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Teen Shot at Fla. School Is Brain-Dead

Investigators with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement look over the scene at Milwee Middle School in Longwood, Fla., where an eighth- grader pulled a pellet gun in class and was shot by police. A neighbor said the youth was suicidal.
Investigators with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement look over the scene at Milwee Middle School in Longwood, Fla., where an eighth- grader pulled a pellet gun in class and was shot by police. A neighbor said the youth was suicidal. (By Brian Myrick -- Associated Press)
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"He got me towards the closet door, he turned me around, and . . . started to point the gun at me, so I started to grab for it. And he pulled it away and then I grabbed for it one more time . . . twisted it and I pointed it at him."

Cotey said after he aimed the gun at Penley's legs, Penley kicked him into the closet, where the two scuffled further before Penley ran out of the classroom.

The school went into lockdown.

From there, Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said, Penley traversed the Milwee Middle School campus before ending up in a restroom. By then, more than 40 officers, including SWAT team members and negotiators, had arrived. Penley refused to drop the firearm, Eslinger said, and was shot after pointing it at a SWAT deputy.

Jeffery Swofford said Penley had been in a disagreement with someone, allegedly over a girl. There was going to be a fight Friday, he said. "I heard a rumor that he had a BB gun, but I didn't think he really had one," he added.

At a news conference after the shooting at the school Friday, authorities placed the pellet gun alongside a Beretta. It appeared to have black paint covering the red or pink markings on the muzzle that might have indicated to officers that it was a nonlethal weapon.

"As you can see, it doesn't take a professional to see how close this looks to the real thing. I would not be able to tell the difference," said Joyce Dawley, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement special agent in charge of the investigation.

At the school Friday, Marie Hargis, whose son and daughter attend Milwee, held a sign that said "Stop the violence."

"My youngest daughter is just very emotionally messed up," she said. "She started crying and said, 'Mommy, I don't want to go back.' They should not fear having to go to school."


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