Another thug in training. Lock up whoever is responsible for this child.

The police need to go to the child's home and arrest the parent(s).

This is crazy his parents or guardians should be arrested for being so careless. What if the teacher hadn't overheard him threatening another student?? He could have ruined two or more lives in the process.

The child needs a psychiatric evaluation. Obviously, he's not capable of truly comprehending at 8 how shooting another child could impact his - and the other child's - life. How he gained access to a loaded gun at 8 though is incomprehensible.

"May face suspension or expulsion"??? How about mandatory expulsion and a stretch at juvie? Oh, and prison for the parents, too.

Imagine what that would say to the law-abiding students and parents at that school if nothing bad happens to this kid or his parents.

Welcome to Baltimore!

I love how Americans are so shocked but was has occured. This has been going on in most cities in America for some time now. We as nation continue to ignore the ghettos in America and the poverty our own people must endure on a daily basis. Leave you comfort zone(your neighborhood & your peaceful mind) for a moment and really see whats going on in our cities. Ths may be a child to most Americans but an 8 yr old in the ghetto is like a 13 or 14 yr old. This kid has probably been exposed to more negativity then most Americans have been exposed to in their lifetime. He probably has the gun for self defense because he needs it. Wake up America.

Catherine Stickney - seriously, throwing a 3rd grader in prison is your response ? Maybe someone should lock you up for your violent and abusive tendencies towards little children, then put you on a list to be watched.

This is a serious situation, and requires a serious and sane response - "lock everyone up" is a knee-jerk reaction most often expressed by cowards who don't have the intelligence or experience required to handle real-life problems. Deciding to throw away a child's life when he's in 3rd grade shouldn't be something you do so off-handed... but then, I suppose that there are some folks find that to be the best solution (at least for "city kids").

That's my boy. He needed it for protection.

First, stop stereotyping all city youth. Especially if you have never lived in the city, that shows ignorance. Second, an 8 year old kid does not belong in prison, or being arrested. This would never happen to a rich kid in Howard County. I do believe his guardians should face a harsh penalty and the KID needs whatever treatment deemed neccessary. But putting him in any type of prison instead of treating him is basically putting on a track to a life time of crime.

I cannot believe my eye reading these posts that defend this thug in training.

You all are part of the problem, not the solution.

I guess your kids are not in the same schools. I guess your kids are in the safer county schools.

Must be Career Day in city schools...

The kid lives in an enviroment that teaches him that to be tough and gangster is okay. His parents need help and counseling to teach this lost child how to manage his anger. Do the parents threaten neighbors when they don't get their way and how did he get a hold of this gun. The parents and or guardians should be taken away and this child needs to be repaired.

Catherine Stickney - Are you sure you read the same article the rest of us did? The article refers to Sharp-Leadenhall, which is supposedly a special education school. No where in this article did I read anything about this child's home or his parent's income bracket. So how you figured out that he comes from the ghetto or from an impoverished home is beyond me.

Also, I don't know what world you live in, but to the best of my knowledge, it's still a bit uncommon in most US cities for 8 year olds to bring a .380 handgun to school. I believe it's frowned upon as well, which makes it unlikely that this child has been bringing a handgun to school on a regular basis to protect himself (as your response seems to suggest).

Your comments are more then a bit odd, and I'd be interested to know where you're from and where you're getting your information.

2nd amendment. the principal should be fired.

I hope this child gets the help he needs. Its obvious that he was failed by his parents and/or community. I'm also interested to find out where he acquired the weapon and if its registered. Kudos to the school staff for keeping a watchful eye. I don't think most people understand what teachers and/or administrators have to deal with on the regular. For those reading...no, I am not a teacher and do not work in the education field. I'm just a concerned citizen...[who happends to live in South Baltimore] and I care about what goes on in my community.

Now, what kind of animals live between Federal Hill and Ravens Stadium? Hmmm...

Seems that thugs and hoodlums are diversifying their portfolios...

@Black_Man_2010 Yea....he needed it for protection from people like YOU !!!

"Its obvious that he was failed by his parents and/or community. "

Community? It is the "community" that tells this kid it is OK to carry a gun to school! It is his community that seems to be defending him right now!
When will we stop blaming everyone but those TRULY responsible? The kid and his parent!

@Black_Man_2010 you are right this would of never happened in Howard County in the first place. The kid should not be punished but taught right or wrong but the parents should not get off scott free

Justin,

"Black_Man_2010" is obviously a troll who is trying to ignite a race war on this blog. Can you remove his comment?

