New London - They held guns to his head and ordered him to say goodbye to his family.

"I love you guys!" wailed the 12-year-old boy.

On Saturday, April 2, three juveniles held a middle school student captive in a Shaw Street home, torturing him for several long minutes with BB guns and threats, according to the child's family.

They locked him in a closet, called him names and laughed about the terror they were inflicting, the family said.

The boy thought he would become a murder victim, just as his father had in 2006.

But his captors eventually released him after making him swear "on his father" that he would not tell. One of them videotaped the incident on a cell phone, and later in the day, witnesses said he showed the recording to others in a city park.

New London police confirmed the incident and said they charged three juveniles with cruelty to persons, second-degree reckless endangerment, carrying a dangerous weapon, second-degree unlawful restraint and threatening. All were due in juvenile court on Friday.

The police said they seized three BB guns and a cell phone containing video footage of the incident and that their investigation is continuing.

Deputy Police Chief Marshall Segar said police could release only limited information about the case because of confidentiality laws involving juveniles. He said the city's school resource officers investigated even though the incident had occurred outside of school.

The three juveniles were suspended from school after the incident. Two have had expulsion hearings and a hearing for the third juvenile is pending. Results for the first two hearings were unavailable.

'I was crying'

With his mother's permission, the boy, who is not being identified because of his age, described the incident during a phone interview last week. The mother said she has withdrawn the boy from the school he attended and is seeking to enroll him elsewhere. He is also receiving counseling to help him cope with the trauma, she said.

The boy said he rode his bike to the Shaw Street house to see a 13-year-old friend and play football. When he arrived, the friend was there with two slightly older boys. No adults were home.

The boy said they let him into the house, and the older boys began to call him names and taunt him. They tried to make him fight with his friend, then ordered the friend to get a gun, he said.

"I didn't know if it was a BB gun or a real gun," the boy said. One of the juveniles ordered the boy to stand up and go into another room. Soon all three of them had guns and were calling him names and yelling instructions, he said.

"They told me to say goodbye to your mom. Say goodbye to your whole family. So I did," he said. They ordered him into a closet.

"I went into the dark closet, and I was crying," the boy said. "I couldn't hear what they were saying. They opened the door, and they were all pointing guns at me."

They let him out of the closet and continued to give him instructions at gunpoint. At one point, he said, he ran to the door and saw that it was locked.

"They said, 'You ain't going nowhere,' " he said.

Eventually, he said, they did let him go, after making him "swear on his father" that he wouldn't tell anyone.

The boy held it in all weekend.

"I really wanted to tell my mom, but I thought it was a promise or truce to my father," he said.

By Monday, he said he had to tell somebody. He went to a math teacher at school, who alerted administrators. Police were called, and the boy was asked to write down everything that had happened to him.

He went to police headquarters and spoke with investigators.

"My mom came," he said. "She cried. She hugged me. That was it. They got arrested, and they got suspended."

The three boys received summonses to appear in juvenile court and remained in the neighborhood.

Word of their reaction got back to the boy.

"They said they don't care if they go to jail," he said. "My mom says I can't go outside anymore. I don't feel safe anymore."

'It's everywhere'

The boy's mother said she had sensed that something was wrong with her son that weekend, but he would not tell her what was bothering him. She said she was checking to see whether police or the court have issued a protective order preventing the three juveniles from coming near her son. She said she has known the family on Shaw Street for years and is disappointed they have not reached out to apologize.

She said her son, who was already troubled about his father's murder in 2006 and other issues in his life, needs help. She said she would like to get together with other parents in the city to discuss some of the ongoing problems with youth.

"It's everywhere," she said. "It's all over."

'We've suffered enough'

The boy's grandmother said she wants to cry every time she thinks about what happened.

"He told me he thought, 'This is what my dad must have gone through when he died,' '' the grandmother said.

The father was beaten to death in another town six years ago. The case has not been solved.

"This is so upsetting for this family," the grandmother said. "We've suffered enough."

Seek protective order

Faith Vos Winkel, an assistant child advocate for the state Office of the Child Advocate, said a parent in such a situation should ensure a protective order is in place that keeps the juveniles from coming within a certain distance of the child. She said the parent should monitor social media, such as Facebook, to make sure no further harm is being inflicted and should make sure the child is seeing a social worker or psychologist. She said the parent should also let the child's school know what has happened so the staff can monitor the situation.

"This kind of situation is really indicative of post-traumatic stress disorder," she said. "You'd really want to make an outlet [such as counseling] to make sure he's feeling safe."

k.florin@theday.com