Teen charged in Hastings school lockdown might not be tried as adult

A 14-year-old teen might not be prosecuted as an adult after allegedly terrorizing Hastings Middle School students and staff at gunpoint on April 5.

At a hearing before Dakota County District Judge Richard Spicer on Friday, County Attorney James Backstrom recommended that the teen be prosecuted under the state's extended juvenile jurisdiction (EJJ) statute. Backstrom said that is the alternative most appropriate in this case.

Spicer will rule on Backstrom's recommendation.

The teen was originally petitioned into court as a juvenile, and Backstrom had the option to certify the boy as an adult for prosecution.

Hearings involving juveniles are closed, and the Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects younger than age 16.

Started in Minnesota 15 years ago, EJJ gives prosecutors and judges more latitude in dealing with juveniles who commit serious crimes, but where an adult sentence might not be a fitting consequence.

Those prosecuted under the EJJ stay under supervision of juvenile court until they are 21 years old.

The teen is accused of bringing a .22-caliber pistol to school in a backpack, pointing it at teachers and fellow students, and smashing classroom windows as the school went into a lockdown.

No one was physically hurt, and the gun was never fired. The teen was taken into custody by officers of the Hastings Police Department and Dakota County Sheriff's Office. He faces five felonies: three counts of second-degree assault, one count of terroristic threats and one count of criminal damage to property.

He has been held at the Dakota County Juvenile Services Center in Hastings.

A court-appointed psychologist and the Dakota County Community Corrections Department each completed background studies of the teen and the school incident, Backstrom said. Those findings led to the decision to prosecute under EJJ.

The findings of those background checks are confidential, but the parents who adopted the teen from a Russian orphanage said after the school incident that he had a violent past stemming from physical abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome and reactive attachment disorder.

The adoptive parents said Friday they were not contacted as part of the court's background check but offered information indirectly.

"I'm happy he isn't going to be tried as an adult," his adoptive mother said. "I still have a lot of compassion for him."

Backstrom said the teen's next court appearance has been scheduled for July 19.