First-grader accused of fatal shooting of classmate

Tuesday, February 29th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MOUNT MORRIS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- A 6-year-old boy shot a schoolmate to death today in their first-grade classroom, authorities said. Police were investigating reports that the two youngsters may have had a playground scuffle the previous day.

A single shot was fired inside a classroom at Buell Elementary School near Flint about 10 a.m., Police Chief Eric King said. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was accidental or intentional, but Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur A. Busch said authorities were investigating reports that a playground fight preceded the shooting.

"It would appear from the investigation so far that there may have been some sort of scuffle or quarrel on the playground the day before the shooting between this little boy and this little girl," Busch said.

The 6-year-old girl died about 10:30 a.m., hospital spokeswoman Stephanie Motschenbacher said.

The boy, was in the custody of the state Family Independence Agency, Busch said, adding that regardless of what an investigation reveals, it may be impossible to bring charges against the boy.

"There is a presumption in law that a child ... is not criminally responsible and can't form an intent to kill," he said. "Obviously, he has done a very terrible thing today, but legally, he can't be held criminally responsible."

President Clinton, in Florida for a Democratic National Committee fund-raiser, decried the shooting and challenged Americans to take gun safety into consideration during this year's presidential elections.

"How did that child get that gun? Why could the child fire the gun?" Clinton said. "If we have the technology today to put in these child safety locks, why don't we do it?"

Buell Elementary third-grader Corey Sutton, 9, said he heard a bang and thought a desk had fallen this morning. Then, "The principal came over the PA system and told teachers to shut their doors and lock them.

"I was scared, my heart was pounding," he said.

The teacher told students to line up and get their coats on, and then "she told us what happened. A girl got shot, and the teacher started crying."

About 22 pupils were inside the classroom when the shot was fired. About 500 children attend Buell Elementary.

Police closed off nearby streets, and parents picked up their children from a church across the street. The pupils who were in the classroom where the shooting happened were being questioned by police.

Crystal Watson, 8, who was in her third-grade class this morning, said she didn't know anything had happened until hearing sirens. "We were told to stay in our class and stay calm," she told The Flint Journal. "A couple of boys were crying, but everyone else was staying calm."

A fourth-grader, Christopher Burch, 9, was upset because he has relatives in the first grade. "My teacher told me a first-grader shot another first-grader, and I started crying because I thought it was my cousin or sister," he said.
He found out later that his relatives were not shot.

Busch said officials "will get to the bottom of how that gun got in this little boy's hands." "We've had other school children take guns to elementary schools before ... but it never went this far with it," he said. "It's a sign of our times where we have a fully armed society that doesn't take its responsibility to secure its weapons seriously." Busch said someone may face charges for allowing the boy to obtain the gun.
Freddie Booth Sr. of Mount Morris Township said he came to the school to look for his 8-year-old daughter, Fredricka. "I don't believe this is happening," Booth told said. "A first-grader shoots another first-grader. First-graders shouldn'tbe able to get a gun. I just want my daughter out of here. She has been traumatized, I'm sure."