In unrelated incidents, a six-year-old pulled a knife on another student and a six-year-old attacked a police officer, biting and attempting to grab the officer’s gun from its holster.
The first six-year-old crime occurred on July 9 at a Northview Heights playground, when a child who remains anonymous threatened another six-year-old with a Swiss Army knife, WPXI reports. According to officers, a number of children were playing outdoors when one child withdrew a knife and demanded the victim hand over an iPod.
The victim gave up the iPod and, upon returning home, told his parents. Shortly after, the parents called the police and officers are currently mediating between the families of the two children involved.
According to officers, the family did not file charges.
In a similar incident on July 12, another six-year-old shocked police with his violent behavior.
After police responded to a complaint that six-year-old Chalais Ramey and his two brothers attempted to steal bicycles from a home in Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill neighborhood, Ramey attacked and grabbed hold of an officer’s gun.
Police responded to the call on Friday, encountering two adults waiting for police with three children who they said attempted to steal their children’s bicycles, WPXI reports.
“I tried to take the cop’s gun,” Ramey told Channel 11.
Once the officers arrived, Ramey attempted to pull the officer’s gun from its holster. While the child screamed and flailed his legs and arms, the officer wrested the young man’s hands free. After securing his gun, the officer put the child in the backseat of a patrol car.
The child proceeded to yell, kick and otherwise make a scene until an officer opened the door to tell Ramey his mother would soon be on the scene. However, the news of his mother’s arrival did not calm the child. In fact, Ramey became more agitated and sunk his teeth into an officer’s flesh.
Although the child accused police of handcuffing and choking him, onlookers maintain that they saw nothing out of the ordinary.
In an interview, Ramey’s mother, Lisa Miller, defended her son and reprimanded police.
“It was not right for him to reach for the gun,” Miller admitted while surrounded by several children, including Ramey who sucked his thumb, “but it was not right for a cop to do what he did to my son. He’s only 6. He didn’t have to do that.”
Despite the bizarre circumstances, police declined to charge Ramey because of his age.