TOPIC: HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF - ONLY WORSE - THIS IS
THE 2nd WORST SCHOOL SHOOTING IN AMERICA.
20 CHILDREN AND SIX ADULTS WERE KILLED IN A VIOLENT GUN
RAMPAGE.
12-18-12 - UPDATE: I'VE DETERMINED THAT I'M GOING TO
HAVE TO STOP WATCHING CNN FOR REAL NEWS. THEIR STORY CHANGES EVERY DAY.
WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO COME OUT WITH THE TRUTH?
ACCORDING TO TODAY'S NEWS, LANZA WENT TO GUY A GUN ON TUESDAY
AND HE COULDN'T GET ONE BECAUSE HE WAS TOO 'YOUNG' - YOU HAVE TO BE 21 AND HE
WAS ONLY 20. SO CNN SAYS TODAY: LANZA'S MOTHER WENT TO THE SAME SHOP AND
BOUGHT THE GUNS HE USED TO KILL HER AND THE KIDS WITH - AS A CHRISTMAS GIFT.
TODAY WE ALSO SEE A VIDEO OF ONE OF THE FATHERS LAUGHING AND
JOKING WITH SOME PEOPLE, THEN WALKING UP TO THE MICROPHONE AND START TO CRY LIKE
HE WAS ACTING THE WHOLE THING OUT.
THE KIDS WHO HAVE TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL ARE THE ONES WHO ARE
GOING TO DO THE MOST SUFFERING NOW - TRAUMA CAN BE VERY LONG LASTING EVEN IT IS
DOESN'T REGISTER IN THE BEGINNING. SOME MAY NEVER GET OVER WHAT THEY JUST
EXPERIENCED. NOT EVER!
THE ONE SHOOTER IS DEAD - COMMITTING SUICIDE. ANOTHER SUSPECT WAS FOUND IN THE WOODS
AND ARRESTED. IT TURNED OUT HE WAS JUST HUNTING. DEER HUNTING NEXT
TO THE SCHOOL?
THE SHOOTER EVIDENTLY WAS CARRYING THE I.D. OF HIS BROTHER
WHO LIVED IN
HOBOKEN, NJ. THE MEDIA, LOOKING FOR NAMES AND REASONS, MISIDENTIFIED THE
SHOOTER, THINKING HE WAS ON FACEBOOK, WHEN THE BROTHER WAS SAID TO BE THE
SHOOTER, MR. LANZA. THE MEDIA SAID MR. LANZA WENT TO THE SCHOOL TO KILL
HIS MOTHER, THE PRINCIPAL AND THE OTHER PEOPLE. AS IT TURNED OUT, HE HAD
ALREADY KILLED HIS MOTHER AT HOME, AND THEN WENT TO THE SCHOOL TO KILL EVERYONE
HIS MOTHER LOVED MORE THAN HIMSELF AS HIS SICK MIND WAS TELLING HIM. THE SHOOTER
HAS NOW BEEN IDENTIFIED AS ADAM LANZA.
WE DON'T YET KNOW WHY HE HADN'T RECEIVED ANY HELP FOR HIS
TWISTED THOUGHTS.
THE FATHER LIVES ELSEWHERE IN CONNECTICUT AND WAS AT WORK
WHEN THIS ALL OCCURRED.
NEW JERSEY OFFICALS SAY THAT LANZA'S GIRLFRIEND AND ANOTHER
FRIEND ARE MISSING. LET'S HOPE THEY ARE JUST IN HIDING FOR SAFETY'S SAKE.
ON 12-18-12 I HEARD THAT LANZA KILLED HIS GIRLFRIEND TOO - WAS IT ONE OF THE
TEACHERS? THE MEDIA HAS YET TO IDENTIFY A GIRLFRIEND IF THERE WAS ONE.
IT IS SAID HE WAS NO STRANGER TO THE SCHOOL AND HE
GAINED ENTRY TO THE BUILDING PRIOR TO THE SECURITY SYSTEM LOCKDOWN WHICH OCCURED
AT 9:30 A.M. ONCE ALL THE STUDENTS WERE IN SCHOOL, A SYSTEM THE PRINCIPAL HAD
PUT INTO PLACE WHEN SHE STARTED HER JOB THIS PAST SEMESTER. UNFORTUNATELY,
SHE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE KILLED.
SINCE LATER ON, THE MEDIA SAID THAT HIS MOTHER HAD NO FORMAL
CONNECTION TO THE SCHOOL, HOW WAS HE THEN FAMILIAR TO THE SCHOOL AND ENTER IT TO
HAVE AN ALTERCATION THEY THEN SAID NEVER HAPPENED.
On 12-17-12 - THE MEDIA NOW STATES THAT THERE WAS NO 'FORMAL'
CONNECTION TO MRS. LANZA AND THE SCHOOL. HER AUTOPSY SHOWED THAT SHE WAS
SHOT 4 TIMES IN THE HEAD, AND WAS STILL IN BED IN HER PAJAMAS.
ADAMA LANZA'S AUTOPSY SHOWED HE SHOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD JUST
ONCE AND THE BULLET WAS FOUND EMBEDDED IN THE WALL OF THE SCHOOL. THAT IS
INTERESTING BECAUSE IT WAS SAID THAT HE PUT THE RIFLE BENEATH HIS CHIN AND SHOT
UPWARD. HOW COULD IT GET IN THE WALL?
APPARENTLY MRS. LANZA COLLECTED GUNS AND LOVED TO TALK ABOUT
THEM, AND TOOK BOTH HER SONS TO THE SHOOTING RANGE WITH HER WHEN SHE WENT THERE.
ON 12-16-12 - THE MEDIA SAID THEY WERE WRONG ABOUT LANZA AND
THE SECURITY SYSTEM, THAT HE HAD ACTUALLY SHOT HIS WAY THROUGH IT TO ENTER THE
BUILDING.
WE FOUND OUT ON 12-15-12 THAT MR. LANZA HAD TRIED TO PURCHASE
A GUN AT A SHOP ON TUESDAY AND FOR SOME REASON WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. HIS
MOTHER SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A GUN COLLECTOR AND WENT TO THE SHOOTING RANGE
HERSELF. IT WAS HER GUNS THAT WERE USED IN THIS INCIDENT.
WE ALSO HEARD ON 12-15-12 FROM THE MEDIA THAT MR. LANZA HAD
AN ALTERCATION AT THE SCHOOL ON THURSDAY, WITH SOME SCHOOL OFFICIALS. THE
POLICE SAID THEY HAD NO REPORT OF SUCH AN ALTERCATION.
THE SHOOTER WAS IDENTIFIED AS RYAN LANZA - 24 YEARS OLD, BUT
THAT IS HIS YOUNGER BROTHER, AND THAT WAS THE I.D. ADAM LANZA WAS CARRYING.
HIS MOTHER'S BLACK CAR WAS PARKED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE SCHOOL, WHICH WAS KINDERGARDEN
TO 4TH GRADE.
THE TEACHER OF A FIRST GRADE CLASS WAS THE FIRST ONE SHOT.
AS NEWS DEVELOPED, WE FOUND OUT THAT MR. LANZA'S MOTHER WAS SHOT AND KILLED AT HOME AND NOT IN THE SCHOOL.
THE MEDIAN ORIGINALLY SAID SHE WAS A KINDERGARDEN TEACHER, BUT NOW THEY SAY SHE
WASN'T A TEACHER, BUT MAY HAVE BEEN A SUBSTITUTE OCCASIONALLY OR AN AIDE. NO
SUICIDE NOTE HAS BEEN FOUND. ON 9-17-12 THE MEDIA IS SAYING THAT NANCY
LANZA HAD 'NO' CONNECTION TO THE SCHOOL. WHERE IS THE TRUTH HERE?
THE 9/11 CALL CAME IN AT 9:36 A.M. ACCORDING TO THE TIME
LINE, THE WHOLE THING OCCURRED WITHIN A TWO MINUTE SPAN. ADAM LANZA WAS
ALREADY DEAD WHEN THE COPS ARRIVED AT 9:4O A.M.
THE ENTIRE SCHOOL WAS SEARCHED AND EVACUATED. TWO
TEACHERS WERE FOUND HIDING IN A CLOSET. MANY CHILDREN WERE HIDING UNDER TABLES
AND IN CLOSETS AS WELL TO KEEP THEM SAFE. TWO LITTLE BOYS HAD THEIR LIVES
SAVED BY A BRAVE TEACHER WHO HEARD THE COMMOTION OUT IN THE HALL AND YANKED THE
TWO BOYS INSIDE THE CLASSROOMM AND LOCKED THE DOOR.
THE SHOOTINGS SEEMED TO BE AT RANDOM. THE SHOOTERS
INTENTION WAS TO KILL THEM ALL. THE VICE PRINCIPAL
WAS SHOT IN THE FOOT, BUT THE TWO MEN WITH HIM IN THE HALLWAY DID NOT RETURN TO
THE MEETING ROOM THEY HAD JUST LEFT. THEY WERE LAYING IN A POOL OF BLOOD
IN THE HALLWAY. THE TEACHER, HIDING UNDER THE MEETING TABLE WAS THE ONE WHO
CALLED 9/11.
