School expels teen after gun incident

A 14-year-old Kalispell boy who brought a handgun to Smith Valley School last week has been expelled for two years.

The boy's mother was informed of the school board's decision Tuesday night during a closed-door executive session.

According to the Flathead County Sheriff's Office, the boy - whose name has not been released - took a 9 mm pistol from his grandfather's house and brought it to school on Feb. 4. The only time the boy showed the gun was to some other students before classes began, Smith Valley School Principal Mike Welling said.

Welling said the boy appears to have brought the gun to show it off and did not have "any plans of violence."

The pistol is believed to have been loaded.

School officials learned the boy had brought the gun to school on the morning of Feb. 5 from a student who saw the weapon, Welling said.

"It took kids about 24 hours to build up enough courage to break that kid code of silence," he said.

Allegations that school officials were told the boy had the pistol on school property and did nothing are untrue, Welling said. An altercation between the boy and another student on Feb. 4 did not involve the gun and appear to be unconnected.

"On [Feb. 4], basically what we knew was that we had two typical junior high-age boys talking macho to each other," said Welling, who was attending a conference in Great Falls at the time.

School officials involved the Sheriff's Office and on Feb. 5 investigators searched the boy's home and his grandfather's home, recovering the pistol from the second residence. The boy was not in school that day, Welling said.

The incident is still under investigation and deputies are interviewing witnesses, Flathead County Sheriff's Detective Kirby Adams said.

The boy has been charged in Flathead County Youth Court with possessing a weapon in a school building, a misdemeanor. He is being held in the Flathead County Juvenile Detention Center.

The case is being handled informally in Youth Court and the boy's name or court papers supporting the charges will not become public unless the matter goes before a Flathead County District Court judge.

Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Nick Nyman, who works with Youth Court, had no comment on the case.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com