A Michigan mother said her 11-year-old son was expelled after he disarmed a classmate who brought a loaded gun to school.
Savitra McClurkin said she’s been trying to enroll her son, Sakir Everett, into another school ever since he was abruptly kicked out of Dwight Rich School of the Arts in Lansing back in May.
“I’m upset with everybody,” McClurkin said in a phone interview on Monday. “I’m not just mad at the district, I’m mad at some of these teachers, administrators, as well as the city, because they did not handle this right.”
In a statement, the Lansing School District said it issued its decision “after a thorough investigation, including review of video evidence, numerous witness statements, and careful deliberation, as well as a disciplinary hearing.”
The incident unfolded after an unidentified student allegedly brought a loaded gun to the middle school. McClurkin said the student pulled out the gun in a bathroom and “gave my son a firearm.”
“Like here, take this, hold on to this,” she said.
Sakir, who knows how to hunt and learned about gun safety from his godfather, knew the weapon was not allowed in school.
“Sakir’s natural reaction was, there’s no way I’m going to hold on to this gun all day,” his mother said. “He proceeded to go to class … and dismantled it in class. There was a teacher in class and everything. People were around and everything.”
After taking the gun apart, McClurkin said her son “put it inside of a heater” in the classroom and threw the bullets in a garbage can.
“He didn’t want it on his person, but he didn’t want nobody to mess with it,” she said about why her son dismantled the firearm.
When asked why he did not immediately tell an adult about the gun, McClurkin said it was because her son was scared and was never taught what to do in that situation.
Other students eventually told an administrator about the firearm, she said.
The district said in its statement that “the full account of the incident has not been reported,” but could not comment further because of privacy laws.
“Disciplinary action would not have been warranted for disarming another student,” the district said. “Please know, however, that the safety of our students and staff remains our paramount interest, and decisions will continue to be made in accordance with that principle.”
According to the district, the student who brought the firearm was taken into custody by police. The Lansing Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
McClurkin appeared at a Lansing School Board meeting on Thursday to try to get answers, NBC affiliate WILX 10 reported.
“He’s 11-years-old. Seventh grade. Never been in trouble before,” she told the board.
McClurkin told NBC News that she is still fighting to resolve the situation. She also accused the district of failing to give her an alternative option for her son. Since May, he’s been denied admission to four schools because of the expulsion on his record, she said.
In the meantime, she’s keeping him busy with sports and an unaccredited online schooling program.
“They really just did, not just my son, they did me wrong too. All I’m trying to do is just be a good parent and make sure that my son is getting an education,” she said.
