Fifth graders plot to kill classmates
Two boys at Fort Colville Elementary School in Washington planned to kill several classmates in February, 2013. One of the boys was seen with a knife at school and a student reported it which led to the discovery of a semi-automatic handgun, the knife and a clip in one of their backpacks. Due to their ages, their names have not been released.
The boys who were 10 and 11-years-old were arrested. They admitted the plot explaining that a certain girl was rude and became annoying. The older boy was going to stab her while the 10-year-old stood by with the gun to prevent anyone from interfering with their deed. The 11-year-old allegedly explained that “I was going to kill her with the knife and [the other boy] was supposed to use the gun to keep anyone from trying to stop me or mess up our plan,” the older boy told detectives. They also identified six other students that were on their hit list. They also told another boy that they would give him $80 not to tell anyone of their plan.
Photo by Robert Nelson (Flickr)
Although children between the ages of 8 and 12 are not considered mentally capable of criminal intent under Washington law, the local prosecutor plans to proceed on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. A court will decide if the boys had the capacity to plan and commit these crimes. A hearing is scheduled for late February.
It is unlikely that the boys will be sent to adult court due to their ages and the time left in the juvenile system to obtain treatment. But some states such as Arizona allow children as young as 8 to be tried as adults although it hasn’t happened yet.
