Report: 13-year-old robbed fellow student at gunpoint

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 25, 2012

By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — A 13-year-old boy accused of robbing a 12-year-old at gunpoint this weekend has been charged again with bullying the kid at school.
Salisbury Police said the 13-year-old was one of several teenagers who attacked a Knox Middle School student and another boy near the intersection of Lincolnton Road and New Street Saturday night about 7 p.m.
Authorities said some of the suspects are students at Knox Middle, others attend Salisbury High School.
A police report said the group of students hit the 12-year-old in the head with a brick and stole his bicycle. The 13-year-old suspect then pulled a handgun from his book bag and pointed it at the boy.
Police charged the 13-year-old with robbery with a firearm and assault. Charges are pending on a second teenager, police said.
The bike was later recovered by a family member.
Two days after being charged, authorities believe the 13-year-old started recruiting fellow students at Knox Middle School to “beat up” one of the victims, the report said.
One of the students told police he had been offered $20 to fight the boy. Another student told officers he began being harassed by the 13-year-old after refusing to join in the assault.
The 13-year-old was charged on citation and released into the custody of his mother at the school.
He was given a 10-day suspension from the school, the report said.
Police are continuing to investigate.
Contact reporter Nathan Hardin at 704-797-4246.