Macomb Township

Sheriff warns parents of 'stun gun' camera found at school

By Erin McClary
C & G Staff Writer

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — An 18-year-old Macomb Township student was suspended after officials saw him shocking friends with what appeared to be a disposable camera May 8.

The low-voltage jolt device, built out of a disposable camera, was confiscated from the student and brought to the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office May 11.

Sheriff Mark Hackel wouldn’t release the name of the student or which of the two public high schools in Macomb Township he attended, but he did say the district was handling the situation responsibly and internally.

Hackel demonstrated how the shock device works May 12, touching an object with the two small prongs that protrude from the camera’s side. The jolt sent sparks flying, and Hackel shocked himself.

“It does hurt, I can tell you that,” he said, jumping back and dropping the camera.

Hackel said to assemble the device, which he likened to a “stun gun,” takes a mere two minutes. He said the high school senior allegedly got the homemade device from a 13-year-old seventh-grader who learned how to make it online. “It’s very simple to make,” Hackel said.

The two students involved told officers they didn’t mean any harm, and that they were just playing around. But Hackel said brining a weapon to school is not funny and compared the “joke” to that of a bomb threat.

Both students could potentially face four years in jail, as bringing a weapon to a weapon-free school zone is a felony. Hackel said any device from which an electric current is dispensed is considered a weapon. Criminal charges have not been filed, but the sheriff is not ruling out a consultation with the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office.

He said this is a warning to parents to better monitor what their children are doing behind closed doors. The parents of the 13-year-old who made the device, Hackel said, were surprised to hear what their son was doing. They were not aware that the camera he had was wired to create a shock.

While the Sheriff’s Office has heard of homemade shock devices in the past, Hackel said the stun gun camera is new to him — albeit not new to the Internet world. Videos on popular Web sites like YouTube.com give simple instructions on how to make one out of household items.

“Policing the Internet is almost impossible,” Hackel said. “We do need more parental policing. They need to monitor what kids are doing.”

To spot a stun gun camera shouldn’t be difficult now that officials have released what they look like. If a disposable camera appears to have been tampered with, two prongs are visible on its side, wires are hanging out of it, the label is peeled back or if black electrical tape is on the exterior, the camera has most likely been rigged, Hackel said.

“My concern is that parents are knowing what their kids are doing,” he concluded. “We’re using this as an opportunity to tell other parents … this is something you have to look out for.”

Hackel did not know the medical implications of a stun gun camera and could not determine how much voltage they carry.

Local school officials did not return calls by press time.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Erin McClary at emcclary@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1118.