Somebody needs to pistol whip this boy's little behind. Discipline is non-existent today because everybody wants to be PC and not raise their kids how their parents raised them. I'm sorry, did your parents or grandparents bring guns to school, disrespect an elder/parent, or even talk back to their mama! NO! because they would've been backhanded before the words finished coming out of there mouth.

Kid might earm a full scholarship to Thug U.

and people wonder why parents are so upset over the Catholic schools closing...the city schools are not safe.

OK everyone before we all go off the deepend, lets stop, think a minute and ask ourselves a few questions.....

1.) How would we feel had this kid NOT been stopped, who would we be blaming then...???

2.) How does AN Y kid, never mind an 8yr old get a gun... (seems like its easier to get guts and drugs than it is to get almost anything else on the streets of ALL cities, NOT just Baltimore)

3.) Where were his parents, HOW did they NOT know he had a gun. Did they NOT notice his unusual behavior. How is it that a teacher who may or may not have even known this boy, noticed a weird behavior pattern and addressed it. (oh thats right his parenst were "too busy" withthier own life to be there when they needed too.... When thier KID neded them to....)

4.) It DOES not matter what his race is... I would be just as appalled if this had been a White kid, Asian kid, etc.... If it mattered MORE to you that he was Black, maybe you need to start adressing some PERSONAL issues before you worry about this little boy.

5.) We as Americans Spend SO MUCH MONEY, helping OTHER countries, bailing them out, bailing out the Big companies here in the US as well.... Just think of how much good could be done by using just the money we send to other countries each year. (for those of you who dont know, we have kids whose ONLY meal each day is thier lunch they get at school, and that due to the free and reduced lunch program). Lets Adress the needs of our OWN country, get things going right here, show the world were a super power again, not through might, lets try STABILITY.....

6.) Before we judge, Before we lay blame, Before we say Oh My God.... lets look inside, make sure we dont have any of those issues, or things going on in our lives, because I can tell you, I personally am NOT perfect, and I have NO right to judge others.

Ok that is my opinion, lets how badly it gets torn up here by those that dont understand what I am saying or maybe just disagree with my opinions....

Parents.... KNOW YOUR KIDS.... its the ONLY way to prevent things like this...

p.s. I apologize for mispellings, and grammer mistakes, i am sending this from my cellualr phone, and this is not as short as I intended it to be.

i live and grew up in baltimore. i must say that i am not surprised at the comments posted by our lovely citizens. "throw em, in jail and lock the parents up too", "animals." what would that do though? further perpetuate the problems we already refuse to deal with. we havent had enough of locking our problems in dark places or boxing them in have we? we havent seen what that type of reaction leads to...no lets just throw all the problems into the darkness theyll never come to light to bother us again. when will we respond in love instead of reacting in anger and fear. i wonder how many of us are "Christians"? our communities need help, need education, counseling for drugs and myriad other disease that plagues them. needs a community that says ill help you," ill show you the way", not "ill throw you away". when will we at least recognize that creating space for more problems(jails) only breeds more problems. when will we invest in the future of each other(education) and recognize that the only reason you or i have more than another is because we were blessed to have it and not for our own good because we are already taken care of, but for the good of those less fortunate. the child should face consequences as well as the parents...is putting him or them into a system that does all but rehabilitate the answer though? really that the best we can come up with? there is none but God and he is my savior.

ARREST THE PARENTS!!!! THEN THE NEXT DAY THE KID IS IN SCHOOL LET EVERY OTHER KID IN THE SCHOOL BRING A GUN EXCEPT HIM!!! WHERE IS THE NRA NOW!! I HATE THE NRA NUTS!!! GUNS KILL PEOPLE YOU IDIOTS!!!!

I thought is was a law in Md that if you have a gun or rifle in the home and you have children living there also that the weapon had to be properly locked (in some fashion) where it could not be fired?

Wow, I can't believe what I'm hearing from many of those responding. Where is the compassion and at the consideration of kindness to find think about what has influenced this child and why he did what he did!! Some of your thoughts are sicker than what may have become of others had the gun been fired intentionally or not. Some, act like they act because of the circumstances they're around....needless to say that this is also true of those who make comments on blogs.Should we all just throw our hands up, and say to hell with it? By the way who is "truly" responsible? The rascist garbage that is strewn about daily by so called intelligent human beings in these blogs is insane, and then you get shocked when you see what this 8 yr old has done. You'd better wake up and try to reach out before it takes place next door...or even still, in your own house! Violence has no color barrier!

