Father of Suspect Faces Gun Charges
By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
An 8-year-old boy who shot a 7-year-old girl in the arm yesterday with a handgun he sneaked into a Germantown day-care center in his backpack told classmates last Friday after a fight that he had easy access to guns, two law enforcement officials said.
The boy, a third-grader at Cedar Grove Elementary, had been suspended in the past for bringing a toy weapon to school, said the sources, who declined to be identified because the case is open.
He was armed yesterday with a .38-caliber Taurus revolver that belonged to his father, a felon with a lengthy record, police said.
The law enforcement sources said they do not believe that the shooting victim, a second-grader at S. Christa McAuliffe Elementary, was involved in Friday's fight. It was unclear what the boy had planned to do with his father's gun, they said. But whatever his plans, they were cut short around sunrise as six children supervised by a female teacher were huddled around a television set watching Peter Pan at the day-care center.
The sources said the boy threatened to rob the girl and then fired the gun once, striking her in the upper right arm.
The boy's father, John Linwood Hall, 56, was arrested and charged with leaving a firearm within reach of an unsupervised minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possession of a firearm by a felon. His son was charged as a juvenile with numerous counts that police declined to outline yesterday. The boy was placed in the custody of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, which provides counseling and treatment to delinquent juveniles.
In charging the boy, authorities weighed the nature of the offense and the child's disciplinary history against his age, officials said.
"An innocent 7-year-old girl was shot in the arm inches away from her heart," Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler said. "In the final analysis, given this particular child's personal history, both at home and school, the decision was made that it would be in the best interest of this juvenile to be charged."
Minutes before 7 a.m., police received the call about the shooting at For Kids We Care Inc., which rents a unit at the Northlake apartments in the 12600 block of Grey Eagle Court. For Kids We Care cares for children before the regular school day begins.
Paramedics rushed the girl to the sports field of her school, near the apartments, and about 7:35 a.m. a state police helicopter took her from the field to Children's Hospital in the District. She was reported in stable condition last night. Her family could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The sound of the helicopter was the first indication McAuliffe Principal Loretta Favret had that something was amiss.
"I turned on the TV and saw it was happening here," Favret said. Within minutes, she learned from school system supervisors who the shooting victim was.
"Our first concern was for her and her family," Favret said. "She's kind of a favorite around here -- very gregarious, always has a crowd around her."
Miles away, in a McLean office, parent Jackie Tazwell, 29, an administrative assistant, got a frantic call from her sister, who had recognized the name of the day-care center's street from news reports. Tazwell's heart pounded as she called the center, where she had left her 4-year-old son at 6:30 a.m. He was not hurt, she was told during a brief conversation with a day-care worker. Still, she yearned to hold her son.
"I dropped everything and ran straight from work to find out what was going on," Tazwell said.
At McAuliffe, administrators went to Code Blue -- a state of heightened awareness used in emergency situations. School officials told parents concerned about the shooting that their children would be safe in school.
"Not a lot of kids knew about this incident," said Favret, the principal. "It was scary for parents to hear that a kid had a gun inside a backpack. The reality is, it's scary that we're in a large community where people have guns and kids have access to them."
When asked by police where he got the gun, the 8-year-old boy said "he brought the handgun from home and that it was his father's," according to a police document. The boy also "stated that there were numerous additional firearms in that residence which he had access to," the document said.
Hall's criminal history dates to at least 1968 in Baltimore, according to a list of 17 offenses outlined in the police document prepared yesterday. The list says he has been charged with assault with the intent to commit murder, battery, intimidating a witness, assault with the intent to maim and a handgun violation, among other offenses. It did not say how many charges had led to convictions.
Hall was being held on $750,000 bond.
Parents of McAuliffe students expressed shock and anger yesterday.
"It's very scary," said Rana Kuri, 41, whose 10-year-old son is a fifth-grader. "This is an elementary school. Are they going to put in a metal detector?" She paused, seemingly outraged by the thought. "They might as well consider it."
Jason Musser, 25, whose 7-year-old daughter attends McAuliffe, said he was concerned by what he perceived to be a recent surge in crime in Germantown.
"This is a shocker, especially happening just across the street" from the school, he said. "I was a kid here. I would never feel unsafe walking alone at night. I don't do that anymore."
The center is one of two operated by For Kids We Care. The second is at the Canterbury apartments in the 19900 block of Sweetgum Circle in Germantown. Property managers at both locations asked reporters to leave the premises yesterday. A woman who answered the phone at the Canterbury center declined to comment.
Tazwell said she thought the day-care staff handled the situation well. She said she plans to continue taking her son to the center. Her son seems unfazed by what he witnessed, she said.
"He hasn't talked about it unless he's been asked," she said.
The shooting came days after 4-year old Fahad Islam was hit in the head Friday night by what appeared to be a stray bullet while playing in his Columbia home. He was taken to the hospital in serious condition but is expected to be released in two to three weeks, according to Renu Shrestha, a family friend.
Howard County police said they are trying to determine who was responsible for the shooting.
Staff writers Dan Morse and Amit R. Paley contributed to this report.
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