THE MEDICAL EXAMINER STATED ON 12-15-12 THAT EACH PERSON HE
AUTOPSIED HAD BEEN SHOT THREE TO ELEVEN TIMES EACH. ALL THE SHOTS WERE
DONE WITH THE AUTOMATIC RIFLE, WHICH DOES A LOT OF TISSUE DAMAGE. ONLY TWO
OF THE BODIES HAD BEEN SHOT AT CLOSE RANGE - ALL THE REST WERE SHOT FROM ACROSS
THE ROOM.
ALL THE CHILDREN WERE IDENTIFIED BY THE USE OF PHOTOS MATCHED
WITH PHOTOS OF THE CHILDREN FROM THE PARENTS. THE BODIES WERE ALL RELEASED
TO MORTUARIES ON THE AFTERNOON OF 12-15-12.
THE BIG DEBATES GOING ON NOW IS ABOUT STRENGHTHENING GUNS
LAWS AND TRYING TO TAKE AWAY ALL OUR GUNS DESPITE THE CONSTITUTION AND BILL OF
RIGHTS THAT GIVES CITIZENS TO BE ARMED AND STATES THAT ARE LIBERALIZING THE GUN
LAWS SO THAT EVERYONE CAN CARRY A GUN. ACCORDING TO SENATOR FEINSTEIN, SHE
IS GOING TO WRITE LEGISLATION THAT WILL BAN 109 DIFFERENT TYPES OF HUNTING
WEAPONS. THAT ISN'T GOING TO GO OVER WELL WITH THE NRA OR THE HUNTERS.
BUT WHO NEEDS 100 BULLETS TO KILL ONE DEER? I THOUGHT HUNTING WAS A SPORT
- NO DEER HAS A CHANCE AGAINST A SEMI-AUTOMATIC GUN WITH 100 BULLETS IN IT.
THE MEAT WOULDN'T BE ANY GOOD EITHER THEN. BUT THIS ISN'T ABOUT HUNTING -
THIS IS ABOUT SAVING HUMAN BEINGS IN THE FUTURE! RIGHT?
IF YOU REMEMBER THE SHOOTINGS AT THE THEATRE IN AURORA,
COLORADO RECENTLY, THERE WERE SEVEN THEATRES WITHIN EASY REACH OF THE KILLER,
AND HE CHOSE THE ONLY ONE WHICH DIDN'T ALLOW GUNS INSIDE OF IT.
WE'RE NOT TAKING SIDES
WE ARE POINTING OUT THAT THE LAWS HAVE TO CHANGE
ON "BOTH" SIDES OF THE ISSUE
Instead of gun control, the
system needs to address these mental health issues BEFORE drastic things
happen.
My daughter's brother-in-law was diagnosed
bipolar...his parents spent a fortune on him trying to get medical help.
He tried to commit suicide countless times, he called my son-in-law and
threatened to come kill my grandson, he was in and out of jail for
beating up his parents. They were beside themselves and the state would
not commit him to a hospital, and they could not afford to keep him in
one privately. Their health insurance did not pay for such an issue.
Besides that, he had started on hard drugs at age 13 and experimented
with crack and LSD.
The parents literally begged the police to keep
him in jail in 2005 after he had beat up his mother and wrecked the
house. He was on 7 different pyschotic drugs including adderol which had
many law suits against it.
One day he went into the kitchen, kicked the dog
and his mom asked why he did it. He proceeded to beat her up and his
father came running in to grab her away from him. He grabbed a butcher
knife out of the open dishwasher and stabbed his father in the back,
killing him. My son-in-law afterwards went into a deep depression which
eventually led to my daughter divorcing him last year.
Mental health in this country should be addressed
and treated without huge cost to the patients or their parents before it
turns into a tragedy like this one. There are conspiracy theories that
these kind of mentally unstable persons are selected by ???? (very dark
ops) to do heinous acts to promote their agenda. I am talking about
zombie or robotic killers. B
ACCORDING TO LAW, NO PERSON OF AGE CAN BE FORCED
TO ACCEPT ANY HEALTH CARE AT ALL, INCLUDING MENTAL HEALTH CARE.
THE DAY OF THE SHOOTING, I
NOTICED THAT THE MOVIE 'THE DARK KNIGHT RISES' WAS PLAYING ON
TELEVISION ON PAY PER VIEW ON MULTIPLE CHANNELS AT THE SAME TIME:
ON 12-18-12 - SOMEONE SENT ME THIS IN AN E-MAIL:
"Sandy Hook"School named in Batman"DarkKnightRises"Movie ! ? SEE HERE !
(Actually "IN" the Movie it's Self ! )
+ Also see the other Video that proves there were Two other Perpetrators
besides the Lanza boy ! Here below.
It is hard to believe but in a scene from the BatMan Movie Dark
Knight Rises in a Movie scene showing a map on a table it is written on
the map "Sandy Hook" ??
After you see these two videos and the connection between the BatMan
Movie and the Sandy Hook School shootings and the connection between the
"Fathers of the BatMan shooter and the Sandy Hook School shooter" you
will see it is unlikely these were just two crazy young men going on
killing sprees ! ?
==================================
Video Proving there were "2" More Shooters and Dead Boy was a Patsy !!
Sandy Hook Elem: 3 Shooters
( Please Do Not let the fact that the man as he is starting to narrate
this video, Talks at about the same speed as cold molasses dripping out
of a tree Scare you away, Stick with it and it will soon improve in a
couple minutes with network TV Helicopter Coverage video over the school
and police radio recordings confirming two more live perpetrators
(Shooters) were caught (On Video) trying to escape into the woods behind
T Lee Buyea - Editor in Chief
Fla. News Service - Miami, Fl. USA
News with Views
http://community-2.webtv.net/ranger116/TLeeBuyeaFlaNews/
Fla.News Service - The Last Freely speaking Voice of Uncensored Honesty
in the USA
----------------------------------------------
American Insanity to blame for today's Connecticut elementary school
shooting
Today's tragedy is a function of an insane person whose
inadequate treatment is a result of an insane medical, political,
educational, media, and academic setting that prescribes remedies that
for decades have proven ineffectual and actually detrimental, for which
the mainstream bodies are actually complicit in tragedies like this.
I was going to write an article about this today, but
more pressing things came along needing my attention, so
I'm grateful that Paul wrote something not dissimilar
from what I wanted to write.
Whenever I hear about an event like this nowadays,
immediately two possibilities cross my mind:
1)
Mind control (by the corrupt powers that be), for
the purpose of getting people opposed to guns, to weaken
support for the second amendment, whose primary purpose
is a final check on tyranny. Guns don't cause crime any
more than spoons cause obesity. Today's tragedy could
have been much less severe if at least some of the
teachers carried and knew how to use guns.
2) Drugs such as
Ritalin, which suppress emotions, resulting in an
eruption of unbridled crazy behavior completely out of
character for the person.
Today, as I wept over the loss of life and grieving
parents, it hit me just how culpable the powers that be
are for things like this. How much longer are we going
to let them get away with this?
The shooter is just a pawn. The corrupt powers that be
are the puppet-masters who should be taking the blame,
not the second amendment.
Most places where these mass public shootings take place
are in areas where gun laws are strict. When you outlaw
guns, only outlaws will have guns. And when they
unleash, only the "professional law enforcement" can
stop them. And since they take many minutes to respond,
the loss of life accumulated in the mean time is
profound.
Obama's Socialism is not the answer. A return to
Constitutional principles and ethics is.
by Paul
Noel
Research Scientist 6 Level 2 UAHuntsville
for Pure Energy Systems News
No person of any worth can watch the reports from the school shooting in
Newtown Connecticut without feeling the strong desire to see something
done to prevent such events in the future. Sadly, people are not going
to think and as a result the actions taken are going to be even more
destructive than the horrible event itself. We need to quit being angry
and start being effective.
In order to be effective, we are going to have to concentrate on
understanding what has happened as the final event in a long chain of
events. A whole series of events has come to focus as a shooting.
Breaking this chain of events requires us to recognize all of the steps.
It also requires us to stop looking at the guns and start looking at the
shooter and his history and motives.
This was the act of a seriously insane person. I have considerable
experience dealing with such persons as an RN, where I have worked both
in a Prison Hospital as well as in a State Mental Hospital for the
criminally insane. My personal experience includes personal contact with
two such events, including the death of a personal friend and being
nearby at the time of a major shooting at a college where I went to
school in years past.
The first thing a person needs to understand is the word “insane”. Stop
trying to think of the behavior in rational terms. This was not the act
of a sane person. Thus, the rationalization we will see in much public
discussion is in of itself a form of insanity. It has no connection to
what has happened and it cannot have any productive input to
understanding how the events unfolded.
Insanity is the action of a seriously malfunctioned brain. The
malfunction is a combination of bad biological function of the brain
tissue of the insane person and bad process training of the individual.
It is quite impossible to separate the two conditions or to rank exactly
which is the “cause”. It is both working together. The analogy here is
to a computer which has a seriously badly damaged circuitry within the
chips and which has a malicious viral code operating within it as well.
Hopefully, this will give people some basic conceptual understanding of
what is going on.
It is also important that people understand something deep within the
human psyche. Few, if any of us ,actually make decisions in a logical
fashion. What happens is quite the reverse logic. People generally
generate a causal desire that initiates behavior and then we latch onto
“causes” in our environment as justification of our behavior. To
illustrate, if you decide to buy a new car, seldom do you have a real
reason to do so. More often, you decide you want a new car and then you
start fussing about the age of your old car and concentrate on the
“reasons” you see to justify your desire. With this in mind, we are
going to have to reverse engineer the school shooting.