NRA scholarship in future..a real patriot.

"Where is the compassion and at the consideration of kindness to find think about what has influenced this child and why he did what he did!! "

THAT is THE CAUSE OF THIS CRAP you idiot! The left wing feel good they had a bad upbringing blah blah blah...

YOU and those like you ARE THE PROBLEM!

The feel good policies of the leftists got Baltimore in the shape it is in.
When will you get that?

Wow thank goodness guns are so easily accessible. Misinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment in action!

Maybe NRA can change it to "from my cold, dead, 8 year old hands"

Surely, the gun was properly registered with the state police. Sure... The kid probably swiped it from under his parents mattress or from the night stand because his parents are the type who should never own guns. This kid needs to be taught a lesson first on gun safety, and then how to act like a civlized human. Before you call me racist, I have not mentioned race as I am fully aware this could happen with any race, creed of color. The fact is that a CHILD brought a loaded GUN to school with the intent either to scare or to shoot.. You can only imagine, or search google for gun and school to see what could have happened. This may be the best thing to have happened to this child as it can change the direction of his life. Either that, or it gives him street cred and pops the cherry on his criminal record case file. Hopefully, its a wake up call to his parents and a lesson to any other gun owners who do not have their weapons completely inaccessible to their children or any children for that matter. If you need a gun for protection, than you need to find another solution other than keeping it in the couch, the bed, the dresser, the desk, etc. How about a rotweiller? Lord save this child and deliver his parent(s) from stupidity.

@MAC I thought is was a law in Md that if you have a gun or rifle in the home and you have children living there also that the weapon had to be properly locked (in some fashion) where it could not be fired?

The LAW only applies to law abiding citizens. Our state government keeps forgetting that. They are looking to stop us, the tax paying law abiders, from protecting ourselves with even more restrictive legislation regarding firearms. I am sure the criminals will abide by the new rules, licensing and regulations if they are passed.

i live in the city so i know first hand what my children see. (drug dealers and gang members). punish the parent for the carelessness and get thischild help

@ 'blackman 2010'
I understand your grievances--these message boards are usually just a place for people to display their own prejudices by stereotyping 'city' youth--and i agree that many of them have no idea what they're talking about. the vast majority of the comments i see on the sun website seem to be written by the same kind of semi-literate hate mongers that leave barely concealed threats to the government on the fox news forums everyday.

that being said, one of my friends was a 'rich kid from howard county', and he was put on long term suspension back in the 2nd grade for playing with a lighter he found in the school parking lot (he didn't even get it to light--he was trying to figure out what it was when he was accosted by a teacher). never underestimate the hysteria of the county folk--i'm sure that if an 8 year old brought a loaded gun to school out there he would in fact be expelled on the spot, and his parents would be ostracized in their community for some time.
this whole incident--and many reader's responses to the article--just underscore the sad state of the American conscience today.

I am upset and my heart goes out to this boy. Yes, I am from South Baltimore and live 1 mile from this school. I didn't always live in the city but do now, and the thought that something like this happened so close to home is worrisome and troubling. Why can't love be more involved? Why can't the mayor, who has a child, go out and speak to schools on how unnecessary violence is; what happened to guidance counselors? Where did the people go that are supposed to nurture children and be there for them? Especially in a special education school, these children need more attention and to be shown that there is nothing "wrong" with them per se, and to be given love and hugs. I wish I could read a story about the Mayor going to schools and giving hugs to all of the children! Of course, due to fiduciary issues etc. there isn't enough time in a day or week for someone in a high seat to pay attention to the backbone of the city- its citizens. Schools need to take action and make sure that kids are given attention, encouragement, and love. Growing up and spending the majority of your week at one place and most times in one room requires more than math and science- it requires lessons on compassion and relationships with others. Here's to hoping for the future of Baltimore's city schools.

