A BB Gun and a Minor Facial Injury

keystone

So last evening my daughter (13) comes home from school at about 5 having spent some time in the sunshine in the park with some of her friends. Yes she did ring and ask permission when school came out at 3.

She has a nasty looking mark on her cheekbone which hurts quite badly. Whats that said I? A boy from school had a BB gun and fired it at me. Cut a long story short. Yes there was some provocation and a but of skylarking but no knowledge of the gun until it was pulled out. But he deliberately fired it at her from about 20 feet. A&E happy there is nothing in there, it only seems to have been a glancing blow and no major damage (and that was, of course the reason for going) but have written a report according to their protocols for instances like this which goes to Social Services and inevitably via them to the School. A&E doctors view is that it was probably a plastic pellet(?) rather than a metal one. A&E say involving the Police is not their decsion or responsibility. School this morning say they won't automatically involve the Police either because it didn't happen on school premises and its my decision but they will probably "talk" to the individuals who were on the scene even if not directly involved.

Now, in the final analysis no real harm was done but she could easily have been blinded. Not only was she lucky but so was he - next time he could do someone a serious injury. Don't know the boy and don't know the parents - if I did I'd have been banging on their door at about 17.01. Doing nothing probably gives him permission to do it again which is bad for him too. She's gone off to school quite happy this morning.

So do I involve the police or not? I'm genuinely undecided. These days they get so heavy handed over the slightest thing and in my day a clip round the ear and a stiff bollocking from the local copper was sufficient to learn a lifetime lesson. Of course it was clearly a case of assault but it's a question of maintaining proportion tbh.

Ideas anyone please?

Cheers

duchy

If in six months time you read in the local paper that this twerp did it again and blinded someone - How would you feel ?

I think you don't have a choice

keystone

Thank you. Funnily enough thats exactly what I said to her over breakfast this morning when we were discussing responsibility. But if I knew the parents I would discuss it with them and expect them to deal with it. The problem is I don't and the DPA probably stops the school giving me the contact details.

Cheers

pulliptears

Police, now.

Next time someone could lose an eye or an animal its life.

ETA. Both my children had BB Guns when they were younger, both played responsibly shooting boxes in the garden under supervision. Neither were allowed access to the guns alone or outside of the property. 13 year old boys shouldn't be carrying weapons around with them in the street, aside from the obvious risks there is also the risk to the child that the gun will be mistaken for something else and armed Police get involved (it happens).

duchy

What kind of kid is he ? Your daughter will know.

If he's often in trouble at school then I'd personally report it to the police-if he's generally a nice kid who did something dumb and a bollocking from the school would set him right and the school are prepared to do that and not hide behind "It didn't happen in school" (which it didn't but odds are they were in uniform so a school matter if the school chooses to make it one)

As for the parents....any parent who would allow a 13 year old to carry a BB gun in public isn't exactly parent of the year material anyway - so even if you could track them down it might be fruitless.

peachyprice

!!!!!! was the little oik doing with a BB gun out in a public place?

Police, immediately, not a shadow of a doubt.

happy_to_be_here

As the other posters have said, you need to get this sorted and the only way is to involve the police. His actions show he is extremely reckless and if he's fired at another persons face once, there's nothing to stop him doing it again. Let us know how you get on x

*BigBird*

Police, definitely.

He deliberately fired a gun at someone. It was sheer luck your daughter wasn't more seriously injured. The next person might not be so lucky.

mumps

keystone wrote: »

She has a nasty looking mark on her cheekbone which hurts quite badly. Whats that said I? A boy from school had a BB gun and fired it at me. Cut a long story short. Yes there was some provocation and a but of skylarking but no knowledge of the gun until it was pulled out.

What does the highlighted bit mean? I would normally say involve the police but if the above means something like the boy was being bullied/tormented/teased by others I might feel differently. If, and it is a big if, he was also a victim I would be more inclined to try and talk to him and daughter about it. I am not saying your daughter was the culprit but is she maybe hanging about with kids who think it is funny to make someone elses life a bit of a misery? Just a thought and I hope you aren't offended but might be worth thinking about.

aliasojo

Police.

I disagree with mumps and feel that whatever went on is a different matter to a large degree. I'm not dismissing the the provocation aspect but there is no justification for firing a bb gun at someone.

peachyprice

mumps wrote: »

What does the highlighted bit mean? I would normally say involve the police but if the above means something like the boy was being bullied/tormented/teased by others I might feel differently. If, and it is a big if, he was also a victim I would be more inclined to try and talk to him and daughter about it. I am not saying your daughter was the culprit but is she maybe hanging about with kids who think it is funny to make someone elses life a bit of a misery? Just a thought and I hope you aren't offended but might be worth thinking about.

None of that distracts from the fact that the boy shouldn't have had a BB gun out on the street.