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US teen cuffed for disposable camera 'Taser'

Felony charges over 'homemade weapon' shocker

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A 14-year-old Connecticut student was on Wednesday charged with "possession of a weapon at school, breach of peace and attempted assault" after turning up at his Clinton classroom with a "homemade weapon" fashioned from a disposable camera.

According to Connecticut's WFSB, the Morgan High School student had opened up said camera with intention of "playfully" demonstrating on a friend that it could deliver a shock - something he'd apparently learnt on the internet.

No fellow student was actually photo-tasered, but NBC30.com reports that "the school official who confiscated it was zapped when he tried to take it away".

The boy's father, Bret Haughwout, said his son "hadn't modified the camera in any way, that he had just opened it up". He added: "All he did was bring a disposable camera, take it apart, demonstrate that if you press this button you get shocked."

Haughwout is none too pleased that his boy now faces felony charges over the incident, and insisted that the device doesn't even "meet the definition of a dangerous instrument, which is the next step down from a weapon."

Clinton police Sgt. Jeremiah Dunn disagreed, explaining: "It is considered a weapon, yes; an electronic demobilizing device is considered a dangerous weapon."

The unnamed teen was suspended for 10 days following his arrest, but remains in school pending an appeal. ®

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@so many fallacies

"To say 'the innards of a camera flash cannot harm anyone' is totally false."

Of course not! I mean you could accidentally swallow them, or something.

You appreciate that saying, for example, 'water cannot harm anyone' is totally false too, by the way?

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KZZZZZEEERRTT!!!

Ahh, brings back memories. I once "demonstrated" my ioniser+tinfoil capacitor experiment at school. After half a dozen really LOUD sparks, someone suggested I touch it. Needless to say someone *else* beat me to it, and I got a stern lecture from the deputy head about not shocking fellow students.

Wish I'd had the know how back then to show 'em a Lifter, that would have pwned :)

We had an epidemic over here of idiots zapping people on buses with these things, and taking the igniters from old gas lighters etc. They actually had to stop the sale of those nice battery powered gas lighters thanks to the idiots using them as makeshift TASERs (take of end cap, nuff said).

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takes me back....

i remember doing a similar thing while i was at school, it involved a large capacitor and a couble of wires hanging out of an old camera....

made some nice burn marks as i recall.

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