A 12-year-old Wisconsin boy who brought a knife to school said it was to defend himself from a school bully. The boy said he was “scared to death” of a classmate and was tired of being picked on. A school liaison officer at Mahone Middle School in Kenosha heard reports earlier in the day that the student had the weapon.

Another student reported seeing the knife in the boy's backpack on the bus during the ride to school. The brother of the alleged bully says the boy showed him the knife and said "Your brother is lucky I don't use this on him."

School officials searched the boy's backpack and found a knife with an eight-inch blade. They called the police and the boy was arrested.

He first claimed the knife had fallen into his backpack, but later admitted he brought the knife for protection from the bully. He had been in a fight with the boy earlier, and said he was slapped and punched during the altercation. The other child in the fight was seen as the instigator and was suspended from school.

The boy now faces a charge of possessing a dangerous weapon on school premises.