STORY
Boy Takes Plea Over Guns at School
Mills student threatened kids
Matthew B. Stannard, Chronicle Staff Writer
PENINSULA -- A 17-year-old San Bruno youth who police said had access to an arsenal at his home when he threatened to ``do a Columbine'' at Mills High School in May accepted a plea bargain yesterday that could send him to the California Youth Authority for up to three years.
The terms of the agreement allow the young man to return home under house arrest until his sentencing on September 18. Until then he is prohibited from going anywhere near the Mills campus in Millbrae or any other school, unless he is enrolling in that school and obtains the court's permission. Appearing in San Mateo County Superior Court before Judge Marta S. Diaz, the teenager quietly admitted to committing one act of felony brandishing of a loaded gun in a rude, angry or threatening manner, and so avoided further charges.
His parents and several other family members appeared in court but declined to comment on the case. His father, whom The Chronicle is not naming in order to protect the juvenile's anonymity, still faces charges of illegally supplying the teenager with weapons.
Deputy District Attorney John Grandsaert said the father's case will not be affected by his son's plea agreement.
The father faces felony charges of furnishing a concealable weapon to a minor, and a misdemeanor complaint of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He pleaded not guilty in municipal court, and is free on $50,000 bail pending his superior court arraignment in Redwood City on August 30.
The cases against both father and son stem from the young man's May 18 arrest, two days after a Mills student told school officials the boy had threatened him with a gun.
Millbrae police, who arrested the youth, said he had threatened at least seven friends, pointing loaded guns at their heads and telling them he was going to kill them -- then saying he was joking.
The teenager also told friends he was going to ``do a Columbine'' at Mills, police said, a reference to the Littleton, Colo., massacre that Judge Diaz referred to in her warnings to the young man yesterday.
``This is a very critical time for you . . . everyone is going to be watching you,'' she said. ``This case has gotten a lot of interest for a lot of reasons having to do with society's refusal to tolerate this kind of thing any more. This is the kind of stuff that terrifies people -- and for good reason.''
Millbrae police said a search of the young man's home after his arrest turned up nine handguns, a 12-gauge shotgun, two AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, two hunting rifles, an AK-47 assault rifle, throwing knives and ammunition. The weapons were registered to the father, police said. Police searched the home again yesterday before the teenager's release, since he has been ordered to stay away from any kind of weapon. Millbrae Capt. Mike Grogan said yesterday afternoon that the home had been cleared.
Grandsaert said outside court yesterday that the single charge in the plea agreement ``captured the essence'' of what the young man had done wrong. He also said he had been in contact with the victims in the case -- whom the young man has also been ordered to avoid -- and that they agreed with how the case was resolved.
``We certainly wouldn't be doing what we're doing and agreeing to house arrest if we felt like there was a danger in doing so,'' Grandsaert said.
E-mail Matthew B. Stannard at stannard@sfgate.com.
©2000 San Francisco Chronicle
Boy Takes Plea Over Guns at School
Mills student threatened kids
Matthew B. Stannard, Chronicle Staff Writer
PENINSULA -- A 17-year-old San Bruno youth who police said had access to an arsenal at his home when he threatened to ``do a Columbine'' at Mills High School in May accepted a plea bargain yesterday that could send him to the California Youth Authority for up to three years.
The terms of the agreement allow the young man to return home under house arrest until his sentencing on September 18. Until then he is prohibited from going anywhere near the Mills campus in Millbrae or any other school, unless he is enrolling in that school and obtains the court's permission. Appearing in San Mateo County Superior Court before Judge Marta S. Diaz, the teenager quietly admitted to committing one act of felony brandishing of a loaded gun in a rude, angry or threatening manner, and so avoided further charges.
His parents and several other family members appeared in court but declined to comment on the case. His father, whom The Chronicle is not naming in order to protect the juvenile's anonymity, still faces charges of illegally supplying the teenager with weapons.
Deputy District Attorney John Grandsaert said the father's case will not be affected by his son's plea agreement.
The father faces felony charges of furnishing a concealable weapon to a minor, and a misdemeanor complaint of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He pleaded not guilty in municipal court, and is free on $50,000 bail pending his superior court arraignment in Redwood City on August 30.
The cases against both father and son stem from the young man's May 18 arrest, two days after a Mills student told school officials the boy had threatened him with a gun.
Millbrae police, who arrested the youth, said he had threatened at least seven friends, pointing loaded guns at their heads and telling them he was going to kill them -- then saying he was joking.
The teenager also told friends he was going to ``do a Columbine'' at Mills, police said, a reference to the Littleton, Colo., massacre that Judge Diaz referred to in her warnings to the young man yesterday.
``This is a very critical time for you . . . everyone is going to be watching you,'' she said. ``This case has gotten a lot of interest for a lot of reasons having to do with society's refusal to tolerate this kind of thing any more. This is the kind of stuff that terrifies people -- and for good reason.''
Millbrae police said a search of the young man's home after his arrest turned up nine handguns, a 12-gauge shotgun, two AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, two hunting rifles, an AK-47 assault rifle, throwing knives and ammunition. The weapons were registered to the father, police said. Police searched the home again yesterday before the teenager's release, since he has been ordered to stay away from any kind of weapon. Millbrae Capt. Mike Grogan said yesterday afternoon that the home had been cleared.
Grandsaert said outside court yesterday that the single charge in the plea agreement ``captured the essence'' of what the young man had done wrong. He also said he had been in contact with the victims in the case -- whom the young man has also been ordered to avoid -- and that they agreed with how the case was resolved.
``We certainly wouldn't be doing what we're doing and agreeing to house arrest if we felt like there was a danger in doing so,'' Grandsaert said.
E-mail Matthew B. Stannard at stannard@sfgate.com.
©2000 San Francisco Chronicle
