School suspends Va. 7th graders for shooting Airsoft pellet gun outside home, report says

(CBS) VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The parents of a Virginia Beach 13-year-old say "zero tolerance" has gone too far, after their son and another boy were suspended from school for shooting a pellet gun in the front yard, reports CBS Charlotte.

On Sept. 9, Khalid Caraballo and his fellow 7th-grade friend Aidan Clark were shooting at other boys with a spring-loaded Airsoft gun while waiting for the school bus.

A neighbor who observed the boys called 911 and the two were ultimately suspended from school, reports the station.

Larkspur Middle School principal Matthew Delaney said the children were firing the pellets at each other and people near the bus stop, according to CBS Charlotte.

The suspensions are through the end of the school year, though the district could reportedly revisit the case in January. Khalid will attend an alternate school in the meantime and Aidan's father says the boy will be home-schooled.

Kahlid's mother told WAVY-TV the Virginia Beach City Public School System had no right to order the suspensions because the incident happened on private property. Her son reportedly insists he put the gun down when the school bus arrived.

Virginia Beach police are not bringing charges and declined to discuss the case because it involves juveniles.

Airsoft guns are designed to be non-lethal and fire plastic pellets.