The first event that is causal in this schools shooting is actually a
well-intentioned effort that began in the USA in the late 1950’s and
early 1960s that wanted to treat the insane more “humanely”. This effort
culminated in the early 1970’s in a program called “Mainstreaming”. It
believed that we had developed drugs capable of treating insanity. There
are many such drugs but the specific drug is not relevant. Nor is it
relevant even if they were applied in this specific case. The issue here
is that the “mainstreaming” of the insane persons saved State
authorities a great deal of money in their budgets by closing a system
of “insane asylums”. It also dumped onto the street a large number of
persons incapable of actually managing their own affairs.
This effort of “mainstreaming” was accompanied by a considerable effort
to de-stigmatize insane persons and a major propaganda effort went into
effect which attempted to present any person who opposed this effort as
not being right or otherwise being mistaken or bigoted. This effort made
it very nearly impossible to latch onto an insane person and to have
effective resolution of their situation to the effect of improving
public safety or the safety of the insane person himself.
In addition to the end of “insane asylums” as a solution, a major effort
by American drug manufacturers concentrated on telling people that the
various drugs actually treated insanity, thus perpetrating the myth that
these drugs may even cure disease. Drugs were pushed heavily into
children and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for diagnosis of
mental illness was heavily impacted, creating a new class of “illnesses”
and teachers were told that children who had an odd temperament or who
didn’t fit in or didn’t learn quickly had “mental illness” and needed
drugs. Teachers then pushed the parents of such students to go to the
doctor to get a drug to help “fix” all of these problems. Anyone who
spoke up saying the situation was not working well was stigmatized as
being a person who had their own mental illness or of being a bigot or
they were a foolish, uneducated person.
By the end of the 1970’s, the deed was done. Social engineering was well
in place. It had political and economic drivers all in place and it had
well trained arguments to justify it. It was a triumph of absolutely
wrong ideas powered by good intentions. Good intent is never an excuse
for bad execution. Those of us in the Alternative Energy community have
seen a classic example of this when the US Government spent $40 Billion
a year on fusion research focused at Los Alamos, New Mexico, which even
the researchers admit has produced no economic result over 20 years and
is not going to do so for another 20 years. The good intent is obvious
but spending $1.6 trillion dollars on good intentions without any hope
of good results is INSANE! It is the behavior of a government who would
do anything but effective energy freedom research. The same was true of
the “mainstreaming” and the “mental health drugs”. They have not done
anything right.
It is important for people to understand the specific definition of
these drugs and their function. Typically, the MAO, Non-MAO, SSRI and
certain other drugs are defined in medical literature as Neuroleptic
drugs. The definition here says a lot. These drugs do nothing to treat
the situation and the definition says so. These drugs only restrain
behavior. They are chemical “strait jackets.” They make it difficult for
a person to do anything. Under the influence of these drugs, the person
does not present [exhibit symptoms] with his rash behavior. He still
wants to do it and becomes, over time, more and more determined in his
course of action; he just cannot do it while the drugs are in control.
The basic problem here is the loss of the control. It comes in several
forms. Over time, these drugs become less and less effective. They also
cause serious brain damage to the person over time in the form of
dementia which results in more and more irrational behavior. Over time,
the person gets a lot worse. The typical time for this is about three to
five years for any particular drug. Persons are given different drugs
periodically, as time diminishes the drug’s effect. The damage to the
person continues.
As the person becomes more and more damaged, they also become angrier
more easily and more quickly. People handling Alzheimer’s disease
patients and family become familiar with the person who was previously
so nice and friendly, becoming more and more likely to strike out or do
rash acts. This is the progression of dementia. Remember that the damage
is never exactly in a pattern. It shows up differently in every unique
individual.
The worst of this situation was the penetration of psychoactive drugs
into the handling of childhood problems. It was combined use of these
drugs and of those foolish ideas that good intentions trumped good
execution. This trained our young people in the means and methods of
mass murder and excused it as entertainment. We see this in the video
games our youth play. While almost all persons playing those violent
games do not have any problem with them, the truly insane have a real
problem and they are the issue.
Now to the specific case, we see that even if drugs did not influence
this particular case (though my opinion is that it is highly likely that
they were involved) under the influence of this “mainstreaming” system
and our continual teaching of children to accept odd behavior and the
social pressures of youth to conform, made us have a very seriously
insane person who gave hundreds of indications of his problem over the
past few years and blinded us to seeing them. Rest assured this will be
found. Great efforts will be made to cover up the influence of drugs, if
they were involved, which will extend to making sure that settlements
with the drug makers are covered in secrecy agreements. Paying out
millions of dollars will be well worth the effort to the drug
manufactures and every effort will be made to keep people from knowing
what the true influence of the drugs was.
Teachers will do anything but admit that they pushed the drugs and the
bad ideas. The system will go in for massive education campaigns focused
on guns, “active shooter” techniques and the like but nothing will ever
dare suggest that we have built a system that is systematically
destroying people. Nobody will dare admit that we knew years ahead that
somebody was broken and becoming really crazy.
I will tell you plain up that I worked with a fellow nurse who had a son
who was acting out. It was a daily event. Teachers at school petted his
fascination with killing and devil worship. Even a priest said to his
mom that it was just “a phase”. Everyone was comforting mom and dad that
they were doing right and had to be accepting. I told his mom it was
just “damn evil and that I would do anything asked to help.” Sadly, she
didn’t ask me for help. A few months later, he hacked his mom and dad to
death and nearly killed 3 of his siblings. The drug companies paid
secret settlements to the damaged children in the order of $10 million
each.
I could go on but the point is that we are systematically destroying
people claiming that we are doing well and the casualties are piling up.
Before this situation, we never had “police assisted suicide”. Now we
get over 2000 such cases a year. Before this situation, women rarely, if
ever, killed anyone. Now they often do. Before this, we never saw school
shootings of any significance. (Guns existed to do the shooting.) Now we
see this almost every few months. What I am pointing out is very
serious!
Before this insane idea took hold of our national mind, we lived in a
very peaceful society with much less violence, drug abuse and our young
people, for the most part, concentrated on how they would accomplish in
their lives the good dreams they had. Before this insane idea came over
us, we had less than 1/10 as many people in prison. Wake up people -
This isn’t working!
# # #
Part II: What to do about the terror of
insanity we live under
In assessing the solutions being deployed to handle societal
problems, we must look at the outcome to assess their effectiveness.
Disarming citizens and increasing the police state, historically, is not
the proper solution.
by Paul
Noel
Research Scientist 6 Level 2 UAHuntsville
December 16, 2012 7:05 AM [GMT-7]
for Pure Energy Systems News
In my first article on the issue of the school shooting at Newtown,
Connecticut, I pointed out that we would learn that the shooters
ideology would have been influenced by the society accepting clearly bad
behavior. He is now known to have been a “Goth”. This is a subculture
that worships the dark ideas and death. So far we are right on track.
I feel that it is as necessary to tell people ways to improve our world
as it was to write on how bad things have become. In my last article I
pointed out that the situation in Newtown, Connecticut was the result of
a long train of bad solutions applied with good intentions. It is really
important to understand that the people driving these problems down onto
society are for the most part well intended in their motives. They are
not enemies even though they are severely misguided. There is sadly one
exception to this. It is the commercial interests who are exploiting our
good intentions to their profit regardless of the effect of their
actions.
The first solution to the problem we are going to have to develop is to
realize that we have been manipulated by these commercial interests and
that we must no longer allow these commercial interests to dictate our
methods. This isn’t any hostility towards commercial interests because
many supply good solutions. What is needed here is to educate people
that there are commercial interests that have bad solutions and we need
to apply the old Latin phrase “Caveat Emptor.” Literally let the buyer
beware. We need to start testing the results of actions and looking to
see if they make our families happier, stronger and healthier. We need
to test if they make our society safer, more secure and more prosperous.
To illustrate this one needs only talk a look at the claims of the
mental health community. By their own statistical data, mental disorders
have increased by over 10 times under their care in the last 4 decades.
That is an unqualified failure. The development of gun control laws and
the addition of the US Department of Homeland Security likewise have
been unqualified failures in that they have not only not stopped the
progression into this insane terror, they have created a massive storm
trooper force in our land which scares to death everyone who deals with
it. Rather than the police officer dealing with you when you get traffic
ticket peacefully, he now deals with you like you were a drug crazed
terrorist ready to shoot him. In terms of prosperity the US Department
of Energy has done nothing to actually improve our energy situation. We
get massive statistical databases recording our situation but we get no
more energy and our energy delivery system degrades by the day.
The founding fathers of the USA wrote into the US Declaration of
Independence explained this very well in the charges (cause for war)
against the King of England in 1776.
“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither
swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the
Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior
to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign
to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his
Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:”
This is exactly what has removed our peace, safety and security
today, except it is not the King of England doing this to ourselves. We
are doing this to ourselves.
