12-year-old arraigned on gun charges in Boston

A 12-year-old boy was arraigned on gun charges Tuesday after allegedly tossing a fully-loaded handgun into a front yard on Forest Street in Boston on Saturday evening, according to prosecutors.

The boy, who has not been named by authorities because of his age, was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail after being arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court on delinquency charges. He faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm.

“Think of the damage a child of that age could do with a loaded firearm,” Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement. “Think of the harm he could cause, to someone else or even himself. Who on earth would give a 12-year-old a gun, and for what possible reason?”

On Saturday evening, Boston police officers patrolling Forest, Vine, and Mt. Pleasant streets in Roxbury saw a group of about five boys walking down the street toward the officers’ unmarked cruiser, according to Conley’s office. Then, authorities said, one boy threw something into the front yard of a house on Forest Street.

Officers found a silver .380 caliber handgun “loaded with six rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber ready to be fired,” according to Conley’s office. The group of boys then ran off, and officers later found the boys on Greenville Street. The boys, who ranged in age from 11 to 15, were taken to the station, where their parents declined to allow them to be interviewed, Conley’s office said. Four of the boys were released, while the defendant was arrested.