14 DAY TRIAL // A 16-year-old Cypress Lake High School student from Fort Meyers, Florida has received a three-day suspension after battling a class-mate on the school bus and disarming him.
According to the student's account, the boy was threatening a fellow student with a .22 caliber RG-14 revolver, WFTX writes.
After the incident prompted upset among parents, a member of the school board has clarified that the student owes his suspension to lying to officials about the incident.
The victim himself, who wishes to remain anonymous, has confirmed that he would have been shot, had the weapon not been taken away from the assailant.
"Do you think he would have killed you?" he is asked by reporters. He responds with "Yeah." His account is backed up by witnesses at the scene.
"He was going to shoot him. Point blank," stresses the student who incurred the suspension.
While several people tackled the attacker to help take the gun away from him, only two other students were suspended – the gunman and his accomplice.
The original school report lists the boy juggling the gun out of the gunman's hands as part of an “"ncident" where a "weapon was present."
An additional document sent on Saturday mentions that the incident has been motivated by him being "uncooperative," as he "lied repeatedly" about the presence of the firearm on the bus.
The student has explained that he fears for his life in giving details about the incident, and he is supported in his decision by his mother.
"My son did a very courageous thing on that bus. [...] Without him and some other students there would have been some fatalities," she says.
School board member Don Armstrong claims that "if a student lies, there's got to be consequences." However, he is inclined to be lenient in this case, since the student in question has performed a heroic gesture.
"I know that he saved a student's life and he's a hero, period. That suspension needs to be expunged off his record," he adds.