The one thing we need to understand is that the first solution is to
turn around and look towards the building of our families, neighbors and
communities. We need to turn away from the eternal one way solution of
the Federal Government legislation. If you live in a country other than
the USA you need to apply these principals in your land as well. The
whole world is getting polluted with this bad delivery on good
intentions. Start testing the facts. Start making things work for a
change.
Another solution is to start cleaning up our science. Science has
probably become the most polluted art with this bad results [from] good
intent thinking. It is blinding our eyes to solutions that work and to a
world that works. We need to apply the scientific method for real. Stop
trying to prove things at all costs and start trying to see what
actually the reality is. Without this solution, Psychology, Sociology
and other human behavioral sciences have no chance of serving up good
solutions to our problems.
We need to push hard for developing criteria for measuring success that
are realistic. For example we need to stop measuring our schools by how
many active shooter classes they give or drug resistance classes they
give, and start measuring them by actually measured reduction of these
problems in the community. We have pushed massive efforts over the last
40 years against drugs to the effect of seeing the use of drugs going up
by more than 10 times. This is an unqualified failure.
We need to push hard for the construction of good strong people as our
children grow up. We need to measure this by the fewer crimes they do
and by the more they achieve in learning. Finally we need to measure
this as successful by the more of them that do productive work for our
society and communities and by their earning more for the whole of
themselves and their communities.
Sadly, the current state of affairs is that we are systematically
destroying the children and their future. Our college graduates leave
school with massive debts only to find that they are not wanted in the
job market. Our children are learning that trying is not working. This
is an intolerable situation. We cannot afford anyone in our society who
is not being constructive. This includes dealing with the super-rich who
use their fortunes to damage society and our nations.
We can and we must do better. The most important thing people must
understand is that they are able to do good themselves. You see the most
important need of every decent person is to be useful. This is what we
must empower, encourage and develop in every way.
In the near future inventors are going to give us robots that will do
absolutely every job known to man. We are equally likely to provide
humanity with unlimited energy and material resources. In that world no
human being will have any work that is of necessity to do. This is
already under way. There is no stopping this reality. This makes this
issue of building up human beings an even higher priority than it was
before. It now is a matter of survival for the human race.
One needs only to imagine a world run by the current rules and
conditions possessed of the coming energy and technology conditions.
That would be a perfect hell for mankind. We have to invent our world
conditions and society with equal drive as we push towards the issues of
energy and automation. It is also clear that every political ideology of
today is completely without any means to deal with this future.
It is your choice, descend into hell; or will you join in and bring us a
better world measured by how it improves the human condition. Doing
nothing is suicide for all mankind.
The name of the elementary school. Found it on
Facebook. A story was published about this at
Infowars today.
Over the years, I've heard it said that the evil powers have a rule they
play by, that they have to tell the people what they are going to do to
them before they do it. And often media is used for that purpose.
Possibilities include:
Someone in the Batman movie was in on the foreknowledge
planning of this tragedy (e.g. at Bohemian Grove).
Someone in the Batman movie was told to put that text
somewhere in the film, but didn't know why.
It was completely a function of intuition.
I'm guessing it is probably closest to the first of these
options, given the dark nature of that movie. (Birds of a
feather flock together.)
Here's a video about the Batman movie and it's eerie resemblance
to both the Colorado theater shooting as well as to Sandy Hook
Elementary. Note that in the film, the finger is placed right on
top of the words "SANDY HOOK".
It reminds me of this
image from a CD that was on the presses at the time 9/11
happened, and had to be called back. (Wired;
September 13, 2001)
Gun Control Through History
On December 17, 2012 11:26 AM [GMT-7], Mark Hugo wrote:
Sterling...
Don't forget in all this ...a few statistics -
1. Germany: 6 Million of their OWN citizens killed. NEVER
legal during the Hitler ERA for normal people to have
weapons.
2. China: Again, "army only" for weapons. 40 Million killed
during MAO.
3. Russia: Again, common citizens NO WEAPONS (although I
understand, with the exception of the Ukrainian area, see
1933...force collectivizing, confiscation of weapons and 3
million STARVED to DEATH. thank you Papa Stalin!
And so it goes. Now let's talk the Rwandan genocide - 99%
machetes and spears?
[...]
ALAS, statistical illiteracy is the BAIN of the American
people!
Page posted by
Sterling D. Allan May 2, 2010
Last updated
December 18, 2012
Original text
Contribute a
better translation
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NEWTOWN, Conn. -- A lone gunman killed 27 people at an
elementary school here, including 18 children, in a terrifying early Friday
morning shooting spree.
The Associated Press and local media reported the shooter, an
unidentified adult male, was also dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Two
handguns were recovered at the scene. Mayor Mark Boughton said several victims
had been taken to local hospitals.
Groups of students — some crying, some holding hands — were
being escorted away from the school by their teachers. Some witnesses reported
of up to 100 shots.
Sandy Hook is in a residential, wooded neighborhood about 90
minutes north of New York City. It has has 39 teachers and about 650 students. A
reverse 911 call went out to parents warning of an incident. Parents were being
reunited with children. But, NBC Connecticut reported, police were searching the
area behind the school with guns drawn.
Terese Lestik was relieved to find her five year old
daughter, Eva, unharmed.
"I heard a boom-boom,'' Eva said of the gunshots she heard
earlier.
"I'm horrified,'' said Terese Lestik. "I just pray for
whoever is hurt."
Alexis Wasik, a third-grader at the school, said police were
checking everybody inside the school before they were escorted to the firehouse.
She said she heard shots and saw her former nursery school teacher being taken
out of the building on a stretcher, but didn't know if the woman had been shot.
"We had to walk with a partner," said Wasik, 8. One child
leaving the school said that there was shattered glass everywhere. A police
officer ran into the classroom and told them to run outside and keep going until
the reach the firehouse, The Hartford Courant reported.
Dozens of state troopers are on the scene assisting local
police. Heavily armed police gathered in front of the school around 10:45 a.m.,
and a number of stretchers were set up.
The school superintendent's office says the district has
locked down schools as a preventive measure to ensure the safety of students and
staff. State police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance says they have a number of
personnel on the scene to assist.
A 1 p.m. press conference has been scheduled. PRESS
CONFERENCES WERE HELD EVERY HOUR AND PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE GOVERNOR OF
CONNECTICUT SPOKE TO THE PUBLIC AS WELL TO CONVEY THEIR SORROW FOR WHAT HAD
HAPPENED. PRESIDENT OBAMA ORDERED FLAGS TO BE LOWERED TO HALF STAFF FOR 4
DAYS IN HONOR OF THOSE KILLED.
Contributing: Donna Leinwand Leger, Associated Press
A gunman opened fire Friday in a Connecticut
elementary school, killing nearly 30 people -- most of them children, a law
enforcement official receiving information from the scene told CNN.
At least 20 of the dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School were students.
"Why Why? Why? Why?" one woman wailed as she walked up a wooded
roadway leading from the school.
At a news conference Friday afternoon, state police Lt. Paul Vance declined to
put a number on the deaths. He would say only that there had been "several
fatalities." Police were waiting to notify families before releasing details,
but he reassured nervous residents that the school was secure, the danger past.
The gunman is dead, his body in a classroom, a source with knowledge of the
investigation told CNN. A law enforcement identified the suspected shooter as
Ryan Lanza, who was in his 20s. Police have recovered two weapons from the
suspect, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, the source said. It's unclear if police killed
the suspect.
Police were questioning another man but are not calling him a suspect, a source
with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.
Despite the danger being past, federal officers in tactical gear were on the
scene Friday afternoon, coordinating with state and local authorities. At least
four ambulances remained at the school.
Hospital officials in neighboring Danbury said they were treating three people
wounded in the shooting. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the victims were in
"very serious" condition.
Police and teachers rushed students from the building as police swarmed the area
shortly after the first calls came in, around 9:40 a.m. ET. Officials moved
students to a nearby firehouse, where parents frantically sought information
about their children.
Third-grader Alexis Wasik said police and teachers barged into her classroom and
told students to hide in the corner.
"Everybody was crying," she said. "And I just heard the police officers
yelling."
Aerial images from CNN
affiliate News
12 New Jersey showed police officers armed with rifles following a dog into
woods near the school.
Other officers, some in tactical gear, stood around the school with guns drawn,
CNN affiliate WFSB reported.
Allschools in
the city were on lockdown Friday as police assessed the situation, Vance said.
Gov. Dan Malloy is "horrified" by what happened, a spokesman said. Malloy was
meeting with families Friday afternoon, the spokesman said.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama administration feels "enormous
sympathy" for affected families and pledged federal support for state and local
law enforcement. Obama was expected to address the shooting on Friday.
If the number of fatalities holds up, the Newtown shooting would be the
second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, behind only the 2007 shooting
at Virginia Tech that left 32 people dead.
The 1999 Columbine High shooting in Littleton, Colorado, is the deadliest at a
U.S. elementary, junior or high school. In that incident, two students shot 13
people to death before killing themselves.
NOTE: GUNS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM - PEOPLE AND LACK OF MENTAL HEALTH IS WHAT CAUSES THESE PROBLEMS.
Adam Lanza School Shooter Suspect Had Personality Disorder, Report Says
Adam Lanza, the man the Associated Press has identified as the gunman in
Friday's mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, had a checkered past
and a personality disorder, according to reports that cite law enforcement
officials.
