Student who brought gun to Berkeley High still at large

January 12, 2011 1:09 pm by Frances Dinkelspiel

Berkeley High School

The Berkeley High student who brought a gun to school on Monday ran away from officials and is still at large.

The 15-year old freshman brought a small caliber gun to school in his backpack and he apparently darted outside while authorities were looking inside the bag.

The Berkeley police department came to the high school and took possession of the gun, but not the student.

“The student was no longer there,” said Officer Jamie Perkins on Wednesday “We were not able to take him into custody at the time we arrived.”

Berkeley police know the identity of the student and officers are looking for him, said Perkins.

On Monday, Berkeley High Principal Pasquale Scuderi sent an email to the Berkeley High community informing it of the incident, but did not mention the student was still at large.

Scuderi did not return phone calls or emails from Berkeleyside.

15 Comments

Print Friendly
Tagged ,
  • john holland

    wow, i feel sorry for him. this is one of those “you’re just making things worse for yourself” kinda moves.

  • anna

    What the heck????? They detained him and they let him run away? What kind of mess is that? My son goes to BH and it would have been helpful if the public and parents knew that he was still at large because just maybe one of the students saw him. Well, best of luck in finding him now.

  • Tim C

    I hope they trace the gun and find out who may have let him get possession of it. That’s someone I’d like to see get arrested.

  • Goodkind

    I hope they can find the kid. What are the statistical odds that he actually lives at the Berkeley address on his registration? Better than 50/50 I am sure, but still, what are the real odds?

  • visitor1

    Oh I love this one! Being responsible for some of the discipline in a very large chicago Public High School, this young person probably should have been secluded into a room and under very close supervision! Amidst all the confusion he was able to dodge the police! I do not know too much about Berkeley HS but I do know in Chicago this act is so highly scrutinized so to protect our students!

  • laura menard

    I do know plenty about BHS and the Safety officers capacity, training and protocols. This is not the first time they f…… up. According to the Daily CAL reporting Susan’s godson took off prior to the cops arriving, which means the school resource officer was not likely on campus at the time of the search.

    I know of many crimes iwhere safety officers either contaminated the scene prior to BPD arriving or failed to hold the offenders. I also know of numerous times where families of victims or victims themselves have been lectured about it being their fault. One parent wrote a major commentary in the Planet a few years ago after safety staff assisted the thief who students and teachers saw steal the laptop cover up the incident and never be held responsible.

    Principal Diaz did not expelled the student who shot another kid after school two blocks from the Alternative campus just a couple of years ago. Stop me, I could list many more violation by the so called professionals.

    Berkeley Safety Officers are not getting the oversight, monitoring or performance evaluations from supervisors to match the meet the requirements for maintaining a safe school. This is not new NEWS, this has been the situation since the 1999 fires, Maran’s Class Dismissed tales and today.

    Just the other day at the downtown Trader Joes I was yucking it up with a BHS Alum about how the safety officers have always hustled female students. He asked me about a particular safety officer, Abaz Bey who always sat in a folding beach chair with a sun hat reading the newspaper. I explained that his was finally let go after two years of evidence of inappropriate contract with female students. . Bey had a felony conviction for assault prior to being placed at BHS from King Middle school.

    Like I said, I know too much and wish I didn’t.

  • shorty

    Why is it the Safety Committee at BHS has remained tight -lipped about this?
    They have a duty to see to it that students are safe, and that parents feel secure knowing their children can get an education without such worries! Yet another embarrassing moment for the district! Are we supposed to be placated by Principal Scuderi’s email and robo-call to homes? Why was the community not informed that the student was still at large?
    What a joke….a 200 lb security officer cannot detain a 15 year old?!
    Berkeleyside……demand that the BHS leadership AND the Safety Committee are accountable to the details surrounding this. That would be some real journalism!

  • laura menard

    A group of parents whose kids were victims of school crime have requested (yet again) a meeting with Supt and Chief of police to discuss missing systems for supervising students on probation and parole. I was told the meeting would probably get scheduled in a few weeks, but judging from the years of being strung along, I remain skeptical. Where is the Safety committee is assuring the school is complying with this legal requirements for monitoring of offenders and communications with probation officers? Not much progress.

    Not sure what else we can do, we have tried everything short of a lawsuit. Gee, doesn’t the school realize the surest way to reduce crimes on campus is to supervise those already engaged in high risk behaviors?

  • Goodkind

    This situation lands squarely in the lap of the safety/security officers, as supervised by the Dean of Students and ultimately the principal. The Safety Committee is an oversight committee and has little real power. I am sure they are as unhappy about this as the rest of us are. Safety Committee parent volunteers are not responsible for this situation; the paid staff is responsible (which is as it should be, because we do NOT want volunteers to actually be responsible for student safety, do we?) But of course I hope the Safety Committee will look into this.

  • laura menard

    Good Kind,

    You are confusing issues and miss the point, the parents who choose to volunteer to draft, review and make recommendations for compliance with school safety requirements(SB 187) are in a position to speak publicly about failures and concerns to the school board and community through various forums. In fact the law requires it, yet in Berkeley the administrators manipulate and control the process so in the end there is little transparency or accountabil8ty. Instead the committee members continue to rubber-stamp a document for school board review in March which the district files with the state HOPING the district and site administrators will eventually take their responsibilities seriously rather than covering up ongoing failures.

  • shorty

    Ditto re: LM’s reply…..The Safety Committee is in place as the parent/community body to speak to the issues and work with school administration/district. Ever heard of a John Lennon song called ‘Power to the People’? This is about ‘the people’!!!! Our students! The parents (people) are the ones who should demand that the district and police are doing their jobs. If we are going to appoint committees, elect a parent body, and demand input from the community at large then let’s be accountable to the process! I agree with LM: there is no transparency or accountability!

  • Goodkind

    We got this today. BHS Safety Committee Meeting Tuesday, January 18, 2011
    4:30-6:00 pm H104. Public comment at the beginning for 10 min.

  • Juliette

    Procedures for BHS security staff:

    Separate student from backpack. Seat him in chair and watch him. Find gun in backpack. Call the cops. Detain kid until cops arrive. This may involve more than one person.

  • laura menard

    Good Kind,

    Speak up, be prepared for long winded double talk from Billy Keys, safety officer.

  • anyonomus

    some one that old should know not to bring firearms