Students who handled loaded gun on school bus learn their punishments

by Samuel King (king@wsbt.com)

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Greene Intermediate School students sentenced for handling a gun on a school bus

Cody Long has been ordered to attend Central Academy at the Juvenile Justice Center for handling a gun on a school bus in December 2007. Another student admitted to bringing the gun to Greene Intermediate School. (WSBT photo)

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Feb 5, 2008 at 5:51 PM EST

Story Updated: Feb 5, 2008 at 6:15 PM EST

SOUTH BEND — Four students accused of handling a loaded gun on a school bus have learned their punishments Tuesday. One of them is speaking out for the first time about what happened.

An 11-year-old admitted to bringing the gun to Greene Intermediate School in December. The other students admitted to holding the gun on the school bus.

The 11-year-old who brought the gun to school is being sent to boot camp in Arizona. Two others will have to attend the Central Academy at the Juvenile Justice Center, and then go to a special program at night. Another will be home-schooled, and have to perform community service. All of the students told Judge Nemeth they made a very bad mistake. One of them tells us why.

“I just wanted to see if it was real," Cody Long told WSBT News. "Everybody kept saying their guns were real and all that, so I just wanted to see it was real.”

And that's how Long wound up handling a loaded gun on a school bus.

He spent 41 days at the Juvenile Justice Center and he never wants to go back again.

“You've got to sit all day and you're used to walking to your bedroom door and out of the house and you gotta get locked down all the time,” Long said.

Now he waits to see whether he will be allowed back to regular school.

“I'm taking it to the hearing, because I think he should be able to go back to his normal school,” said Cody’s mother Eileen Long. “His teachers have been writing good reports about him.”

His mother says he's a smart student who got caught up in a bad situation.

Cody says he knows what he did was wrong.

“I would feel guilty, because I touched the gun and if someone got shot with it, then I would live with that grief forever,” he said. “I just learned you gotta make the right decision. You gotta think before you act.”

The mother and grandmother of the 11-year-old who brought the gun to school sobbed uncontrollably when the boy was put in handcuffs and placed in detention.

Len Coleman, assistant to South Bend Mayor Luecke, is related to one of the other students. He told the court the family will now help the student stay on the right path.

Probation officials say the students may eventually be allowed back in school if they meet certain conditions.

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