(Article is paywalled. Use archive.is if you want to read it):
… In the case of the 6-year-old, a child experiencing a mental health crisis had disclosed to individuals that he had ready access to firearms, MacKenzie said. After an extreme risk protection order was filed, Northville Township police officers found during a visit to the home that all firearms had been removed from the home a couple of days prior, according to the deputy police chief.
A similar situation unfolded with a 10-year-old, MacKenzie said, where, again, police found no evidence of the child having access to a firearm upon a visit to the home. That order was later canceled.
State police records indicate the Northville Township 10-year-old “made threats to shoot another student in school and indicated that he has access to weapon(s) which is unsecured and is located in the basement of the minor’s home.”
MacKenzie noted both extreme risk protections orders were issued in the name of the child, meaning they barred the child specifically from possessing or controlling firearms. To the extent there were firearms accessible to the child in the home, they would have been confiscated, he said.
Another case out of Alger County in the Upper Peninsula involving an 8-year-old indicates the child made several threats to kill individuals and attacked law enforcement and school staff prior to the Feb. 29, 2024, ERPO petition.
Among the threats voiced by the 8-year-old, according to state police: “You’re going to die soon” and “I will kill people if I need to.” The child also had “kicked, punched, and tried to bite” a school resource officer and school staff, according to police records. Officials also said they believe they heard the boy say he wanted to kill himself or live in the woods by himself, according to state police records.
The mother told police her guns were “locked up,” state police records indicate, but law enforcement did seize firearms they believed were subject to the order, said Alger County Sheriff Capt. Matt Waldron. The order was set to expire Saturday and the department, as of Wednesday, did not plan to request an extension, he said. …