SUICIDAL 8th GRADER SHOT BY SWAT TEAM

Wait a minute...this kid is 15 and in 8th grade???

LONGWOOD, Fla. A suicidal eighth grader who pulled a handgun in class and forced another child into a closet was shot by a sheriff's SWAT team member Friday when he later threatened deputies, Seminole County officials said.

Sheriff Don Eslinger said the 15-year-old boy brought the gun to Milwee Middle School in his backpack. Eslinger said two students saw it and one persuaded the other to report it, causing a scuffle.

The alleged gunman told one of the students to go into a closet, ran from the classroom and "traveled with this firearm throughout the campus," Eslinger said. Deputies eventually isolated him in a restroom, and the school was evacuated.

"At one time he held the gun to his neck. As the deputies attempted to establish dialogue, he raised the firearm and lethal force was used by the sheriff's office," Eslinger said.

The boy was taken to the hospital. His condition was unknown.

"He was suicidal," Eslinger said. "During this standoff, and during the chase, the student said he was going to kill himself or die."

No one else was injured. Officials with the sheriff's office said they had not confirmed whether the gun the boy had was real or a toy.