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Two boys and eight girls ranging in age from 14 to 17, were arrested Friday after police seized a 9 mm handgun and the knives from one of the boys and a .38-caliber pistol from one of the girls, police said. All were charged with weapons possession and loitering on the grounds of J.M. Wright Technical School. No one was injured and no shots were fired, but Friday's incident marked the fourth time in a week that youths have been arrested at or near the school for possessing a firearm or threatening violence. Police said they do not think the teens were J.M. Wright students. Earlier in the day, local and state police were at a park adjacent to the school and on the school grounds after receiving reports that youths from Stamford and Norwalk would be involved in a confrontation involving guns and knives, said Deputy Police Chief Lou DeCarlo. State police have jurisdiction over the school. Officer Laura Bretthauer spotted the group of Norwalk youths leaving the school property and walking toward a footbridge in the park, at about 11 a.m. Friday, DeCarlo said. One of the boys, Michael Hailey, appeared to have a knife handle sticking out of his waistband, he said. Police found Hailey, 16, in possession of five knives and a handgun, DeCarlo said. The .38-caliber handgun was found in the purse of a 14-year-old girl, DeCarlo said. Hailey, Shaneka Bates, 17, Charmaine Parker, 16, and the seven juveniles were charged with conspiracy to possess a deadly weapon on school grounds, conspiracy to possess a pistol without a permit on school grounds, interfering with police, conspiracy to interfere with police and loitering on school grounds. Hailey, Bates and Parker were also charged with seven counts each of risk of injury to a minor, police said. Hailey was also charged with possession of a pistol without a permit on school grounds, possession of a dangerous weapon on school grounds, possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana in a school zone. Bates and Parker were being held in police custody on $25,000 bond each, while Hailey was held on $50,000 bond. The trio are scheduled to be arraigned June 1 in state Superior Court. The seven younger teens were being held Friday at a state juvenile detention facility in Bridgeport, DeCarlo said. The arrests follow several arrests of teens for threatening violence at the technical school this week. On Monday, a 15-year-old student was arrested by state police after allegedly threatening to shoot two students. On Wednesday, police nabbed a 14-year-old boy after he allegedly brought a loaded gun into the school. The boy is a public school student who attends an alternative learning program taught in the Wright building, school officials said. Police arrested another juvenile on Wednesday who allegedly made threats against a Wright student. About 450 students, mostly from Stamford and Norwalk, attend Wright, a regional vocational high school. ©1999 WTNH/WTNH-DT |
Ten youths arrested for carrying weapons on school grounds