Kenosha teen charged with bringing pellet gun to school sentenced to 1 year in juvenile detention

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) — The Kenosha teen charged with making a terroristic threat against an elementary school will serve one year in a juvenile detention center.

It happened in early November. A teen, who was 13 years old at the time of the incident, tried to enter Roosevelt Elementary School through multiple entrances and locked doors.

On security video, the teen, who we’ve been asked to not identify, was seen carrying a backpack and a duffle bag with what police originally believed to be a rifle. When school staff questioned the teen, he took off. Police later discovered the gun to be a pellet gun and found several airsoft replica handguns inside his home.

In court, prosecutors called it a national issue that hit close to home.

“It is terrifying for the school in which it occurs, and for all of the schools and all of the children who are constantly having the ALICE drills where they have to run and hide,” said prosecutors. “He had videos explaining what he was going to do. It will be a day of massacre.”

The teen, now 14 years old, later told a social worker he wanted to scare students. In the courtroom, he told the judge he regretted his actions.

“You gotta remember that he turned himself in. He recognized the wrongfulness of his conduct. He knew the consequences would not be good. And I underscore that because this is someone who can be rehabilitated,” said his defense attorney.

The teen has already served 82 days of his year-long sentence.