Boy faces assault charges


March 19, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Boy faces assault charges

YOUNGSTOWN — An 11-year-old city boy faces felonious assault charges after being accused of firing a BB gun at two students.

According to a police report, the boy was observed walking toward Taft Elementary School on East Avondale Avenue at 3 p.m. Tuesday by a Youngstown city schools bus driver and a teacher. The boy reportedly pulled a BB handgun from his waistband and fired it, striking a male student, 12, in the neck. The suspect reportedly fired at a second male student, 11, hitting him in the neck as well. He then tried to flee, but was apprehended by the bus driver and taken to the principal’s office.

Police observed slight redness on the victims’ necks and they were sent to the school nurse, the report said. The suspect was questioned by police and reportedly became irate when he was informed he would not get the BB gun back. According to the report, the BB gun was a birthday present.

The report said the suspect had been expelled from Youngstown Academy of Excellence for behavioral reasons. He was taken to Youngstown Police Department , then transported to the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center.

Warren man pleads innocent in shooting

WARREN — Brandon R. Thompson, 36, of Scott Street N.E., has pleaded innocent to six felony charges related to a shooting during a standoff with Warren police officers.

Thompson made the plea Wednesday in Warren Municipal Court on three counts of felonious assault, one count of failure to comply with the orders of a police officer, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possession of drugs. He is being held in Trumbull County Jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond.

Police said they began pursuing Thompson in his vehicle around 4 a.m. Sunday The pursuit ended at Thompson’s apartment, where Thompson barricaded himself in his apartment and fired one shot from a gun, police said. The shot did not hit anyone.

Thompson is set to return to court for a preliminary hearing at 10:15 a.m. March 27 before Judge Terry Ivanchak.