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Watertown Daily Times (NY)
February 28, 1996
Author: Associated Press
When the 11 year old boy told school nurses he didn’t feel well, his mother took him home and left him alone. Within an hour, his condition took a turn for the worse. The sixth-grader shaved his head, put on a ski mask and monk’s robe, grabbed his father’s .22-caliber rifle and went on an hour long robbery and shooting spree Tuesday that left a security guard wounded.
Lawrence Misa, 27, was shot in the hand when he tried to grab the rifle outside a hair salon the boy had robbed, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported today. He then held the boy until police arrived. Misa’s wound did not appear serious.
The boy, whose name was not released because of his age, was being held at a juvenile detention center for investigation of at least three counts of attempted murder and armed robbery. Police said the boy may have been under medication. Authorities hadn’t decided whether to file charges against the boy’s parents, who refused to comment.
The armed 4-foot, 50-pound boy first approached a group of cable workers, who thought he was pulling a prank until he fired two shots at them. One of the shots was deflected by a shovel. “This little guy comes up to us and asks us for our money. At first we thought it was a BB gun or something,” said Juan Castellanos, one of the workers. “When he started firing, we realized it was a .22.”
The boy then approached two joggers, demanded money and fired more shots into the air, police spokesman Bill Robinson said. Minutes later, he walked into a beauty shop, fired a single shot into the ceiling and again demanded money, police said. “A number of the patrons tossed their purses forward, and he grabbed a fistful of money and left,” Robinson said.
Joyce Aleria, who was inside Hair Haven at the time, said she and other patrons thought the boy was kidding around “until he cocked the gun and said, “I want your money now.”‘
Record Number: 9602290189