The brother, Ryan Lanza, 24, told authorities that Adam Lanza, 20, is
autistic or has a "personality disorder," ABC News reported. A law enforcement
official told Fox that Adam Lanza had a "checkered past" and was a "troubled
youth,"
The Daily Beast reported. CNN reported Adam Lanza
had no criminal record.
At least 27 people, including 20 children, died in the shooting at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in Newtown. Authorities said that the shooting appears to have
been carried out by a lone gunman, who
died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to AP.
According to public records, Adam Lanza lived at 36 Yogananda St. in Newtown.
His mother, Nancy Lanza, who was shot to death in her home on Friday, is also
listed as a resident at that address,
Slate.com reported. Adam Lanza's parents divorced in 2009. His father,
according to
The Stamford Advocate, is Peter Lanza, vice president of taxes for GE Energy
Financial Services. Peter Lanza reportedly lives in Stamford, Conn.
Several media outlets have reported that Nancy Lanza was a teacher at Sandy
Hook Elementary, but a former school board member told
The Wall Street Journal she believes that incorrect.
"No one has heard of her," said Lillian Bittman, who served on the board
until 2011. "Teachers don't know her."
AP is reporting Nancy Lanza was a part-time substitute at the school.
CASE IN POINT: CONNECTICUT WAS NOT THE ONLY CASE OF CHILDREN BEING
ATTACKED TODAY:
Children stabbed in attack at Chinese school
Police say nearly two dozen children injured in central China
province of Henan by knife-wielding villager.
14
Dec 2012 08:44
At least 22 children and one adult have been injured
in a knife attack outside a primary school in central China, police say.
An officer said the attack, in the village of
Chengping in Henan province, happened shortly
before 8am on Friday, as students were arriving for
classes.
The attacker, believed to be 36-year-old villager Min
Yingjun, is in police custody, said officials.
A county hospital administrator said the man first
attacked an elderly woman, then students,
before being subdued by security guards. Two students
have since been transferred to
"better-equipped" hospitals outside the county.
China has witnessed a spate of school stabbings in
recent years, leading to more security
guards being deployed across the vast country.
In March 2010, eight children were murdered in
Nanping, Fujian province, by 41-year-old
knifeman Zheng Minsheng. The attacker was executed a
month later, hours before
33-year-old Chen Kangbing injured 16 students and a
teacher at Hongfu Primary School
in Leizhou, Guangdong.
In April 29 2010, 28 school children - mostly
four-year-olds - were stabbed alongside two
teachers and a security guard in Taixing, Jiangsu. On
April 30, Wang Yonglai committed
suicide after using a hammer to attack preschool
children in Weifang, Shandong.
Further attacks in the months and years following
have left 11 children and four adults dead,
and several more injured.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
The World Cries with Connecticut
Who Was the Killer’s Doctor & What Drugs Was He Taking?
The peace and security of the suburban Connecticut
community of Newtown was shattered on Friday after a
gunman attacked a primary school in one of the worst
mass shootings in U.S. history. Tragedy strikes again
most viciously and we are wounded to the core as a race
of beings that is losing its way after making so many
mistakes and doing so many stupid things, pretending all
the while that we are an intelligently evolved race.
Friday’s shooting came only three days after masked
gunman Jacob Roberts opened fire in a busy Oregon mall,
killing two before turning the gun on himself.
Surrounded by increasing violence of the most senseless
kind, our future is increasingly brought into question.
A tearful President Obama said, “There’s not a parent in
America who doesn’t feel the overwhelming grief that I
do.” The president had to pause to compose himself after
saying these were “beautiful little kids between the
ages of 5 and 10.” As he continued with his statement,
Obama wiped away a tear from each eye. “Our hearts are
broken today,” Obama said.
That night I think for the first time in my life I cried
myself to sleep thinking about the suffering that many
parents and children are experiencing now and will
probably have to deal with for the rest of their lives.
I was praying with all my soul seeking some way, some
miracle to soften some of that suffering.
After the deadly rampage, psychologists and
pediatricians are strongly urging parents to shield
their school-age children from too much exposure to the
news. But what they are not warning parents against are
the drugs that psychiatrists will recommend that might
have caused the killings in the first place. We are
being told very little or perhaps law enforcement in the
United States cannot do what hackers, when breaking into
ones online identity, are supposed to be able to do in a
few moments.
Is it Pharmaceutical Drugs at Work Again?
According to Medco Health, 1 in 5 American
adults are currently taking mind-altering
psychiatric drugs such as antidepressants.
Research shows long-term exposure to psychiatric
drugs has proven to be far more dangerous than
originally anticipated, and includes the threat of
medication-induced obesity, diabetes, heart disease,
irreversible abnormal movements, emotional and cognitive
disability, and an overall deterioration in the
patient’s clinical condition and quality of life.
Johnson & Johnson,
the company that makes the antipsychotic drug
Risperdal, has tentatively agreed to a settlement of
$2.2 billion to
resolve a federal investigation into the company’s
marketing practices.
Jon Rappoport says, “From this point on, the rest of
the events in Newtown, Connecticut will be brought to
you by Merck, Glaxo, and Pfizer. It always happens at
these mass murder events. The grief counselors. The
social service workers. The psychologists. They pour in.
And they end up referring people to psychiatrists, who
will in turn prescribe some of the very drugs that
trigger murder and suicide. The drugs that cause people
to kill. The sequence is always the same, because it’s
set up that way. After the mass murders and the shock
and the horror, the grief industry arrives, and then
come the referrals to psychiatric drug pushers, along
with the memorials and the “healing.”
Rappoport asks: “Who was Adam Lanza’s doctor? If the
school shooter was seeing a psychiatrist, we want to
know who the doctor is, now. We want a list of all
medications Lanza was taking, now. Newtown is a small
community. Somebody there can step up and say who the
doctor is and what this kid was taking.”
Rappoport
continued, “If they’re so interested, along with the
public, in figuring out why Adam Lanza killed all those
children, you would think, with their enormous
resources, they would find out who Lanza’s
doctor-psychiatrist was in five minutes and ask him
about his patient.”
Despite 22 international drug regulatory warnings on
psychiatric drugs citing effects of mania, hostility,
violence and even homicidal ideation, and dozens of high
profile shootings/killings tied to psychiatric drug use,
there has yet to be a federal investigation on the link
between psychiatric drugs and acts of senseless
violence.
The Department of Justice has now enforced a total of
$8.9 billion in criminal and civil fines against
GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Johnson &
Johnson. They are criminals representing criminal
intentions to deliberately harm people with their
pharmaceutical poisons, which is exactly what most if
not all drugs are that are prescribed by clinical
psychologists and psychiatrists do.
Health Canada approved a new warning label for Paxil
that read, in part: “A small number of
patients taking drugs of this type may feel worse
instead of better. For example, they may experience
unusual feelings of agitation, hostility or anxiety, or
have impulsive or disturbing thoughts, such as thoughts
of self-harm or harm to others.
There were 39,000 adverse event reports submitted to the
FDA’s Medwatch, according to award-winning investigative
reporter, Robert Whitaker. And that number is said to
represent only about 1% of the actual number of adverse
events. “So, if
we get 39,000 adverse event reports about
Prozac,”
Mr. Whitaker said in an interview for Street Spirit in
August 2005, “the
number of people who have actually suffered such
problems is estimated to be 100 times as many, or
roughly four million people.”
As the world joined Americans in mourning the school
massacre in Connecticut, many urged U.S. politicians to
honor the 28 victims, especially the children, by
pushing for stronger gun control laws. If they were
honest they would be urging the US government to finally
put a stop to the criminal and vicious attack on
children by
Big Pharma.
We have made a culture of abusing children through
drugs, letting them eat junk foods and drink Coke and
Pepsi, mercury in
vaccines and dental amalgam, etc. The children who
escape sexual abuse (about 70%) find abuse at other
people’s hands and that list starts with pediatricians
who not only stab them obsessively with dangerous
vaccines but also overdose them with antibiotics that
compromise their health. Then the psychiatrists and
psychologists who prescribe brutal drugs get into the
act when the children do not do well.
Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz from the Child Mind
Institute said, “When tragedy strikes, as parents you
find yourself doubly challenged: to process your own
feelings of grief and distress, and to help your
children do the same. I wish I could tell you how to
spare your children pain, when they’ve lost friends or
family members, and fear, when disturbing events occur,
especially when they’re close to home. I can’t do that,
but what I can do is share what I’ve learned about how
to help children process disturbing events in the
healthiest way.”
People are trying to understand just what could make a
person
perform such despicable acts. People are grasping at
straws to
make sense of the deaths of these innocents and adults
to
bring some sense and meaning into these meaningless
killings.
-
David J. Kozlowski,
Stamford
The neighborhood where gunman Adam Lanza lived. (Jason
Sickles/Yahoo News)
Besides finding out what drugs this kid was on it would
be valuable to know the kind of training he had in those
weapons. Who was this kid? Who are his mother and father
really and where did they get the money to live in the
wealthiest area of America? Who were his doctors and/or
psychiatrists? So far we have another mystery kid doing
a senseless terrible thing but the senselessness seems
to build up around a lack of information. The only
motive that I can think of for such a hideous crime is a
special kind of insanity that is provoked by
pharmaceuticals.
