YAZOO COUNTY – A 14-year old Yazoo County student who pulled a gun on a school bus full of children two months ago will not be charged as an adult, District Attorney James Powell said.
The young girl was taken into custody on Tuesday, Sept. 8, after authorities said she took a small caliber handgun from her bag, loaded it and pointed it at the more than 20 students on the bus. The young girl was then tackled by Kaleb Eulls, an 18-year old football star at Yazoo County High School, and taken into protective custody.
Yazoo County Sheriff Tommy Vaughn said the teen was initially charged with one count of possession of a firearm on school property, 22 counts of aggravated assault and 22 counts of felony kidnapping. But after months of reviewing of her case, Powell concluded that the student “obviously has problems.”
“We did some psychological testing and evaluation on her,” Powell said. “And that’s what I wanted to see before we looked at prosecuting her as an adult. And based on that, I declined to prosecute based on those findings and I referred her back to youth court.”
Sheriff Vaughn said the teen told authorities that she had the gun because she had been bullied at school since transferring into the district.
Because the young girl is a minor, the findings of her case in youth court could not be released. But Powell indicated that all charges against the teen have been dismissed.
“The hearings are all closed and the records are sealed,” Powell said. “But we looked at the whole circumstance. No one was injured. And as a result of viewing the [school bus video] tape, when you look at the whole thing, yes, she exhibited a weapon, and that is a very scary thing. But some kids ran by her and exited the bus while she was holding the gun and she didn’t try to stop anyone. So, she was making a statement rather than trying to harm anyone. So, she obviously has some problems going on and needs assistance.”
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