ROMULUS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Defense attorneys for a man accused of bringing a loaded gun to Romulus Middle School are now sharing his side of the story, citing mental health as a key factor in the incident.
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Shawntez Gregory allegedly fired shots outside the school on Tuesday, sending staff and students into lockdown. A quick-thinking secretary denied Gregory entry into the building, and no one was injured.
"Mr. Gregory has an excessive, documented history of mental illness and unfortunately, it has been going unaddressed," said Edward Martell, Gregory's defense attorney.
Martell and Mohammed Nasser from Not Guilty Law are representing Gregory, who has been charged with multiple felonies, including intentional threat to commit an act of violence against school and reckless use of a firearm.
"Our desire right off the rip is to request a psychological evaluation to outline what mental health issues this young man has," Nasser said.
Prosecutors say Gregory was about a foot away from the building when he fired a gun seven times. He did not fire directly into the school.
"Had he access to medication, access to treatment, these alleged sequence of events would have never taken place," Martell said.
During Gregory's arraignment, he cursed at the judge multiple times, saying, "I'm tired of f**ing with all of y'all. Just don't waste my time."
"It corroborates the fact that he was not in his right state of mind. Not making logical decisions," Martell said.
Gregory's son attends the middle school where the incident unfolded. Gregory was banned from school grounds when he allegedly attempted to kidnap his son from his ex-wife.
"So in dealing with Mr. Gregory, I recognize that there's, there's mental illness. Our country has issues with mental illness," said Dr. Benjamin Edmonson, Romulus School District superintendent.
Edmonson says in the wake of what happened, he wants to make sure students' mental health needs are addressed as well.
"So the best thing that we can do is just offer resources and I think it's fair to talk. Everybody sometimes wants to be hush-hush. Why be hush-hush? It happened. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about what mental illness is," Edmonson said.
The judge denied Gregory's bond. He is currently being held at the Wayne County jail. His next court hearing is January 20th.
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