Teenager fires 12-gauge shotgun into Farmington school's ceiling

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Dressed in black and wearing a mask, a 17-year-old boy allegedly brought a 12-gauge shotgun to Farmington High School and fired it into a restroom ceiling Tuesday, prompting a brief lockdown.

No one was injured when the shot was fired around 8 a.m.

Joshua Minks, 17, was charged with four counts of assault while on school property and one count of unlawful use of a weapon, said St. Francois County prosecutor Wendy Wexler Horn. Minks was being held at the county jail on $250,000 bond.

According to Farmington police chief Rick Baker and court records, the student brought his father's single-shot shotgun to school in pieces in a duffel bag and assembled it in the boys' restroom.

When another student walked in and said the gun did not look real, Minks first motioned for the student to get out of the restroom and then fired the weapon into the ceiling, officials said.

Wearing a mask

Two other students said they walked into the bathroom and ran out to notify school officials. One described the shooter as a "big kid wearing all black and what appeared to be a mask," according to a probable-cause statement.

Principal David Waters and teacher Craig Gibbs convinced the student to put the gun down, secured it across the hall and detained the suspect until Farmington police arrived.

Baker said it was not clear exactly why the student, whom he described as mentally challenged, brought the gun to school.

"He said he did not intend to hurt himself or anyone else," Baker noted. "He said he wanted to alienate himself from the school."

Baker said he did not believe the student had ever handled the gun before. He said he did not believe the student knew how to reload the weapon.

Superintendent W.L. Sanders said after the suspect was in police custody, the school's roughly 1,200 students were taken to the Farmington Civic Center across the street.

Law enforcement officials searched the high school to make sure the building was safe. Parents who wished to pick up their children were able to do so at the center, but students also returned to class to complete the day.

"I was very pleased with the administration's actions," Sanders said. "The students I was particularly impressed with. They were serious minded, but remained calm," he said.