britexpat,
He is an 11 year old, for god sake.
Yes he did a terrible thing and yes he must be punished but it must not be forgotten that he is a child.

Please inform yourself on the difference between an 11 year old brain and a full matured brain: the maturity, the perception of reality, the ability to measure consequences, the ability to measure seriousness of a situation, etc, etc, etc...
An 11 year old does not have completely developed brains and that is why they should be treated and in this case prosecuted as a child!
A child is never an adult. A child behaves as per his education and as per the parent’s degree of coaching.
The parents here have their share of responsibility on this tragic act!
Who facilitated the access to the gun and in this case it was actually the kids’ personal weapon. Was the kid responsible to have this gun? Is he independent and in total control of his life?
No, he sure had someone in charge of his education and responsible to make sure he didn’t have access to guns!!!!!