The mother of a 9-year-old boy who allegedly pulled a knife on a fellow student defended her son Wednesday, a day after he was expelled from a West Covina elementary school.

Amy Tovar acknowledged that her son, whom she called a “good kid,” brought a pocketknife to Rowland Elementary. But his being expelled was “heart wrenching” and an overreaction, Tovar said.

“He had it, he held it. Boys will be boys. He started showing it off to other kids in the school. Some kids got scared — understandable,” Tovar said. “But to say that my son was trying to intentionally and maliciously stab another little girl? Absolute lie.”

The boy held a knife to a fourth-grade girl’s leg, the child told KTLA Tuesday, adding that he said “If you snitch, you get stitches.” The girl’s mother first brought the story to KTLA’s attention.

The girl’s mother said she was not satisfied with an in-school suspension that she was given to the unidentified boy. Her daughter missed nine days of school after the Jan. 9 incident, she said.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Covina Valley Unified School District said an investigation was ongoing. On Wednesday, she said the boy had been expelled from Rowland Elementary.

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