Rappoport concludes, “Killing your own mother, and then
breaking into a school and killing 26 people, most of
whom are very young children, doesn't, by any stretch of
the imagination, resolve by assigning a motive. There is
no motive that can explain such a crime.”
Special Note:
Yesterday and today it has been hard to get away from
this event. In a few days I will publish part two, which
will deal directly with the catastrophic suffering many
parents are suffering with parents around the world
feeling for the safety of their children in public
schools.
I will deal with what should be the appropriate medical
response to such suffering. And that is certainly not
dangerous pharmaceuticals! I got into thinking of
sending someone to Connecticut with an arsenal of
all-natural agents that would help to soothe and calm
people and
slow their breathing down. I saw myself or someone
standing in for me on the corner with 50 breathing
devices handing them out.
Cannabidiol (CBD) would probably stand up as the
best natural pain reliever and when used with
magnesium chloride would probably help anyone having
difficulty with sleep. I did manage to talk to the
people in Colorado who have perfected Cannabidiol as a
concentrated medicinal equaling the effect of
pharmaceutical pain relievers and anyone from
Connecticut who mentions this essay on their phone lines
or my name when
ordering online will receive a courtesy discount in
the same spirit that many local businesses are extending
their help to the afflicted.
Dr. Mark Sircus, Ac., OMD, DM (P)
Director International Medical Veritas Association
Doctor of Oriental and Pastoral Medicine
http://drsircus.com/
WHAT A
WAKEUP!
Dear God:
Why
didn't you save the school children at :
Winnenden,
Germany 3-11-09 Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 2-14-08 Oxnard, CA 2-14-08 Washington, DC 2-13-08 Memphis, TN 2-11-08 Portsmouth, OH 2-07-08 Cleveland, Ohio -
10-10-07 Virginia Tech 04/16/07 Amish Country, PA -10-07 West Paducah ,
Kentucky - 12-1-07 CAZENOVIA, Wis. -9-29-06 BAILEY, Colorado. Sep 28, 2006
Tennessee - 11.08.2005 New Orleans - 3- 18 - 2005 Greensboro , NC- 3-16-2005 Washington, D.C. - 3-
03, 2005 Cold
Spring - Minnesota, 9 - 2003 Germany - 4 - 26, 2002
Santee, California - 3-5-01
El Cajon, California - 3-22-01
Lakeworth, FL - May 26, 2000 Columbine High School -
4- 20 -1999
Littleton, Colorado - 4-20-99
Taber, Alberta,
Canada - 5-28-99
Conyers, Georgia - 5-20-99
Deming, New Mexico - 11-19-99
Fort Gibson, Oklahoma - 12-6-99 Jonesboro ,
Arkansas - 3-24-98 Edinboro, Pennsylvania - 4-24-98
Fayetteville , Tennessee 5/19/98
Springfield, Oregon, 5-21-98
Richmond, Virginia - 6-15-98
Bethel, Alaska - 2-19-97
Pearl, Mississippi - 10-1-97
Stam! p, Arkansas - 12-15-97
Moses Lake, Washington, 2-2-96
Reply:
Dear Concerned Student:
I am not allowed in schools.
Sincerely,
God
.
.
.
..
Which city will be next?
A highschool will again experience death!
Los Angeles, California
This city will become known as Deathstar City
11-3-99 - DREAM - Through a
series of events I was going from city to city and Los Angeles was named
the "Deathstar" city.
I was in an
apartment building and I got a bag of fertilizer for a gift which
came by mail. A skinny man who lived on the first floor had taken the
delivery. He had received it in a box and took it out of the box and
handed it to me. He wanted to know if he should bring it upstairs but I
said, "No! I can handle it myself."
I had been on my way to the
basement to check out my locker situation since I had just moved here.
The first time I went down I didn't take my keys with me, so the second
time I took a ring of master keys with me and another old lady went down
also. When we went back up, the elevator stopped 6" short of the floor I
lived on so I threw myself on the floor with the bag of fertilizer so
the elevator wouldn't fall back down with me on it.
I then went to my apartment
and my daughter-in-law Becky was with me. There was a park bench type
thing by the door and an old man 60 to 70 years old and a younger
dark-haired guy in my apartment and they sat down to rest a moment. The
old man was a widower and quite good looking for his age, round faced
and white hair. He told the younger man he was lonely and needed
companionship. The young guy was agreeing it was a good idea and then
started throwing in 'gay' hints towards the old man.
I couldn't believe what I
was hearing. My daughter-in-law Becky nodded towards the door and I
followed her. We went to the stairway and the first couple steps were
about 3 feet down each. So we went to about the 3rd step down to be out
of site of the men to talk, but we continued on down the stairs which
were very strange. They were convex shaped, curved downward and some
being 3 feet down, we just went on down...fast...and the last 15 feet
was like a pile of green newspapers stacked up. We literally slid down
like a slide.
By now we were down in the
basement and I heard some women coming...sounded like female troops and
Becky and I started running like hell down the hall away from them. I
was trying to make it to the other end of the building before the women
appeared and I made it just as the women reached the hallway behind me.
I leaped over a fallen
bicycle where an old black woman stood and ran out into the yard.
There I saw 6 cops all
dressed in black like a SWAT team...crouched low...headed for a school.
I decided I had better do
the same and I followed them towards the school. The students obviously
didn't know what was going on. They seemed oblivious to all this.
The whole school was surrounded
by a thick black screening so I entered the school to walk all the way
back to my apartment building instead of going through the pretty yard
outside that was full of flower beds and green grass.
What a world we have created!!!
Followup 4-17-00
Date: 04/17/2000
From: (J. L.)
Dear Dee,
I might be able to
(unfortunately) add some thoughts to your dream with the weird staircase
with the pile of "green" newspapers at the end.
As you may remember, I live
about 60 miles east of L.A., just off Interstate 10. I was reading your
dream and got to the part where you were sliding down into the basement
on a pile of "green newspapers" and the building you lived in was near a
school.
Hubby delivers weekly
newspapers called "The Green Sheet" and one of his routes is a Thursday
route. On that route, he passes four schools -- two high schools and two
elementary schools -- all during school hours. The paper was named that
for one main reason -- the cover pages and the center are on a green
background. Also, the company has, for several years, been using
environmentally friendly, recycled ("green") paper.
Anyway, what I was getting at
was that the delivery area covers about 10,000 square miles, with the
western side about 20 miles east of L.A. That could represent your
building. The school could be one of the hundreds in the L.A.U.S.D.,
which now includes most of Los Angeles County. Since you were able to
walk between your building and that black-enshrouded school, I would
look mainly at the eastern portion of L.A. County, which would include
small cities like Pico Rivera (where I grew up), El Monte, Montebello,
Downey, Whittier, Norwalk, Santa Fe Springs, Los Nietos, San Gabriel,
West Covina, etc. All of these cities have experienced several
newsworthy instances of violence in the last few years. The children
there would be oblivious to the SWAT screenings because they have become
accustomed to having to be interviewed by police while at school.
Teen gunman dead
after killing 16 in Germany
3-11-09
WINNENDEN, Germany (AP) — Police say a girl
seriously injured in a school shooting near
Stuttgart has died of her wounds in the
hospital, bringing the death toll to 17,
including the gunman.
Police
say 17-year-old Tim K., a former student who
graduated from the Albertville high school last
year, opened fire in two classrooms early
Wednesday morning before fleeing.
He
hijacked a car, triggering a manhunt, and was
found in a nearby town where he was confronted
by police and killed in the ensuing shootout.
The
death toll brings the killing on par with
Germany's worst school shooting ever, when a
19-year-old killed 12 teachers, a secretary, two
students and a police officer and himself in
Erfurt in 2002.
WINNENDEN, Germany (AP) — A 17-year-old gunman
dressed in black opened fire at his former high
school in southwestern Germany on Wednesday then
fled in a hijacked car, killing at least 15
people before police shot him to death, state
officials said.
The
gunman entered the school in Winnenden and
opened fire, shooting at random, police said. He
killed nine students, three teachers and a
passer-by outside the building, officials said.
"He
went into the school with a weapon and carried
out a bloodbath," said regional police chief
Erwin Hetger. "I've never seen anything like
this in my life."
Triggering a land and air manhunt, he hijacked a
car, freed the passengers and drove about 25
miles (40 kilometers) before police found him.
When confronted, he killed two bystanders in a
shootout with police before he was slain, Baden
Wuerttemburg governor Guenther Oettinger said.
Two officers were seriously injured, but there
was no immediate information on other
casualties.
Four
hours after the shootings began, police
announced the teenager's death.
It was
the nation's worst shooting since another
teenage gunman killed 16 people and himself in
another high school in 2002.
Concerned parents quickly swarmed the school,
which was evacuated.
Police
have have identified the gunman only as Tim K,
who graduated last year from the school of about
1,000 students.
The
German government was "deeply shocked and
incensed about the appalling killing spree,"
Ulrich Wilhelm, a spokesman for Chancellor
Angela Merkel, said in Berlin.
In
2002, 19-year-old Robert Steinhaeuser shot and
killed 12 teachers, a secretary, two students
and a police officer before turning his gun on
himself in the Gutenberg high school in Erfurt,
in eastern Germany.
Steinhaeuser, who had been expelled for forging
a doctor's note, was a gun club member licensed
to own weapons. The attack led Germany to raise
the age for owning recreational firearms from 18
to 21.
