By Wayne Thompson and Mathew Dearnaley
Two boys who brought a gun into their primary school after being told off by their teachers sparked a police armed offenders callout yesterday.
About 100 pupils of Kaiaua School on the Firth of Thames coast were herded by teachers into the school's library and on
to a bus during the hour-long alert.
The boys, aged 10 and 12, showed the gun to friends just before classes finished at 3 pm, but it is believed they did not threaten anyone. They ran off, abusing a teacher who tried to call them back.
The sight of a gun in school grounds was enough to send the Auckland armed offenders squad scrambling to the scene in two helicopters.
Locals watching the police descend on their small settlement were reminded of the night in 1992 when a gunman shot dead the proprietor of Kaiaua's hotel and a bar patron.
Police from Tuakau and Pukekohe, who travelled to the school by road and arrived before the Auckland squad, apprehended the boys without any trouble. The boys were returning, unarmed, to their homes.
They had dropped the gun - a broken-down firearm without bullets taken from a family friend's shed - in a paddock and led the police to it.
Last night, the police left the boys with their parents while considering whether to take further action.
Constable Geoff Knight, of Tuakau, said the boys had played truant after being admonished for separate misdemeanours, but teachers assured the police their behaviour was out of character.
What police were most concerned about was the availability of a firearm which, while in a poor condition, would look dangerous enough to anybody facing it.
The school's principal, Gus Klein, was reluctant to comment on what he put down to "some boys who thought they were funny but now realise the seriousness of what they have done."
"There is no mountain to be made out of this - I don't want this to be like America."
Another staff member said no one was angry with the boys and teachers had comforted them after the incident.
Constable Knight commended staff for acting calmly and keeping the rest of the children safe.
