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Sakir, a seventh-grade student at the Dwight Rich School of the Arts, disarmed a gun-wielding classmate in May, but was expelled for failing to alert a teacher.
The student was accused of possession of a weapon and expelled for not alerting a teacher. (AI-Generated Image)
In a bizarre incident from the US, an 11-year-old boy in Michigan bravely disarmed a gun-wielding classmate to prevent a possible tragedy. However, the boy was expelled from the school for failing to alert a teacher immediately, leaving his family furious.
Sakir, a seventh-grade student at the Dwight Rich School of the Arts, spotted his classmate carrying the gun during the school day and jumped into action to protect his peers, according to the New York Post.
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Instead of being rewarded for his courage, he was accused of possession of a weapon and expelled from the middle school. “Sakir’s instinct was not to run away — it was to protect his classmates,” read a petition for the young student, saying his actions prevented what could have been an “unimaginable tragedy”.
His mother, Savitra McClurkin, said Sakir was expelled from the school for the entire year, and the school would decide after the school year on reinstating the boy. As per the report, the incident took place in May, but the boy did not tell teachers out of fear of getting in trouble. Meanwhile, it was not known if the student who brought the gun into school faced any punishments.
“He didn’t want to implicate himself in it, nor did he want to tell on the person that actually brought the firearm. Because he knows firearms aren’t supposed to be in school,” McClurkin said.
Sakir, an active sports student, attributed his understanding of safe gun disassembly to his experience with hunting. “They are setting my son up for failure. They’re setting him up to being a statistic and I’ve been doing everything in my will and my power to keep him from that,” his mother said.
The boy is now enrolled in a non-accredited online programme to keep him on track in the curriculum as his educational future remains in limbo. “It’s devastating because he’s a bright kid and all he wants to do is be a kid. As a parent, I feel like I may be more devastated than him.”
Despite the mother’s plea for her son’s reinstatement, members of the school refused to respond. Community members rallied behind McClurkin’s pleas for help. “Instead of being recognized as a hero, Sakir is now being treated like a criminal. He has been expelled and barred from all school platforms,” said the GoFundMe page.
About the Author
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international…Read More
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international… Read More
United States of America (USA)
September 21, 2025, 18:40 IST
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