The lawyer of a Warren Central Junior High School student accused of bringing an explosive to the school last Wednesday is sharing his version of the events that happened that day.

“It was a 13-year-old kid that did an incredibly stupid act,” Vicksburg attorney Jerry Campbell said.

Campbell is representing the 13-year-old boy who as of Monday afternoon was being held in the juvenile detention center for taking a homemade device to school last Wednesday.

Youth court matters are typically confidential, but Campbell said he received permission from the child’s parents and the judge to speak publicly.

The device the student brought to school Wednesday was made from a plastic bottle with two shotgun shells emptied into it with a fuse leading out through the top of the cap, he said, which would have required being lit to detonate. Campbell said probably the only person who could have been hurt if it had been lit was the person holding the device.

“It was nothing more than a large firecracker,” Campbell said.

Campbell said the boy said he took the device to the school to show friends what he had designed. Campbell said the boy had no intention of causing problems or hurting anyone.

The student, he said, was showing off to his friends.

“Incredibly stupid act on his part but not meant to hurt anybody,” Campbell said.

Vicksburg police Chief Walter Armstrong’s stance is that the matter  will continue through the legal system and the school district.

“We have no way of knowing what the intent was,” Armstrong said. “We’re certainly glad that no one got hurt.”

Campbell acknowledged law enforcement for diligently doing its job in investigating the matter. He said they did what they had to do and is glad they looked into the situation, which very well could have been serious.

“I thought law enforcement did exactly what they’re suppose to,” Campbell said.

Vicksburg police Capt. Sandra Williams said the investigation is ongoing.

One of Campbell’s main concerns is he doesn’t want the Vicksburg Warren School District to seem like a dangerous place.

“It’s no more dangerous than any other school,” Campbell said. “I hate for the public schools to be thought of as danger zones because they’re not.”

He wants to put parents’ minds at ease over the incident. In his view, the school was in no danger and rumors that spread saying there was a bomb that could have taken out the entire building were false.

Campbell called the student well adjusted and said he had no anger toward anyone at the school. He said the student wasn’t in any kind if trouble, didn’t feel isolated and wasn’t bullied.

“I’m not just saying that as his lawyer,” Campbell said. “The people that have their kids in the public schools need to know it was not malcontent there that day.”

The boy had a probable cause hearing Thursday. He is being held at the youth detention center and being psychologically evaluated to assess his thinking and determine if he poses a threat.

The next step is for the youth court judge to determine if the student will be certified, meaning tried as an adult because they see no chance for rehabilitation, or whether he will be seen as a youth with a chance at rehabilitation, Campbell said.

“I fully don’t expect for him to be certified as an adult at all,” he said.

District Attorney Ricky Smith won’t become involved in the matter unless the judge does certify the student as an adult, Smith said.

Since that is not the case yet and the matter at this time is in the hands of the youth court, he could not comment on Campbell’s remarks.

“I can’t comment on any matters that occur in youth court because of the confidential nature of the youth court,” Smith said.

Campbell hopes this incident won’t have to follow the boy for the rest of his life and that he will learn to think first next time.

“I don’t want this episode to define that little boy’s life, nor should it,” Campbell said.