Seekonk Middle School Contacts Police Over Student's Facebook Picture of Guns
After a parent brought the post to the middle school's attention, they sent it to the police.
According to a police report written by Patrol Officer Stephen Kandarian, the assistant principal at Kevin M. Hurley Middle School contacted the department on Monday, March 21, to report a male student's post to Facebook.com. A parent made the original report to middle school staff.
Mary Westcoat, the assistant principal, showed the officer a copy of the posting which had two semi-automatic guns pictured on the student's Facebook page, according to the report. Also on the page was a conversation between the student and a female student inviting her to "use one of my guns."
The officer verified that the student's father had an active gun license in Seekonk and contacted him. On Wednesday, March 23, the parent and son visited the police station. There, the officer showed the Facebook post to the father, who then said he didn't know the pictures were taken; the guns were out only because he and his wife were moving furniture for a short time.
According to the report, he said he shoots with his son and taught him gun safety protocol; therefore, his son's actions surprised him. He also said he normally locks his guns up. The father said he would tell his son to take the picture off Facebook.
The officer then met with both the father and son, who said he took the picture without his father's knowledge and that he understood it was wrong. Officer Kandarian then told the student his father's firearms license could have been revoked and that the police department takes all issues concerning weapons and violence in schools very seriously.
andrew
3:27 pm on Wednesday, March 30, 2011
nothing happened and teachers and vp should stay off students pages its juss kids being stupid im shocked that the shool made this such a big deal out of nothing no violence in school nor threat to someones life this has been blown way out of proportion
Jack
3:32 pm on Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Unfortunately, one stupid thing can quickly lead to another and steps have to be taken.
andrew
3:45 pm on Wednesday, March 30, 2011
sounds like smart words to hide the truth ... steps on a kid that is in middle school.....by the way his father keeps his guns locked up realy seekonk is a small good town ...not the gettos
deb of see-attleboro
9:10 pm on Wednesday, March 30, 2011
If all issues were so easily resolved.
A parent reported a suspicious posting . (thank you)
The school colaborates with the police department. (amen)
The student and parent both acknowledged bad decisions. (thank you)
No names were released (no harm. no foul.)
The officer gave sould advice. (wisdom)
Mary M
10:07 pm on Wednesday, March 30, 2011
I agree! For the safety of all our children, I am happy that it was reported, investigated and handled (no harm, no foul). Thank you!
Terese Bohaxiu-Dicastiglione
11:15 am on Thursday, March 31, 2011
To Andrew: 'its juss kids being stupid'.....Hasn't Seekonk just had a deadly tragedy with 'just kids doing stupid stuff on Rt. 195'? Should we have waited until this kid brought the gun to school to show off, or confront a bully? A fascination with guns is a huge red flag for future trouble. Do some research on the web about how many middle school age kids are in jail or prison - you can actually be tried as an adult when you commit a serious crime as a middle schooler.
karlene germane
2:03 pm on Thursday, March 31, 2011
I noticed in the picture theres no trigger lock in the gun.Guns in the hands of children,loaded or not is dangerouse,just pointing a weapon at someone even if its not loaded is dangerouse.Handguns are not toys,children should not have access to handguns,for any amount of time.I think the people who notified the police did the responsible thing.What message could this child be putting out there other then he has access to a gun!
Seekonk Resident
4:44 pm on Thursday, March 31, 2011
That picture is just a generic photo of a gun put on paint. Google "handgun" and it'll be like the second imagine.
deb of see-attleboro
5:51 pm on Thursday, March 31, 2011
yes. I don't believe the image used here on seekonk patch is from the kid's facebook page.
Abigail Crocker
7:17 pm on Thursday, March 31, 2011
Hi Patch users. For clarification, the picture in this story was not the student's Facebook page. Thank you.
karlene germane
1:47 pm on Friday, April 1, 2011
Sorry thought that was the image.Look theres nothing wrong with fathers and sons going hunting,shooting etc. just supervise for safety,use safety glasses and ear protection.Teaching young people the proper way to handle fire arms is the responsible thing to do.
paul
9:44 am on Sunday, April 3, 2011
I think the Hurley School and the Seekonk Police did the right thing. How did the press get the scoop on this story? Was this made public for safety reasons and if so who made that decision?