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Charges brought in bullet case

By Steve Landwehr
STAFF WRITER
Published: November 21, 2008

HAMILTON — An 18-year-old student will have to appear in court on charges of bringing four .22-caliber bullets to Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School on Monday, resulting in the school being locked down for several hours.

Curtis Nims of 21 Essex St. is charged with illegal possession of ammunition, Hamilton police Chief Walter Cullen said yesterday. A clerk magistrate will decide whether Nims will have to go to trial, Cullen said.

Nims did not return a message left at his home yesterday.

Schools Superintendent Marinel McGrath was at a conference yesterday, but in a letter sent to parents and posted on the district's Web site, she wrote that Nims "came forward to both the school administration and the authorities."

She also indicated Nims would be disciplined "in accordance with the policies set forth in the student handbook."

The handbook indicates Nims could be suspended or even expelled. The section on weapons reads, in part, that any student "in possession of a dangerous weapon, including, but not limited to, an explosive, gun, or knife may be subject to expulsion. ..."

State law provides students facing expulsion the right to a hearing with legal representation.

Cullen said Nims wasn't pulling a prank, nor imitating a similar incident in Beverly recently, in which .22-caliber bullets were found in a boys bathroom. There have been no arrests in that case, according to Beverly police.

"Supposedly he was out shooting at a range in Essex," Cullen said. "He had some ammunition left over and put it in his sweater pocket."

When he got to school, he showed the bullets to other students, and they later fell out of his sweater pocket onto the floor.

Monday's lockdown closed both the high school and adjoining Miles River Middle School, which have a combined student population of just over 1,200 students. It mobilized police forces in Hamilton and Wenham, and numerous state troopers also descended on the school, including canine units.

Busy Route 1A was choked with cars on both sides of the road, as nervous parents rushed to the school to pick up their children.

An extensive search of the high school was undertaken during and after the lockdown, and McGrath informed parents that contrary to rumor, no drugs or guns were found.