Student admits bringing gun to school

A Flathead High School student has been designated a serious juvenile offender after admitting Friday to bringing a gun, drug paraphernalia and alcohol to school on Jan. 29.

According to court documents, Michael Alan Melby, 17, admitted to four of the five misdemeanor offenses he was facing: theft, possession of weapon in a school, criminal possession of drug paraphernalia and unlawful possession of intoxicating substances.

One count of carrying a concealed weapon was dismissed after District Judge Amy Eddy ruled that the loaded handgun found in Melby’s backpack could not be classified as concealed.

State law defines a concealed weapon as any defined weapon that “is wholly or partially covered by the clothing or wearing apparel of the person carrying or bearing the weapon.”

“‘Clothing’ and ‘wearing apparel’ do not include a backpack,” Eddy ruled. “There is no reasonable interpretation of the words which would include a backpack as clothing.”

Melby was found with a loaded handgun, bottle of wine and marijuana paraphernalia at Flathead High School, but school and law officials determined Melby apparently did not intend to harm anyone. He told investigators that he stole the gun from a family member to try to raise money to get to another state.

He had been reported as a runaway a couple days earlier.

In addition to designating Melby a serious juvenile offender, the court ruled that Melby is a delinquent youth. Sentencing is set for April 29.

The court ordered that the gun be returned to the family member from whom it was stolen.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.