NY boy, 11, faces charges over pencil attack

[February 10, 2010]  SAUQUOIT, N.Y. (AP) -- An 11-year-old boy faces assault and weapon charges for trying to stab a classmate with a pencil over a math problem.

Police in New Hartford, 80 miles west of Albany, said the boy was mad because a classmate kept trying to help him in math class on Monday. When the would-be helper wouldn't back off, police said the boy lashed out with a sharp pencil and inflicted a scratch treated by the school nurse.

Officer Shane Yoxall, working as a resource officer at the Sauquoit Valley Middle School, investigated. The 11-year-old, whose name wasn't released, was suspended from school and charged with felony attempted assault and misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon.

He must report to Oneida County probation officials on Feb. 23.

[Associated Press]

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