"Deadly Weapon"

Overreaction:

The arrest of a sixth-grader in Tavares, Fla., accused of using a balloon and milk carton top to make a small "deadly weapon" slingshot and fire a pellet at a classmate was uncalled for and overblown by authorities, according to the boy's mother.

Lake County sheriff's deputies said Tavares Middle School student Kevin Cottle, 11, used his toy as a weapon when he hit another boy in the chest at school. Cottle faces second-degree felony charges of shooting or throwing a deadly missile in connection with the incident.

Here is a picture of the "deadly weapon" in question:

The middle school student was charged with shooting or throwing a deadly missile and the sheriff's office is standing behind the charge, the report said. "In this case, this child shot a pellet at another student that caused a welt on the skin," Lake County sheriff's office Sgt. Christie Mysinger said.

According to the sheriff's office, the deputy, the deputy's supervisor and a representative from the state attorney's office all reviewed the state's statutes. "They felt as a group, that this charge was the appropriate charge," Mysinger said.

The 11-year-old was transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Ocala, Fla.

"To see him in handcuffs, shackles around his ankles and (with) a chain around his waist, it was everything I could do to maintain myself," Cottle said.

Here is the web page for the Lake County Sheriff's Office, (there's a lovely photo of His Royal Highness, Lord Sheriff Gary S. Borders -- keeping the world safe from 11 year old boys.)

And here is the contact page for the Florida State Attorney's Fifth Judicial Circuit, holding authority over Lake County. Their office has subsequently attempted to distance themselves from the incident, no doubt in an effort to avoid being a side dish at the pig roast that will shortly ensue.

Yum... blue bacon. My favorite.