Gun Wielding 8th Grade Student Shot By SWAT Team

Eighth-grader Chris Penley was shot and wounded by a SWAT team officer in a school bathroom after he pulled out a pellet gun that resembled a real weapon, authorities said. He was shot after raising the gun at deputies. Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said 15 year old Chris Penley brought the gun to Milwee Middle School in his backpack. Eslinger said two students saw it and one persuaded the other to report it, causing a scuffle. Chris Penley told one of the students to go into a closet, ran from the classroom and "travelled with this firearm throughout the campus," Eslinger said. Deputies eventually isolated him in a restroom, and the school was evacuated."At one time he held the gun to his neck. As the deputies attempted to establish dialogue, he raised the firearm and lethal force was used by the sheriff's office," Eslinger said. The boy was taken to the hospital, where he was on "advanced life support" Eslinger said. "He was suicidal," Eslinger said. "During this standoff, and during the chase, the student said he was going to kill himself or die." No one else was injured. The sheriff's office confirmed later that the weapon was a pellet gun fashioned to look like a 9-mm handgun. Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day, and frantic parents arrived to pick up their children. "When I saw the news, I just couldn't believe this was my daughter's school. I came right away," said Anil Santos, whose daughter, Aleister, is in eighth grade. Sarah Tivy, 12, said some students were frightened, but she appeared calm. "I just figured that if someone is going to bring a gun to school, then they need to be taken out of school," she said.