Another story with Airsoft pellets. This time a kid shot them out of a pen tube (like spit wads). He was expelled from school for the whole year and is facing 3 assault charges.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/03...tic-spitballs/

The family of a Virginia teen suspended for the remainder of the school year for shooting plastic "spitwads" at students in the hallway is targeting the school district's zero-tolerance policy, claiming that it's "criminalizing childish behavior."

Andrew Mikel II, a freshman honor student at Spotsylvania High School who also is active in Junior ROTC, is filling an appeal to be reinstated and have his record cleared after school officials suspended him for using what appeared to be the hollow body of a pen to blow small plastic balls at three students during his lunch period last December.

The 14-year-old initially was hit with a 10-day suspension, but the Spotsylvania County School Board later voted to extend the punishment for the rest of the school year, citing the Student Code of Conduct's requirement that a student found with "any type of weapon, or object used to intimidate, threaten or harm others" be "expelled for a minimum of 365 days" unless "special circumstances exist."

The district also referred the case to the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office, which charged him with three counts of misdemeanor assault.
...
Scott said those victims, two females and one male, complained of feeling a "pinch" or "sting" when they were hit with the pellets and one even had a welt on her arm as result.
...
Mikel says he thinks detention probably would have been more fitting.

"My son did an infraction and he deserves a just punishment but this is like cutting someone's hand off for stealing a piece of cabbage," he said. "If my son, instead of shooting a spitball, went up and punched a student right in the face he would only have gotten five days suspension and even if he'd drawn blood the school resource officer said police still wouldn't have gotten involved."

"It takes four state agencies to go after someone with a spitwad: It takes the sheriff's department, the commonwealth attorney, the school board on various levels and the department of juvenile justice … what a fine use of taxpayer resources," he added.
The kid sounds like kind of an immature dick, after all he did hit a girl with the pellets and when asked to "stop" and "why are you doing that" he responded "Cause I want to."

But I think detention and a good swift kick in the ass from his dad would be a better punishment. The Dad is right...seems like a waste of time and tax payer money.