Crime Time

Pennsylvania teen accused of machete attack asks to be tried as an adult

A Pennsylvania teen has requested that he should be tried as an adult rather than a juvenile after he allegedly used a machete in an attack on another student.

The Associated Press reports that 17-year-old Luis Manuel Roman allegedly slashed a classmate in a gang-related attack in November at an Allentown school. The injured teen needed 30 stitches.

Roman said he made the request because juvenile offenders are "disrespectful" and he could have visitors in prison that are normally not allowed if he was in a juvenile detention facility.

The judge granted Roman's request but warned that if he's convicted as an adult, the two charges he faces carry a maximum sentence of 20 years prison sentence.

-Chance Welch

Three hurt after kindergartener brings gun to Houston school, drops it

A kindergartener who had brought a gun to his Houston elementary school dropped it during lunchtime, causing it to accidentally fire.

The Associated Press reports that the boy was in the school's cafeteria at about 11 a.m. when he dropped the gun from his pocket, discharging one bullet.

According to sources, two 6-year-old boys, including the boy who brought the gun, as well as a 5-year-old girl were wounded in the foot by either fragments of the floor or pieces of the bullet.

None of the injuries appear to be life-threatening.

Footage from a TV news helicopter showed the three children sitting up and talking with paramedics.

-Chance Welch

Pepper-spray or negotiation? 8-year-old Co. boy threatens, tries to stab police

Police in Lakewood, Colorado had to deal with a stressful situation February 22. A person holding a sharp piece of wood tried to stab officers while making a threat that he wanted to kill them.

The only problem was that the person was an 8-year-old boy.

The Associated Press reports that police had to pepper-spray Aidan Elliott twice at Glennon Heights Elementary School after he refused to drop a piece of wooden wall trim that he tried to stab them with.

Police told reporters that pepper-spraying the boy was the safest option available.

The boy's mother said that she wants Lakewood police to receive special training in dealing with children. The boy was enrolled in a special program at the school for children with behavioral problems.

She said that her son has had outbursts in the past but has responded well to mediation.

The boy made the rounds of morning talk shows such as NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America" where he admitted that he wanted to "whack" them with the piece of wood.

When he was asked on "Good Morning America" whether he meant what he said when he told police he wanted to kill them, his reply was "A little."

There's no word on what kind of punishment the boy received. The article mentions that he has since transferred to another school.

Based on the information presented in the article, would you agree with the method Lakewood police used?

-Chance Welch

Ind. middle school shooting victim stable, suspended student in custody

A suspended student at an Indiana middle school has been arrested in connection with a shooting of a 15-year-old boy.

The Associated Press reports that a gunman shot Chance Jackson in the stomach before class began Friday morning at Martinsville West Middle School about 30 miles south of Indianapolis.

A 15-year-old classmate who had been suspended from the school two days earlier was taken into custody.

Police have not declared him a suspect in the shooting but told reporters that they are not searching for any more suspects in the attack and do not know how the suspended teen got into the building.

The 15-year-old is not facing charges at this time.

The family of the injured teen told reporters he is in stable condition following surgery.

-Chance Welch

15 year old stabbed to death for iPod

Whatever the street value of an iPod might be, it's certainly not worth someone's life.

U.S. Marshals said that Hugo Gonzalez, 17, and Brian Johnson, 18, were arrested in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Wednesday in the stabbing death of a 15 year old boy in El Paso after a robbery that went terribly wrong.

According to officials, the two teens stabbed the unidentified boy as they robbed him of a cell phone and an iPod three weeks ago.

Apple's popular music player has sold in the millions since its debut in October 2001.

Police investigate 12-year-old's alleged mass murder plot

Police in Carnation, Wash., are investigating an alleged plot by a 12-year-old middle school student to kill at least 20 students and teachers and then slay his adoptive family, television station KING reported.

The investigation began when another boy confronted the suspect as he was bullying some girls on school bus, the station reported. The young suspect threatened to kill the other boy, according to the second boy's parents.

"He said he was going to shoot my son and slit his throat to make sure he did a good job," the station quoted one parent, only identified as Traci, as saying. "There’s three parts to a crime. The planning, the ability and the follow through. He got two-thirds of the way there."

Traci went on to tell the station: "He had names, he made a list. He was serious. He got his supplies and he was ready to go."

The station obtained court documents that indicated police found two shotguns and a loaded 9mm handgun in the boy’s possession.

The station reported that the 12-year-old was on a violent path in past couple months, having recently been arrested for trying to strangle his 12-year-old sister.

His adoptive mother told police she was fearful for her life, the station reported.

-- Lance Murray

3 kids, a teacher slashed to death in kindergarten attack

In the latest in a recent string of attacks on Chinese children, a knife-wielding man went on a slashing rampage at a kindergarten, killing three children and a teacher, the Associated Press reported.

A 26-year-old man was arrested and reportedly has confessed.

According to reports, the attack occurred as parents were picking up their children at the kindergarten. The rampage left 20 children and staff members injured, the Associated Press reported.

-- Lance Murray

Teacher faces felony charge in videotaped beating of student

Authorities in Houston have charged a charter school teacher with felony injury to a child in connection with the videotaped beating of a 13-year-old boy who attending Jamie's House Charter School in northwest Houston.

Three other employees of the school -- the school superintendent and founder, a principal and another teacher -- also will faces charges of failure to report child abuse, a misdemeanor.

Teacher Sheri Lynn Davis was caught on a cellphone video repeatedly striking, kicking and dragging the teenager in her class as he tried to protect himself, the Associated Press reported. He suffered a black eye and bruises, the AP reported.

-- Lance Murray

Cleaver-wielding man kills 7 kindergarteners, 2 adults in China

In what is becoming an alarming type of attack in China, a man wielding a meat cleaver hacked two adults and seven kindergarten students to death in a attack at a private school.

Eleven other children were injured in the attack, officials said. One of the adults was a teacher, the other her mother.

It's at least the fourth such deadly attack on young school children in China in recent weeks, CNN reported.

-- Lance Murray

Video: Teacher fired after being captured beating sixth-grader

A Houston area charter school teacher has been fired after being caught on video punching, kicking and slamming a sixth-grade student.

The video was captured on a camera phone by a classmate of the student who was beaten, Fox News Channel 26 in Houston reported.

The video, shown at the attached link, also has been turned over the Sheriff's investigators, Fox reported.

-- Lance Murray