It's really sad to see that some bloggers condone this childs behavior. It's also really sad to see the bigotry and hatred that others have to races whose background is not Anglo.. The whole situation is terrible and and the whole city is hurt by this event. I agree the child needs counseling and to be shown what right is and that carrying a fire arm to school will not solve any problems or issues he is facing. The parents are ultimately to blame as we all know, they are responsible for their childs behavior and the law should punish them accordingly. I grew up in inner city Baltimore and saw various evils befall friends, relatives and enemies alike. But my mother kept me active in sports, instrumental bands and art classes. She showed me and my brother that their was more to life than what was in our neighborhood and what was on TV. I went into the Army 17 years ago and I am still in now. I am visiting Baltimore for a few weeks before I head overseas again to fight in Iraq (4th Time) and sometimes it seems like I would much rather be there knowing who my enemy is that here and not seeing them. As for this situation I am deeply saddened that it occured but even more so at the negative responses that I read from my countrymen. And I am the one who has to leave my family and continue to fight for your freedom. But for those of you who condone this kids behavior, use racially themed responses, and look down upon those who are not as fortunate as you are you should eb ashamed.... I LOVE MY COUNTRY BUT I CANNOT STAND SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN IT..

Bill Russell...Guns kill..so do drunks with cars...so do drug dealers...so do people with hammers..baseball bats..knives...golf clubs....any tool can kill..you can kill with your bare hands...so ..whats your point about guns kill ?

Many of the students at Sharp Leadenhall have emotional disturbances. That is part of the reason for their going to that school. The students there are bused in from all around the city because their local schools were unable to help them.

About suspension and expulsion. The reason that the student has not been automatically expelled is likely due to special education legal requirements. Students with special needs are only legally allowed to be suspended for a certain number of days a year, and additionally, they cannot be suspended if the act is a result of his or her disability. If the child in question has been labeled as having an emotional disturbance, it may be questionable as to whether or not his act can be considered a result of the disability.

I am extremely upset with people refering to ppl that live in the city as hoodlums, thugs, animals or any other derogatory name. I live in baltimore city and I have a 6 yr old son that attends a city school. Not every city school is terrible and everyone that lives in the city is not a thug.I have finished college and have an excellent career. The suggestion of hoodlums and thugs living in Federal Hill is extremely offensive.

As for that 8 yr old boy, he needs help. Help that we should want him to get. He probably doesn't know any better. I pray that someone helps these kids so that these things won't continue to happen.

enkidu, just what would we all do without you and you knowledge and superiority?

How did the population survive all these years without your intellect guiding us knuckle dragging dolts?

You feeling of self importance and elitism is causing many to feel like vomiting.

Most prolly the little gangsta got the gat from one of baby mommas boyfriends. Inall due respect, the child should do time at the juvenile level for at least 10 to 12 years. The momma should also lose custidy of all her other childs and put in the bighouse.

An eight-year-old is not mature enough to fully understand the consequences of his actions. The parents are the ones at fault here for many reasons, including keeping a loaded gun in the house that a child can get access to. Extremely irresponsible. They should at least be fined for child neglect, and maybe the child suspended. And the school should maybe consider installing metal detectors or hiring extra security.

mom-of-2, why are you attacking enkidu? Everyone has an opinion, perhaps they grew up in a different culture or see things from another side. It was mean of you to attack enkidu's comments, but never said anything to bigots and extremists who post.

I sure the parents of some of the closed Catholic schools kids CAN'T WAIT to have their children "absorbed" into the Baltimore City Public school system!
Home School people!!!!!!!!!

He's a third grader, for Pete's sake. It's not his fault. If anyone needs to be punished, it's the errant parent(s) or guardian who left the loaded hand-gun in the home. Adults must be held responsible for this type of child endangerment. Kids are naturally curious and it's obvious this child's home environment is seriously lacking in supervision.

A trigger lock would have done the trick. Case closed.

All I have to say...is you're all stupid...first of all it's a SPECIAL EDUCATION school... he's already had problems....so his parents can't help that. Those teachers are there because they are trained for that.

I know that many people don't actually retrieve guns from their parents unless they're cops or military. They often get their guns from other people or even another friend's source.
Perhaps this kid found it in the ground (which in that area...could be possible)? Perhaps he got it from an Uncle and NOT his parents?

It sounds like they don't even know who the gun owner is!
Before you all go blame the parents...let's wait for a damn report of the actual gun owner and possibly how he came into possession of this item and what his SPECIAL problems are!

How the hell does an eight-year-old gain access to a handgun? Police should be investigating this more. That kid probably has mental issues, or parents who approve of criminal behavior. I recently read the story about A. Gonzalez, the girl who got arrested for writing on school desk, which was stupid of the cops and the edu. department to make that rule, but they should be looking into this.

How the hell does an eight-year-old get their hands on a handgun? The cops should investigate this more, and while they're at it, send the kid to a insane asylum. Or least a psych ward.