(STAPLETON, Ala.) May 29 - School is out for summer, and parents, grandparents and cities are looking for ways to keep kids busy and safe throughout the summer months.
Patricia Tate says it is easy to keep her young ones busy and out of trouble, but she is not surprised to hear about the home-made weapons found in Stapleton and the 14 year old who was injured by the make-shift pistol made out of pipe.
Maj. Anthony Lowery says the teen fashioned the weapon out of antenna pipe material, which is very thin and fragile. Lowery says that is why the weapon exploded.
Tate says the kids are smart, have the Internet and are capable of making weapons.
Two boys, a 14 year old and an 11 year old, were on the scene when the pipe exploded, taking the hearing of the 14 year old.
Lowery says the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office sees a lot of accidents in the first months of summer, but Friday's explosion is a rare incident. Lowery says accidents happen, and those accidents happen in both small and big towns.
Rural cities like Bay Minette have made a concentrated effort to keep kids busy.
Tate says residents are lucky Bay Minette has a good recreation center where kids can be kept busy skating and bowling.
A 16-year-old girl from Stapleton says summers are long, and it is not surprising kids lose focus. But, she says she cannot believe they made weapons like these.
The BCSO says no charges have been filed against any of the teens, but it says the office is investigating the circumstances leading up to the explosion.
