The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A high school student insists he was just kidding around earlier this winter when he pointed an pellet gun at two young crossing guards from the passenger seat of a friend's car. But neither police nor the 10-year-old girls who were victimized see any humour in the incident. "We want to tell the youth of our community that common sense should dictate whether something is funny," said Cpl. Leslie Beck. "Anytime you're pretending to use a firearm, it's not funny." On October 29, the girls, both students of Parkdale School, told their principal that a teenager had pointed a silver gun at them while they were working at the crosswalk on Highway 10A near the Centre Street intersection. Police were contacted, and the girls were able to identify the car in the student parking lot at Hapnot Collegiate. Police entered the high school and located the driver, who turned over the pellet gun, which had been kept in his car. The teenager accused of pointing the gun at the girls admitted to the wrongdoing but said it was intended as a joke, Cpl. Beck said. "He said he was joking and that he just wanted to drive through the crosswalk," said Cpl. Beck. The teen insisted that the pistol was not loaded at the time. Police said there were five cartridges with the gun when it was turned over. Police are continuing with their investigation into the episode. Police said there were four male youths in the car at the time of the incident: one 18-year-old and three 16-year-olds.
