A 14-year-old Madison teen faces weapons charges after he allegedly brought a pellet gun to St. Maria Goretti School on Thursday morning.
The student was tentatively charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under the age of 18 and also was tentatively charged with burglary after admitting committing other crimes, including a residential burglary from 2007, police said. Madison police said a school staff member found a black, plastic pellet gun in the student's backpack.
The student "claimed he did not mean to bring the weapon to school and had forgotten it was in his backpack," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain. "But the investigating officer was also told the suspect might have threatened to shoot another student."
St. Maria Goretti is a K-8 parochial school at 5405 Flad Ave. on the city's West Side.