Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon said juvenile justice reforms — like the Raise the Age law — “make it difficult to hold teenagers accountable,” and predicted things will only get worse.
“What we’ve seen for the most part is this gun violence outside the schools, but the next thing is we’ll see them in the schools,” said McMahon, a Democrat.
On Monday, an 18-year-old pulled a black revolver on a 17-year-old fellow student inside City-As-School HS in the West Village.
The same day, someone shot out the windows of two classrooms at PS 78 in the Clifton section of Staten Island. Adult students were in one room and the other was empty. McMahon said the shooting was gang-related. No one was hurt and there have been no arrests.
In October, a stray bullet struck a 14-year-old walking across from Tottenville High School in the same borough, as one member of a group of five started shooting. The school was put on lockdown and students were told “This is not a drill!”
Michael McMahon said teens are aware of reform laws that prevent them from being prosecuted as adults. Gabriella Bass
A 14-year-old student was shot outside Tottenville HS in October. white“It seems like the smallest thing that can set them off, whether it’s a slur or insult on social media. They go to war. For them, war means grab a gun and shoot it,” McMahon said.
Under the state’s 2017 Raise the Age law, those younger than 18 can’t be prosecuted as adults in almost all cases.
McMahon said young people are “absolutely” aware of the law and that older crew members are stashing guns with younger ones.
“If you’re 16 and you’re caught with a loaded gun and you’re sent to Family Court, you’re out within an hour or two. I can’t even prosecute that case,” McMahon, a former congressman, said. “They have to display the gun in order for us to even attempt to prosecute the case.”
He said he wanted to hold lawbreakers accountable “using the leverage of the criminal justice system to try to connect them back to society.”
Police responded to a shooting outside Tottenville HS. whiite“I’m not saying every 16-year-old needs to go to jail. But here’s no meaningful outcome so they’re right back at it,” he said.
McMahon also cited a “shocking” shortage of school safety agents and a dearth of school guidance counselors, which is contributing to the uptick in violence.
He said there was just one school safety agent on duty at PS 78 during Monday’s shooting.
“The criminal justice system has been really thwarted by the laws from Albany,” he said.
