Student suspended after BB gun found

BATAVIA, N.Y. (WIVB) - A middle school in Genesee County is taking swift action against a student who brought a BB gun to school in his backpack.

Batavia School Superintendent Christopher Dailey suspended the student after the BB gun was discovered on Thursday.

"It was just a very poor choice by a young man," Dailey said. "He didn't want to go home after school to pick it up. [He] was just going out to play with it and just didn't think."

The school immediately alerted parents to what happened but never put the building on lockdown.

"It was never intended to hurt anybody or anything, just a very bad choice to bring it on school grounds, which obviously is against our district policy," Dailey explained.

The superintendent says school administrators found the gun by chance. They suspected the child had tobacco in his backpack, searched his locker and found the gun. That's when they called police.

Batavia Police Detective Richard Schauf said there have been instances when students brought more dangerous guns to school. But in this instance, he says police weren't taking any changes.

"That's the danger in this, because it looked like a real gun," Schauf said. "It's a big deal obviously because of what's gone on in our nation over the past few years and to have a weapon like that in a school potentially, the weapon could do damage but the response to somebody calling and seeing something like that in school, that would be the most dangerous part of the whole situation."

The student has been suspended for five days but could be out of school for up to a year. That will depend on a hearing with the superintendent.

The case could also be turned over to the family court system.