. ``My main concern is, it's an accident waiting to happen.''

Although no one was cited by police over the incident, her family is still affected by it. Tony, a sixth-grader at Pioneer Middle School, barely left the house for days following the scare and is undergoing counseling, his mom said. In the meantime, Coronado hopes to get the story out to other parents.

Tony, at 5-foot-9, and 179 pounds, was initially mistaken for an adult. ``If he had panicked and made a false move, he could be dead,'' Coronado believes. ``A child being exposed to that kind of violence could freak out.''

Airsoft brand and other toy guns are manufactured to look ``more and more like real guns. This is teaching kids how to load guns,'' she said, referring to the slip-in magazines. ``All it takes is a phone call to summon the police when a toy gun is being used.''

She concedes she is unhappy the guns are sold just across the street at Apex, although Michael's guns did not come from that business.

Apex owner Young Cho carries the Double Eagle M47B soft air shotgun, keeping it on a high shelf behind the register. While it weighs a mere three pounds, it sports a scope and a sleek, black body; the mandatory red tip is but a fraction of the body of the toy.

Cho, who has owned the store about 18 months, said he will not allow his children to play with soft air guns. But his business, which caters to neighborhood children and those at the nearby YMCA, has sold several. Buyers are asked for identification to ensure the 18-or-older requirement is upheld, he said.

Coronado said she has seen Apex employees demonstrating the gun to kids in the parking lot. As a mother and a nearby resident, she finds it disturbing. ``It's not a crime for an employee to take the guns out to the parking lot, but the franchise should know what the employee is doing.''

Written into Title 9 of the City of Walla Walla municipal code are several subsections regarding ``public peace, morals and welfare.'' Within those, clause 9.15 discusses firearms, missiles and air guns: discharging any type of air gun is prohibited anywhere at any time in Walla Walla, it states.

Which is fine with Coronado. Tony, who makes good grades and plays AAU basketball, has pestered his mother to buy a toy gun for him, he said.

She was reluctant prior to the April 1 incident, and she is more vehement now. ``I don't want Tony even playing with a gun...any kind of gun,'' Coronado responded.

She had already warned her son about potential dangers, telling him something could happen at any time with kids playing with the look-alike pistols.

``I knew her words would come true,'' Tony chimed in. ``They always do.''

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Teen charged for airsoft gun at school

Prosecutors filed criminal charges Tuesday against a 14-year-old boy who brought a handgun to Chinook Middle School.

The student was charged in Thurston County Juvenile Court with unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a weapon on school grounds. The student, who has been in custody since his arrest Friday, is scheduled for a court hearing today on terms of his release.

He faces 60 days in juvenile detention if convicted of both charges. He is not being named because of his age and because he didn’t threaten anyone with the gun.

“We’re taking it very seriously,” Deputy Prosecutor Laura Murphy said. “We recognize that although he didn’t threaten anybody, he still had a gun with ammunition at school. We’re really concerned about that.”

School officials discovered the 9 mm gun last Friday after bringing the boy to an administrator’s office because he had singed another student’s neck hair with a cigarette lighter. Officials searched the boy’s school bag and found the gun, along with a clip with two rounds.

The boy then gave officials the names of two boys to whom he’d shown the gun. Officials searched their backpacks and found an Airsoft pellet gun, makeshift brass knuckles and knives. None of them threatened anyone or were planning to use the weapons on other students, officials said.

The other two students do not face criminal charges. The Airsoft gun, which fires rubber pellets, is spring-loaded and does not fall under the dangerous weapons statute, Murphy said.

The state law prohibiting firearms on school campuses also requires a mandatory mental health evaluation for any students arrested on suspicion of taking a gun to school. A judge will hear the report on the Lacey student during today’s hearing.

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Gun battle's a victory for the peacekeepers

THE first attempt was such a huge success that the teenagers were keen to return to the use of guns to settle their differences – soft pellet BB guns, that is.

But this was no warfare, It was a team-building exercise involving opposing groups of "goths" and "chavs".

Earlier this week, they swapped their distinctive clothes for combats to take part in a friendship-fostering day of army warfare.

The youngsters were put into mixed teams and battled it out in an army-style event where they use plastic "Airsoft" pellets in organised wargames.

The event follows two similar days last year, when city centre street wardens thought up the scheme after a series of violent clashes in Cathedral Square.

Complaints were pouring in about youngsters drinking alcohol, violence, vandalism and litter, and when the youths began firing ball bearing guns at each other it was the final straw.

In October, street wardens took a group of 20 youngsters to tear around a secret location in Cambridgeshire, firing pot-shots at each other in a bid to build bridges between the groups.

The day was hailed a huge success, and reports of trouble have been on the decline since – leading to the latest event being arranged.

Phillip Makepeace, city centre manager for the city council, added: "This scheme was the brainchild of the city's street wardens and its success is down to their hard work and initiative.

