Boy Plays With Airsoft Gun In His Own Yard, School Suspends Him

A seventh-grade boy in Virginia Beach, Virginia was suspended when he decided to play with an airsoft gun in his own yard.

The boy and several friends were playing with the gun as they were waiting for the school bus.

Thirteen-year-old Khalid Caraballo is now facing expulsion for the “possession, handling and use of a firearm.”

A neighbor called 911 when they noticed Caraballo playing with the airsoft gun in his own year. The neighbor told a 911 dispatcher:

“He is pointing the gun, and it looks like there’s a target in a tree in his front yard.”

Khalid did not attempt to carry the toy gun onto the school bus; in fact, he never took the gun to the designated bus stop.

Two other boys who fired the gun were also suspended.

School principal Matthew Delaney send out a letter that said “children were firing pellet guns at each other, and at people near the bus stop.” Delany notes that one child “was only 10 feet from the bus stop, and ran from the shots being fired, but was still hit.”

The school does feature a “zero tolerance” policy that extends to private property.

Speaking to WAVY-TV, Solangel Caraballo, the boys mother, said it’s ridiculous that her son and his friends were suspended for firing an airsoft gun on private property.

“My son is my private property. He does not become the school’s property until he goes to the bus stop, gets on the bus, and goes to school.”

Khalid is worried that his suspension and possible expulsion will now hurt his chances of getting into a good college.

If the boys were just firing a gun at setup targets, it would be one thing. If they were firing on other kids waiting for the bus, that is something completely different.

Do you think a suspension or possible expulsion is warranted?