Student builds toy gun out of Legos and points it at other kids — then police are called

A student at a Connecticut school built a toy gun out of Legos and pointed it at other students last week, prompting officials to call police to the school.

Will Clark, chief operating officer at New Haven Public Schools, released the following statement to WTIC-TV in regard to Thursday's incident:

School leaders and local police partners were able to investigate and resolve the issue internally with use of restorative practices. Appropriate steps were taken at the school level to insure the safety of all students and to impress upon the students the seriousness of engaging in positive peer interactions while avoiding conduct that may pose risk or concern to others. All children need to feel safe and secure within the learning environment and we all have a role to play to make that happen.

The school in question — Benjamin Jepson School, a magnet school — consists of pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students.

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round...

The incident marks the latest chapter in what some might call school officials' severe reactions to students connected to gun-related activities when no actual guns are involved:

• A 12-year-old boy with autism was arrested after he reportedly pretended to play with an imaginary rifle at school — and then reportedly was handcuffed and dragged through the school's front entrance as other students looked on.
• A middle school suspended a student last year after he liked an Instagram photo of an airsoft pellet gun.
• A 16-year-old girl — caught by teachers with a water pistol — was expelled from school as a result.
• A 5-year-old girl brought a bubble-blowing device that resembled a gun to her elementary school, and she was suspended for a day.
• An elementary school suspended an 8-year-old student after he chewed his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun.
• A 5-year-old girl was labeled a “terrorist threat” and suspended for 10 days after telling a friend she was going to shoot her with a pink toy gun that spits out bubbles.
• A fifth-grader was suspended from school after he pointed his finger at other students as if it were a gun — which mimicked a “level 2 lookalike firearm," the school district said.

(H/T: Bearing Arms)