A Connecticut teen aimed a toy gun at students, leading to serious charges after a standoff with police
Manchester: A 17-year-old in Connecticut caused quite a scare at Verplanck Elementary School. He showed up with an airsoft rifle, looking to provoke a deadly encounter with police.
On Monday, he was spotted hanging around the school, carrying a duffle bag. Witnesses said he pointed the gun at windows and even at students and staff. It was a tense situation, and the school went into lockdown.
When the cops arrived, the teen was still holding the airsoft gun, which looked pretty realistic. The police said that these toy guns can be hard to tell apart from real ones these days.
Surveillance footage showed him tapping on a glass door with the rifle and aiming it inside the school. Thankfully, a staff member had just led a group of kids to safety moments before.
He pointed the gun at 29 kids and 10 adults before the police took him into custody. In a later interview, he admitted he wanted to die in a confrontation with the officers but didn’t explain why he eventually gave up.
Now, he’s facing a whopping 112 charges, including serious ones like first-degree threatening and reckless endangerment. It’s a shocking situation that has left the community rattled.
