5-year-old wanted to stab teacher

ST. PAUL, Minn., March 19 (UPI) -- A 5-year-old boy was found to have brought a knife to his school in St. Paul, Minn., with the intent of threatening his teacher, police said.

A school district spokesman said the child was prevented from confronting the Bruce Vento Elementary School gym teacher Friday when another student told a staff member and school officials intervened, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Tuesday. The boy apparently was upset his teacher had pulled him out of a game, a police spokesman told the newspaper.

Police confiscated the knife and the boy was turned over to his parents. He was referred to a county program that treats young offenders, a police report indicated. The St. Paul school system's policy is to suspend students who bring weapons and refer them for expulsion.

Also Friday in St. Paul, police said a 7-year-old boy pointed what was thought to be a gun at another child on a school bus, the Pioneer Press reported. Police determined the gun was a replica.