A judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation for the 13-year-old
Gilroy boy who faces up to six years incarceration and $10,000 in
fines for firing a pellet gun into a group of Gilroy High School
students outside the school Dec. 11.
SAN JOSE – A judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation for the 13-year-old Gilroy boy who faces up to six years incarceration and $10,000 in fines for firing a pellet gun into a group of Gilroy High School students outside the school Dec. 11.
The decision by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Eugene M. Hyman came during the boy’s first court appearance following the incident that left the GHS administration and many parents on edge.
Hyman also decided to combine the boy’s three felony assault charges stemming from the incident with a deadly weapon charge from a pending misdemeanor case in Stanislaus County, the details of which were not released.
“The idea of the psychiatric evaluation is so probation can determine a proper sentence,” said Dave Soares, the deputy district attorney handling the case. “The judge wants to find out what other factors this boy might be dealing with.”
The youth – whose name cannot legally be released because of his age – sat quietly next to his mother in the juvenile court facility Monday in San Jose. He has been in juvenile hall since his arrest Dec. 11. Prior to being handcuffed to go back to his room, he gave his mother two long hugs before reluctantly letting go.
The boy will be back in court Monday and is expected to enter a plea.
The boy’s acting attorney declined to comment on the case.
The confrontation began shortly before 8 a.m. Dec. 11 on Princevalle Street just east of Gilroy High School when a group of four male and one female GHS students met with a group comprised of the 13-year-old gunman, who is not enrolled in any district school; a male district student who does not attend GHS; and two female GHS students, according to police.
After a brief exchange of words, the 13-year-old brandished the gun from his pants and fired six to seven rounds into the opposing group from a close distance, grazing two students’ pants with pellets and hitting another near the ankle, according to police.
