Boy, 17, accused of bringing semi-automatic handgun into Trumbull Children Services

December 14, 2015 at 2:42p.m.

The Trumbull County Children Services executive director says a male, 17, accused of bringing a semi-automatic handgun and six rounds of ammunition back to his home at the agency, never gave the agency reason to believe he was capable of something like that.

The boy purportedly brought the gun back to the Children Services residential treatment facility, where he lived, after a family visit on Saturday. No one was injured by the handgun.

Executive Director Tim Schaffner said his agency works off of “probable cause and protecting the rights of the kids“ in determining what restrictions to impose on juveniles in the facility.

In this case, there was no “probable cause” to believe this boy needed to be searched before he re-entered the facility. “We would only be able do a pat-down if there was probable cause and it were part of the treatment plan,” Schaffner said.

The boy was on an approved family visit Saturday, but he went to another address that was not approved, Schaffner said.

His father contacted CSB to say that his handgun was missing from that Elm Road address, Warren police said. His father said the boy was the last person to be in the room with it before it came up missing.

Children Services contacted the Warren Police Department, which went to the agency at 9:31 p.m. Sunday and found the weapon and ammunition after “a brief investigation,” police said.

The boy was taken to the Trumbull County Juvenile Justice Center, charged with theft of a firearm and illegal conveyance of weapons onto the grounds of a detention facility or institution, both felonies.