MIDDLE SCHOOLERS IN GUN SCARE HAD HEROIN, POLICE SAY

Elm Grove Officials Stunned By Discovery Of Drug Worth $1,500

Two 14-year-old students arrested in a gun scare at an Elm Grove middle
school had 50 to 100 rounds of ammunition and $1,500 worth of heroin,
police said Thursday.

"Heroin? Absolutely alarming," Elmbrook School Superintendent Matt Gibson said.

In addition, one of the eighth-graders told police that the two handled the
.22-caliber handgun in a bathroom at the school before they were arrested
Wednesday near Pilgrim Park Middle School. The other denied it.

While being interviewed by police, each boy tried to lay some of the blame
on the other, authorities said.

"We have two fairly sophisticated, fairly uncooperative suspects," Elm
Grove Police Chief Jeff Haig said. "There was some finger-pointing."

One of the boys is from Brookfield and the other is from Milwaukee,
attending Pilgrim Park as part of the Chapter 220 integration program.

When arrested, the Brookfield boy had the gun, a switchblade and a bottle
of whiskey, while the other boy had about 10 grams of a substance that
tested positive as heroin, police said. That amount of heroin would have a
street value of $1,500 to $1,800, police said.

Scary Situation

Haig called the combination of drugs and weapons "not a good mix."

"It was frightening. It certainly was frightening," he said.

Several parents felt similarly and kept their children home from school
Thursday. More than 30 other students met with school counselors to talk
about their fears and concerns.

Elmbrook School District officials will meet with the parents at 7 a.m.
today at the school to discuss the incident.

Both teens were arrested around 2:45 p.m. Wednesday after leading police on
a brief foot chase from the school, 1500 Pilgrim Parkway. School officials
had called police earlier in the day when the Brookfield boy fled school
rather than face disciplinary action after being accused of vandalizing
another student's locker.

Police spotted the two on school grounds at the end of the school day.

Haig said the boys had removed the handgun and a box of ammunition, with 50
to 100 rounds, from the Brookfield boy's home on Sunday.

The police chief said investigators are convinced the boys were intent on
getting to Milwaukee and did not plan to create problems in Elm Grove. At
one point, the two tried to get on a school bus, but the driver might have
turned them away because the Brookfield boy didn't belong on the bus,
officials said.

"It's anybody's guess what the boys were going to do in Milwaukee," Haig said.

In a delinquency petition filed Thursday in Milwaukee County Children's
Court, the Milwaukee boy was accused of felony possession of a controlled
substance and misdemeanor possession of a weapon.

According to the delinquency petition, the Milwaukee boy told police that
both youths at one point had the weapon inside a bathroom at Pilgrim Park
on Wednesday. The boy said he had checked the semiautomatic weapon to see
if it was loaded in the bathroom before handing it back to the Brookfield boy.

Police said the weapon was not loaded when it was confiscated.

Pointing Fingers

Haig said the two boys have tried to blame the other for some of their
actions and have given police conflicting accounts. He said the Brookfield
boy at one point would not respond when asked directly whether the gun was
ever inside the school.

In a brief court hearing Thursday in Milwaukee County, the Milwaukee boy
told authorities he was holding the heroin for the Brookfield boy.

Milwaukee County Children's Judge Francis Wasielewski ordered the Milwaukee
youth to remain in detention, pending a plea hearing set for Tuesday.

Court records show both boys live with foster families.

The Brookfield boy appeared in Waukesha County Juvenile Court Thursday
afternoon without his family.

Waukesha County Court Commissioner Linda Georgeson ordered that he continue
to be held in custody until a hearing Monday, when a delinquency petition
is expected to be filed.

"Obviously, we requested secure detention because we're concerned about the
safety of the community," Assistant District Attorney Timothy Westphal said.

Isolated Incident

Gibson said the Brookfield-based school district has never before found
evidence of heroin in one of its schools - or any illicit drug other than
marijuana.

"It's been very isolated," the superintendent said of drug problems.

The State Crime Laboratory is testing the substance that police said they
found in a pill container in the Milwaukee boy's pocket. Preliminary tests
showed it was 10.5 grams of heroin.

Haig said investigators have not determined where the Milwaukee boy got the
drug or whether he had it at school.

Coincidentally, police have been planning to begin their first-ever drug
searches of Elmbrook schools using a dog trained to sniff out drugs.
Officials said those searches probably will begin in the high schools and
middle schools later this year.

Both boys have been suspended from school for at least five days and could
face expulsion.

Elsewhere:

In Fond du Lac, a 14-year-old student suspected of writing a school hit
list posted on a computer chat room was taken into custody Thursday,
authorities said.

The boy was released to his parents and was referred to juvenile authorities.

A student at Horning Middle School in Waukesha is suspected of sending a
threatening computer message about harming "the popular kids," officials
said Thursday.

Waukesha Public Schools Superintendent David Schmidt said police
investigated and "found nothing behind it." Nonetheless, he said, the
matter remains under investigation.