Washington Post
Staff Writers
Thursday, February 14, 2008; 7:07 PM
NOTE: A later report at 7:41 p.m. states
that 5 are dead.
A
gunman armed with a shotgun burst into a
lecture hall at Northern Illinois University
this afternoon and opened fire,
wounding at least 17 people, three
critically, before taking his own life,
authorities said.
The shooter,
described by
witnesses as a
thin white male
dressed in black
and wearing a
stocking cap,
entered Cole
Hall on the
university's
campus in
DeKalb, Ill.,
and began
shooting at
students and a
teacher in a
science class,
witnesses told a
local radio
station and a
student
newspaper.
At least 17
people were
taken to
Kishwaukee
Community
Hospital to be
treated for
injuries, the
hospital said on
its Web site. It
said earlier
that four
victims with
head wounds had
arrived.
The hospital
said that it had
no fatalities
among the
patients brought
there, although
one of three
patients in
critical
condition was
airlifted to
another hospital
in Rockford,
Ill., about 30
miles away. The
hospital said
eight of the
victims were
"stable" and six
were in "good
condition." It
said it did not
expect to
transfer any
other patients.
The university
announced late
this afternoon
that the gunman
had killed
himself. It said
police confirmed
"that the
shooter is dead
by a
self-inflicted
gunshot."
Agents of the
federal Bureau
of Alcohol,
Tobacco,
Firearms and
Explosives were
assisting local
authorities at
the scene, the
Chicago Tribune
reported. A
spokesman for
the agency,
Thomas Ahern,
said he did not
know if the
shooter was a
student or what
his motive might
have been.
The school first
reported the
incident at 3:20
p.m. Central
time, saying
there was "a
report of a
possible gunman
on campus" and
urging people to
"get to a safe
area."
Authorities
confirmed 30
minutes later
that a shooting
had taken place
and promptly
canceled
classes.
The school later
reported that
"the immediate
danger has
passed" and that
"the gunman is
no longer a
threat." It said
the campus will
be closed
tomorrow and
that students
could go to
residence halls
for counseling.
Theresa Komitas,
a spokeswoman
for Kishwaukee
Community
Hospital said
the hospital
initially
received four
patients with
head wounds but
that there was
no immediate
information on
their condition.
Komitas said her
facility is the
closest hospital
to the shooting
and that victims
were expected to
be sent there
first before
being
transferred
elsewhere if
necessary.
"We've called
all the staff
in," she said.
Komitas said the
hospital would
keep the public
updated on the
number of
injured and
their conditions
via its Web
site.
The university,
which has a
student
enrollment of
more than 25,000
and is located
in DeKalb, about
65 miles west of
Chicago,
canceled all
classes and
urged people to
stay away from
campus. The
university's
main campus in
DeKalb covers
755 acres.
A witness told
WBBM radio that
the gunman
entered a
science class
through an
emergency exit
-- shotgun in
hand -- and
began shooting
toward the
middle of the
lecture hall.
The shooter then
began firing
toward the
professor,
according to the
witness.
Sheila Cosgrove,
a student who
was in the room
when the gunman
started
shooting, said
in an interview
on WBBM that he
appeared to be
aiming at
certain people.
"He was quiet.
He stood on the
stage in the
front of the
room," said
Cosgrove, who
described the
shooter as a
white male about
six feet tall.
"I saw him
holding the gun
and it was huge.
I thought it was
fake and then I
realized he was
actually
shooting at
people and I got
down. . . . I
have blood all
over my
clothes."
Another student
who was in the
room, George
Gaynor, said the
shooter was "a
skinny white guy
with a stocking
cap on," the
campus newspaper
Northern Star
reported on its
Web site. He
described the
scene as
terrifying and
chaotic. "Some
girl got hit in
the eye; a guy
got hit in the
leg," the paper
quoted Gaynor as
saying outside
the hall minutes
after the
shooting.
In April of last
year, a student
with a history
of mental
problems killed
32 people in a
shooting rampage
at Virginia Tech
before taking
his own life,
the worst
rampage in U.S.
history. A
review by a
state-appointed
panel after the
shooting
criticized
Virginia Tech
administrators
for failing to
take quicker
action in
shutting down
the campus,
saying it might
have reduced
casualties.
Northern
Illinois
University faced
a threat of
violence as
recently as two
months ago.
University
officials closed
the school for a
day in early
December and
rescheduled some
final exams
after students
found two
separate threats
scrawled on a
bathroom wall in
a residence
hall, according
to local news
reports at the
time.
The messages
included racial
slurs aimed at
black students
and references
to the Virginia
Tech shootings.
Several black
students were
quoted in news
stories as
saying they felt
unsafe on
campus, even
with an
increased police
presence.
In a Dec. 11
message to all
students, NIU
President John
G. Peters said
the graffiti was
considered a
"credible
threat." He said
school officials
had ordered a
police presence
around all final
exam sites after
the campus
reopened.
"Events of the
past several
days remind all
of us that
community is
more than a
word, and that
threats against
a group are a
threat to us
all," Peters
wrote.
More than 90
percent of
students at the
university,
which was
chartered in
1895, are from
Illinois. Racial
minorities make
up 26 percent of
the student
population.
Oxnard
school shooting called a hate crime
By
Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles
Times Staff Writer
3:44 PM PST, February 14, 2008
Prosecutors today alleged that
the shooting of 15-year-old
eighth-grader at an Oxnard campus by a classmate was a hate
crime.
The 14-year-old defendant was
charged with premeditated murder
with a special allegation of
using a firearm in the
commission of a hate crime. The
victim, Lawrence King, who was
declared brain dead on
Wednesday.
Prosecutors will ask that the
boy be tried as an adult once
King is taken off a ventilator,
said senior Deputy Dist. Atty.
Maeve Fox. She declined to
discuss the hate-c
rime
allegation.
"We've never had a violent
shooting like this in Ventura
County," Fox said. "It's very
tragic."
Defense attorney Brian Vogel
said the defendant and his
family, who were in court for
his arraignment hearing, said
that they were also hurting.
The boy and his "family are
terribly sad to learn that
[King] is brain dead," Vogel
said.
He said the defendant, whose
name is being withheld because
of his age, did not have a prior
criminal history and was
generally a good student. Vogel
said the boy just turned 14 on
Jan. 24.
King was shot in the head early
Tuesday in a classroom full of
students at E.O. Green Junior
High School.
Police said the
suspect shot King at least twice
at the beginning of their
first-period English class and
then fled the campus. The boy
was apprehended by police a few
blocks away.
Several students at the south
Oxnard campus said King and his
alleged assailant had a
falling-out stemming from
King's sexual
orientation. The teenager
sometimes wore feminine clothing
and makeup, and proclaimed he
was gay, students said.
"He would come to school in
high-heeled boots, makeup,
jewelry and painted nails -- the
whole thing," said Michael
Sweeney, 13, an eighth-grader.
"That was freaking the guys
out."
Student Juan Sandoval, 14, said
he shared a fourth-period
algebra class with the suspect,
whom he described as a calm,
smart student who played on the
basketball team.
"I didn't think he was that kind
of kid," Sandoval said. "I guess
you never know. He made a big
mistake."
"Their lives are both destroyed
now," said student Hansley
Rivera, 12.
Several students said that a day
before the shooting, King and
several boys had some kind of
altercation during the lunch
period.
Jay Richard Smith, executive
director of Ventura County
Rainbow Alliance, a nonprofit
group which advocates gay and
lesbian rights, attended today's
court hearing and said his group
would be keeping a close eye on
the trial.
"This is an equality issue," he
said. "Every child should be
able to go to school and be
safe. We want to make sure that
happens."
Bullying in schools has long
been a problem. But recent
studies show that a student who
comes "out" as gay or lesbian is
far more likely to suffer abuse
than others, said Kevin
Jennings, executive director of
the Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Education Network based in New York.
A student thought to be gay was
five times as likely to be
threatened or injured by a
weapon, a 2002 California
Department of Education study
said.
Jennings said
other studies have found similar
results. His group advocates
more teacher training on how to
handle bullying and harassment,
specifically of gay students.
"This Oxnard shooting is very
upsetting but not surprising,"
Jennings said. "The real issue
is not the kid coming out, but
the kid sitting next to him.
Schools must teach that we may
not like one another, but we
must respect one another."
Teachers and counselors at E.O.
Green Junior High, meanwhile,
sought to calm fears about
escalating violence at the south
Oxnard campus. Hueneme School
District Supt. Jerry Dannenberg
said the school would have extra
staff and police on campus for
the next few days.
Counselors will be on hand as
long as needed, Dannenberg said.
The school district will hold a
meeting for parents next week to
discuss concerns.
This week's shooting was a
first, not only for the school
but for all of Ventura County,
which has never before seen a
classroom fatality.
Witnesses Say They Saw Gunman In SE School Shooting
Alleged Shooter, Others
Reportedly Seen Yelling From Vehicle
POSTED: 7:30 am EST February 13, 2008
Deidrick Johnson, 17, is being
held without bond on charges of assault with intent to kill in
the shooting Jan. 22.
The
charging documents said a witness told police that
charging documents
say the teenager accused of shooting four students near Ballou
High School in Southeast Washington fired shots from the open
sunroof of a passing car.
