Pupils, staff questioned in Enfield gun case

ENFIELD – Investigators questioned pupils and staff again Thursday about the accidental discharge of a handgun at the Enfield Station Elementary School on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, the 11-year-old boy arrested for bringing the gun to the kindergarten-through-grade-five school was scheduled to attend a detention hearing Thursday afternoon to determine whether he would remain in police custody or be released to his parents.

Police and court officials refused to release the results of that hearing or to identify the fifth-grader until he is formally charged. That could take up to two weeks, according to the Penobscot County District Attorney’s Office.

Officials said Wednesday the juvenile would be charged with reckless conduct with a firearm, a Class C felony.

The fifth-grader told police he broke into a locked gun cabinet at home and took the loaded .380-caliber semiautomatic weapon to school. The boy said it went off accidentally when he set it down in the boys’ bathroom at the school.

Chief Deputy Glenn Ross told the media Wednesday that the fifth-grader said he brought the gun to school for protection against a bully.

SAD 31 Superintendent Terri Krass said Thursday afternoon that the “facts surrounding that may not be as we originally thought.”

Ross refused Thursday to discuss specifics of the investigation, but said he expected it would be concluded by Monday. Ross referred questions to James Aucoin, a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office. He declined to comment.

Krass spent Thursday meeting with pupils. She said members of the school’s crisis team, guidance counselors and professional counselors were available to talk privately with the youngsters.

“We gave them a consistent message about getting on with a regular day of school,” she said. “The best thing for the kids now is to return to a normal day.

“We told them that the student who had brought the gun to school was not in school and would not be back in school to hurt them.”

Krass said school officials encouraged students to “let us know if older kids were picking on them.” She told pupils they could tell parents, teachers, bus drivers or any adult they trusted if they were being bullied.

The superintendent described a meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday at the school as an “open forum designed to allow parents, citizens and taxpayers concerned about this incident to come together.”

Krass said representatives from Community Health and Counseling Services, the sheriff’s department and legislators are expected to attend.

“We want to correct rumors and tell the public as much as we can about what transpired,” she said. “This has affected many of our children and their parents.

“We want to let them know what resources are available for them. And, we want to listen to them and hear their suggestions about how we can ensure the children and staff that school is a safe place for them to be.”

“But this is going to change us,” Krass said. “We’ve lost our innocence.”