"By interacting with groups of young people we can make the city centre a safer and more attractive place for everybody."

The unique scheme has attracted national and international interest as it encourages a sense of respect among young people, as well as drawing out leadership qualities and teaching a sense of responsibility.

Steve Mayes, street warden supervisor for the city council, said: "One added value for the street wardens is they get to know many of the youngsters' first names and vice versa, which is of great help when the city wardens have to challenge bad behaviour in the city centre.

"Many of the youngsters can then help the wardens to resolve issues by applying peer pressure."

The sessions will be paid for by the youngsters themselves, but will be subsidised by airsoft company Freefire Zone.

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Bags begin going down with airsoft guns

Eleven-year-old Davis Geske found a creative use for leftover sandbags.

He and friends from his Fargo neighborhood built bunkers to hide in while they played with Airsoft BB guns Saturday.

Each team started in a bunker and the boys shot each other with the soft pellets to eliminate the other players.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Jon Roscoe, 11.

Floodwaters pushed into the Geskes’ backyard near Lindenwood Park, but didn’t come close enough to the house for them to need the sandbags.

As river levels continued to recede Saturday, homeowners began removing sandbags and cleaning up.

The National Weather Service lifted flood warnings for the Sheyenne River at West Fargo and the Maple River at Mapleton, N.D.

Clay County officials reopened Highway 26 from Highway 75 north to the Red River. Water remains on the road, but motorists can drive on it with caution.

In Fargo, the Red River was at 34.2 feet Saturday afternoon, down more than three feet from Wednesday’s crest at 37.11 feet.

To the north, cities including Drayton and Pembina, both in North Dakota, were still waiting for the Red River to crest, and high water was still presenting problems. But officials in most areas were making plans to begin the process of returning to normal.

In Grand Forks, N.D., officials said they hoped to reopen the downtown Sorlie Bridge on Monday, and the Point Bridge on the south edge of downtown as early as midweek. The Kennedy Bridge currently is the only open link between Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, Minn.

In Oakport Township north of Moorhead, Steve Schwindt started the task of taking down the ring of sandbags that kept his home dry.

BAGS JUMP

“It’s easier to pick up the dike than to clean up the basement,” Schwindt said.

A shed in the family’s backyard remained underwater Saturday, but other items including an elf lawn ornament and a cooler had resurfaced.

Schwindt also began raking sticks out of the grass and back into the river.

His wife, Joanna Schwindt, said the flood brings large logs to their backyard that need to be pushed back into the river.

“The hard part is the cleanup,” she said.

Their neighbor Joe Himle worked on removing a line of sandbags that went in front of his garage.

About 10 people helped him put up the sandbags, but “they never come around to take it down,” he said.

It will be a few days before he can clean up a shop and another building on his property that still have high water.

The contents of his shed – three lawnmowers, a furnace, a refrigerator and saws – are in his yard and garage until the water recedes.

Himle said he will use the extra sand on the road leading to his shed that was washed out.

He plans to beef up his flood protection for next time.

“This is getting tiresome,” Himle said.


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Olympia Student Arrested For Bringing Airsoft Handgun To School

OLYMPIA -- A student at Olympia's Chinook Middle School has been arrested for bringing a handgun to school.

Two other students were expelled Friday after officials found weapons in their backpacks. One boy had an Airsoft pistol, a knife and makeshift brass knuckles and the other had a small folding buck knife in his backpack.

Officials found no evidence that the boys planned to use the weapons.

The student who had the gun told police he brought it from home to show others at school. The weapon belongs to his father. District officials say there was no evidence of threats against the school, students or staff

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Airsoft gunman still unidentified at SDSU

A female campus custodian was reportedly held at gunpoint last week in Hepner Hall by a man who claimed to be from SWAT, McManus said. The custodian said the gunman then fled the area.

There were no suspects at the time, although University Police speculated that the gun owner might have been connected with a University Towers resident who was caught with an airsoft gun Monday night.

"Detectives are still looking into it," McManus said. "But we're still leaning toward (the idea that) it was probably a guy playing around at night.

"We went through that building with a fine-toothed comb, and no offices had been burglarized to make us think that somebody had interrupted a crook with a gun."

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Fort Pierce man hit with BB pellet from airsoft gun but doesn't press charges

A local man sustained a facial injury Friday night when he was hit in the eye with a BB air gun pellet, according to reports.
Josh Campbell, 24, of the 2200 block of Elizabeth Avenue, was in his driveway working on his truck when a 24-year-old man approached and shot an airsoft rubber BB into the truck. The BB ricocheted off the carpet of the vehicle and into Campbell's right eye.
Campbell's injuries were minor, officials said. He believed the incident was accidental, he reportedly told deputies.
The other man, who was not identified, sustained minor injury near his left eye when he was shot with Campbell's airsoft gun earlier Friday, reports said. Neither man faced charges.
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