Court date Wednesday for Dowagiac student charged with bringing guns to school

Published 6:04 pm Tuesday, November 6, 2012

CASSOPOLIS — Charged with several felony counts for allegedly bringing guns on school grounds in September, a Dowagiac Union High School junior is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Phillip James Edward Kocsis, 17, will undergo a pre-exam conference at 10:30 a.m. in Cass County District Court. A preliminary examination is scheduled to follow at 1:30 p.m.

Kocsis was arraigned in September on five felony charges and three misdemeanors after police found guns, ammunition and a knife in his vehicle parked on Dowagiac Union High School grounds Sept. 19.

Kocsis is charged with three felony counts of carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, two felony firearm counts and three misdemeanor counts of possessing a weapon in a weapon-free school zone.

The most serious charge, carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, carries a five-year prison sentence.

Judge Stacey Rentfrow set bail for Kocsis at $100,000 at the request of Prosecutor Victor Fitz in September.