9-Year-Old Apologizes to Classmate He Shot
A 9-year-old boy has written an apology to the classmate he accidentally shot at school. His name is not being released because he is a minor, but reports state that he is currently receiving counseling and is remorseful for his actions.
"Dear Amina, I'm sorry I hurt you because I brought a gun to school. I did not mean for anyone to get hurt," he wrote. "I wish no one got hurt. I wish you were out of the hospital playing basketball and going back to school. I wish everyone was okay. I made a bad choice. I was sad, scared, and afraid and I did not solve my problem well. I will stay away from guns. I should have told a grown-up," he added.
The 9-year-old seriously injured his classmate, Amina Kocer-Bowman, at a school in Seattle. He brought a gun to the school in his backpack, and it accidentally went off when he dropped the bag on his desk.
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He has pled guilty to three counts of misdemeanor charges and has agreed to testify against his mother and her boyfriend.
The boy has been expelled from school for one year and is currently living with an uncle, who is his legal guardian. Meanwhile, Amina has been in the hospital for 41 days and gone through five surgeries, but still has a feeding tube and a bullet lodged next to her spine.
Her family is considering a lawsuit, and the family's attorney, Jeff Campiche, said their decision would be known in two months.
"Although appreciated, the apology of the child simply cannot and does not satisfy the responsibility of the boy, his parents, or child protective services for Amina's harms and losses," Campiche said in an email to the Seattle Times.
"We believe the focus of public attention should not stop with the child's apology, rather we must look carefully at the failings of the boy's parents and child protective services' supervision of the boy, and to determine how it is that this 9-year-old boy would think it was necessary to bring a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun to an elementary school classroom," he Campiche explained.
Court reports state that the boy told classmates he was running away from home. He wanted to take his father's gun with him for protection but was unable to find one and instead took a gun he found in his mother's home.
"I just want everyone to know that my kid made a mistake. It was a terrible mistake," his father, Jason Cochran, said outside the courthouse, reported the Associated Press.
"He's a really good kid. It's all I can say," his uncle and legal guardian told the AP. "I apologize to the family of that girl. I really do."
