A 4-year-old boy was expelled from a day-care center in Colorado Springs last week after he told a teacher, “I want to shoot my friends.”
Kyle Hudson became upset after his pillow was taken away at nap time at the Family Development Center at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on July 22.
According to a written account given to Kyle’s parents, he was taken into a hallway by his teacher and the two talked about what happened. It was then that Kyle made the statement.
After an investigation by university police, Alice Hudson, 26, the boy’s mother, said she was informed that Kyle was expelled. She said she received a phone message from the center’s director that Kyle could not return because UCCS has a zero-tolerance policy regarding threats made to life.
Thomas Hutton, director of university relations, said the zero-tolerance policy relates only to adults. He said the Family Development Center has its own policy and Kyle was expelled because he violated those rules.
“This was not an isolated event. There were a number of incidents that were of concern and led to the decision to remove the child,” said Susan Szpyrka, associate vice chancellor at UCCS.
Szpyrka said the center had issued 45 incident reports that involved Kyle in the past three years. She would not detail the incidents but said seven were judged to be significant.
“This came out of the blue,” Alice Hudson said. “Most of the incident reports for Kyle were from two years ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if he learned that phrase at the school.”
Brian Malnes: 303-954-1638 or bmalnes@denverpost.com
