a random boy

新年早々、米国テキサスで痛ましい事件が起きました。ここのpunched a random boyの用法、気になります。temple gateさんもたまっていると思いますが、お願いします。（ゼミ生 Yori-money）
Texas police kill 8th-grader carrying pellet gun

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Police shot and killed an eighth-year student in the hallway of his middle school Wednesday after the boy brandished what looked like a handgun and pointed it at officers. It turned out to be a pellet gun that closely resembled the real thing.

Fifteen-year-old Jaime Gonzalez "had plenty of opportunities to lower the gun and listen to the officers' orders, and he didn't want to," Interim Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said.

Shortly before the confrontation, the boy had walked into a classroom and punched a random boy in the nose for no apparent reason, police said. Investigators did not know why he pulled out the weapon.

"We think it looks like this was a way to bring attention to himself," the police chief said. He said the officers' actions were justified and no one else was hurt.

Authorities declined to share what the boy said before being shot.

The shooting happened during first period at Cummings Middle School in Brownsville. Teachers locked classroom doors and turned off lights, and some frightened students dove under their desks. They could hear police charge down the hallway and shout for Gonzalez to drop the weapon, followed by several shots.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/international/news/20120105p2g00m0in121000c.html