Officials: No weapon involved in threat

School officials disciplined the boy who made the threat and the pupils who were bullying him.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Officials are assuring there is no real threat to anyone at Canfield Middle School, after rumors circulated that a threat made by a pupil on a bus last week involved a gun.
There was no weapon in the situation Thursday, which involved a sixth-grader with a "kill list" of 10 names, said schools Superintendent Dante Zambrini. He said he received calls from parents who had the wrong information.
Other pupils on the bus told the bus driver about the list, and assistant principal Cathy Mowry reported it to police at 9:30 a.m., a police report says.
"We looked into it with the police department, and we never felt there was any threat," said the middle school's principal, Ron Infante.
Zambrini and Infante said that the boy had been bullied by a group of kids on the bus, and the list was his way of dealing with his frustrations.
Zambrini said his parents were cooperative. He described the boy as "a good kid" who made a bad decision.
Possible charge
Police Chief David Blystone said Wednesday that the boy might be charged with a misdemeanor count of inducing panic. Zambrini said he believes the boy will not be punished in the justice system, but will be a candidate for counseling instead.
Infante said the boy was given a three-day suspension from school and a 10-day suspension from riding the bus. The pupils on the bus who were involved in the bullying were given punishments ranging from detentions to in-school suspensions.
Zambrini said Infante and Mowry went to every classroom at the school Wednesday to assure pupils that there was no weapon involved.