Judge Orders Home Detention For Two Brothers In Gun-To-School Case
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Two young brothers are under arrest after one of them reportedly brought a gun to South Miami Middle School in his backpack on Thursday.
A 12-year-old student is accused of bringing the weapon to school in his backpack.
His 13-year-old brother thought he would keep him out of serious trouble after the younger brother got in a fight with another student. So, the older brother retrieved the weapon and put it in his own backpack, authorities said.
On Friday both boys faced a judge who ordered home detention for the pair.
A spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade school system says this story serves as an important reminder about the need to speak up and report suspicious activity.
She commends the courageous student who reported the weapon being brought to school.
The judge told the 12-year-old he would be on home detention and monitored through an ankle bracelet.
This was the exchange between the judge and the minor:
"Do you know what it means to put you on an EMS bracelet. Yes? Do you know what an ankle bracelet is? Yes. What is it like? It means I can't leave home and if I do it starts beeping."
"Can you keep him in home detention?" the judged asked the boy's father.
"Yes, I will keep him home in jail," answered the dad.
His 13-year-old son, who also appeared in court, will be on home detention as well.
In court, the father said he was a single dad doing his best to raise his sons and was disappointed.
But afterwards, he refused to answer questions about the gun.
At South Miami Middle School, students like eighth-grader Jacquelin Bolaños are alarmed that this incident happened.
"I get that maybe there's a disagreement some people have and there is strong hatred towards them but there's no reason to bring a gun," Bolaños said.
"I don't appreciate that. Something could happen and nobody knows," sixth-grader Maria Felix Fernandez said.
The brothers were arrested after a tip from a student.
"I'm happy that somebody reported this and nothing happened before it was too late. This is definitely good and I am glad to say that someone is taking see something say something to heart," Bolaños said.
"It's much more worrisome if you have kids desensitized and they don't want to report it for relation or whatever reason so any child who's courageous enough to say something and bring it to the attention of the school board. I definitely approve of the child doing it," parent Alex Bolaños said.
A school board spokeswoman says the brothers did not threaten anyone with a weapon.
We also learned that South Miami police have been proactive and have gotten involved.
They even paid a visit to the boys home and spoke with the father.
It's not known where the weapon came from, if it was stolen, or if it came from the household.
