The arrest of a 9-year-old Hollister boy last week for assault
with a deadly weapon is a rare event in the city, but children
committing more violent acts is part of a trend society in general
is experiencing, according to school administrators.
Hollister – The arrest of a 9-year-old Hollister boy last week for assault with a deadly weapon is a rare event in the city, but children committing more violent acts is part of a trend society in general is experiencing, according to school administrators.
The boy was arrested by Hollister police after he held a knife to the throat of an 8-year-old boy as they were walking home from school in the area of Line Street and Apricot Lane on Thursday, according to police.
The 8-year-old was not harmed, but police said the incident had the potential to cause serious injury.
The worst thing Principal Melinda Scott has had to deal with at Sunnyslope Elementary School is playground fights, she said.
Sunnyslope school is located about two miles east of where the incident occurred.
Scott said the children at Sunnyslope school are very tightly supervised and if a child was found with a knife he would be suspended and recommended for expulsion.
She attributed the incident to an overall change in American culture.
“We allow children to see a lot more violence on television and in the movies,” Scott said. “Thirty years ago there was very little violent content a child would watch on TV, where as now there’s very little they don’t see.”
The incident happened near R. O. Hardin Elementary School, but Principal Linda Smith could not be reached for comment.
Eric Johnson, principal and superintendent of Southside Elementary School, said any student in the possession of a knife or weapon is taken very seriously.
Johnson said the incident was incredibly bizarre and that Southside school has never experienced “anything close to it.”
“We’re like any other community – we have situations occurring and people need to be aware,” he said. “But I don’t think we’re any more dangerous than we used to be and it was an extremely rare occurrence.”
Police do not know why the incident happened – whether there was a prior history between the children or if it was a random act of violence.
The boy was arrested at his home, after the victim’s parents contacted police, for assault with a deadly weapon, a felony, and brandishing a knife, a misdemeanor, according to police.
Police do not release the names of juveniles.