Deidrick Johnson, 17, is being
held without bond on charges of assault with intent to kill in
the shooting Jan. 22.
The charging
documents said a witness told police that Johnson and others
with him were seen driving near the school before the shooting
and shoulting "Oy" at pedestrians. According to the documents,
"Oy" is a code word for the Barry Farm housing complex, where
Johnson lived.
Johnson is
charged as an adult and faces a court hearing Feb. 25. He's also
charged in a drive-by shooting 11 days earlier in January that
wounded five people.
Student charged in Memphis school shooting
Published: Feb. 11, 2008 at 11:03 PM
MEMPHIS, TN (UPI) --
Memphis police charged a Mitchell High
School student with attempted first-degree murder after a Monday
shooting that left a classmate in critical condition.
Sophomore Corneilous Cheers, 17, allegedly shot senior Stacey
Dominique Kiser Monday morning during a physical education class
in the school cafeteria. In addition to the attempted murder
count, Cheers also was charged with carrying a weapon on school
property, unlawful possession of a weapon and reckless
endangerment, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported.
Kiser was listed in critical condition at Regional Medical
Center at Memphis. His sister, Brooke Kiser, 22, said he was
shot in the neck, groin and leg.
She also attributed the shooting to gang-related activities.
Mitchell High Principal John Ware said the suspect shot the
victim, then gave the gun to the coach. "It's over now," Ware
quoted Cheers as saying.
~~~~~~
Suspect's Step-Mom
Blames Victim in Mitchell Shooting
12 Feb. 2008, 4:22 p.m. CST
April Norris
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WHBQ FOX13
myfoxmemphis.com) --
The 17-year-old student who shot his classmate three times
inside Mitchell High School faced a judge Tuesday.
Prosecutors are still deciding if he'll be charged as an
adult.
It was a fast hearing, but the 17-year-old will stay locked
up under the juvenile court system until his next court
hearing in two weeks. The judge wanted to give his family
time to hire an attorney.
Surrounded by family and friends, the father of the alleged
shooter walked out of Juvenile Court Tuesday with nothing to
say.
Police said the
Mitchell High School sophomore shot his classmate
19-year-old Stacey Kiser, a senior, three times inside the
cafeteria Monday morning.
Prosecutors said they're leaning toward charging the
sophomore as an adult. He's facing attempted first degree
murder.
As the accused teen's family looks for an attorney, Kiser's
grandfather is sitting by his bedside.
"They just got him so sedated," said the victim's
grandfather William Kiser. "He can nod his head and he just
held my hand. He's doing pretty good."
Mitchell High School's principle said the shooting stemmed
from a fight the students got into during the weekend. He
said the sophomore walked up to Kiser, shot him and then
handed the gun to a football coach nearby saying "It's
over."
Over the phone, his step-mother said Kiser caused the
shooting. She said he recently flashed a gun at her son and
continuously threatened him. She said her step-son was tired
of being bullied and they had a history of fighting.
Kiser's sister, who didn't want to be identified, said she
thought the shooting was gang related but was shocked.
Both teens have been in
trouble with the law before. Kiser's been arrested for burglary,
misdemeanor assault and promoting gambling. Before being charged
with attempted first degree murder, the accused shooter had one
misdemeanor assault charge.
Now he faces a laundry list of charges.
The sophomore has also been charged with carrying a gun and they
tacked another charge on for carrying it on school property.
Police are trying to find out where he got the gun.
The 17-year-old will face a judge again February 27. That's when
he'll find out if he's being charged as an adult.
Suspect in Ohio School
Shooting Dies
By TERRY
KINNEY – Feb 7, 2008
PORTSMOUTH,
Ohio (AP) — A teacher's husband charged into her
fifth-grade classroom Thursday morning, then stabbed and
shot her as students watched, police said. He was later
found dead in his home after a standoff with police.
THIS IS A
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further
information. AP's earlier story is below.
PORTSMOUTH,
Ohio (AP) — A teacher's husband charged into her
fifth-grade classroom Thursday morning, then stabbed and
shot her as students watched, police said. He fled and
was believed to be holed up in a nearby home.
Emmaly Baker, a
student at Notre Dame Elementary, said she hid in the
clasroom's coatroom when the gunman came in. The teacher
was in critical condition.
"We heard
gunshots, and we heard her yelling. I was scared," she
told WSAZ-TV. "The police officer came and got us and
she was still laying there and she was hurt really bad."
Later in the
day, SWAT teams surrounded a home near the school where
they believe the suspect fled. Neighbors heard shots
fired at the house.
Kim Harris, who
cares for a man who lives next door, said at one point
police fired at the house after gunshots came from
inside the home. Police "told us to get down on the
floor and stay in the back of the house," she said.
Another person
was stabbed in town before the shooting, and authorities
believed it was connected to the teacher's shooting,
Portsmouth police Capt. Rob Ware said. He did not
elaborate.
The shooting
happened around 9 a.m. at the Catholic school on the
main road in Portsmouth, a community in southern Ohio
near the Kentucky border.
Parents, many
with cell phones clutched to their ears, congregated and
began leaving with their children around 10:30 a.m.,
said Kathy Hall, the office manager at the Cornerstone
United Methodist Church across the street from the
school.
"I wasn't
afraid for my own safety, I was afraid for the children,
because these turn out so terrible, you know," said
Hall.
The scene was
chaotic with police cars and few ambulances descending
on the school, and the fire department blocked off the
street.
The school and
another Catholic school nearby were locked down, said
Deacon Tom Berg, vice chancellor of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Columbus. The diocese was sending a crisis
team.
Public schools
also were put on lockdown, said Superintendent Jan
Broughton, who oversees the community's public schools.
SuccessTech Academy
High School Shooting, Police: Gunman Dead, 4
Shot by
Jack Ryan
10-10-07
Success Tech Academy
in East Cleveland, Ohio
Shooting: The
14-year-old gunman that
shot four victims
appears to have shot and
killed himself.
The student, who was
believed to have been
placed under arrest
after he went on a
shooting rampage at the
non-traditional East
Cleveland High School,
is dead after shooting 2
students and 2 adults.
A 14-year-old Success
Tech Academy student
opened fire in the
school, shooting at
least 2 students and 2
adults.
The shooter was
reportedly angry after
being suspended earlier
this week and showed up
at the school today
during eighth period
with two guns, one in
each hand.
The
shootings
took
place
on
the
third
and
fourth
floor
as
the
principal
yelled
"code
blue"
over
the
PA
system.
The
shooter
was
walking
through
the
hallways
while
firing
both
guns.
The
AP
reports
that
police
have
confirmed
the
shooter
is
dead
and
appears
to
have
shot
himself.
The
Success
Tech
Academy
has
been
secured
after
S.W.A.T.
ran
a
room-by-room
sweep.
The
2
students
shot
have
non
life-threatening
injuries
and
the
adults'
conditions
are
slightly
elevated.
According
to
the
Mayor,
2
adults
and
2
students
have
been
shot,
all
male.
The
mayor
has
claimed
a
total
of 5
have
been
injured
-
one
being
a
14-year-old
girl
who
scraped
her
knee
while
trying
to
escape
from
the
school.
She
was
not
shot.
One
student
reportedly
came
running
out
of
the
building
screaming
"Have
I
been
shot?!"
- He
had
two
bullet
wounds
in
his
back.
One
student
was
told
by
the
gunman
he
had
plans
to
open
fire
in
the
school
-
the
student
thought
he
was
"kidding".
The
gunman
said
'I'll
call
you
before
I
shoot',
but
the
fellow
student
never
received
a
phone
call.
~~~~~~
Did Asa Coon leave
a clue about shooting?
NOTE: The
myspace account was a hoax by someone else.
Asa Coon, the Cleveland teenager who
opened fire Wednesday at his downtown
high school, may have posted an ominous
message on a social networking site the
night before the shooting.
"I'm sick and tired of this s---." a
person identifying himself as Asa wrote
Tuesday night on a Myspace page. "People
at school -- me off all the time, the
teachers are all -- . i got suspended
yesterday for fighting with some -- even
though he started s-- with me. f--- all
of them, i hate everyone there. i hate
the school and i hate f--- cleveland."
While it's unclear whether the message
and the related profile page is actually
Asa's, the page features music by rocker
Marilyn Manson, whom Asa idolized. A
brief biography on the page, describes
Asa as slim 14-year-old boy from
Cleveland who is an atheist. Asa, who
was 14-years-old and is known to have
argued with fellow students over
religion, was a chubby teen.
UPDATE: The Asa Coon Myspace page was
not available Wednesday on the
networking site, according to repeated
searches conducted that day, adding to
the uncertainty of the site's author.
More than 170 messages have been linked
to the Asa's Myspace page.
A
A Utah
teenager has
admitted
creating a
fake Asa
Coon Web
page on the
social
networking
site
Myspace.com.
Posing as
the gunman
in
Wednesday's
shooting at
Success Tech
Academy in
Cleveland,
the
19-year-old
creator of
the fake Web
site said in
an email
exchange
with the
Plain
Dealer: "I
don't
generally
give out
personal
information
... I, like
many others
(search for
any famous
person) make
fake
profiles on
MySpace for
the sole
purpose of
giving
people a
place to
vent their
thoughts and
feelings."
Several
national
television
news
organizations
and Web
sites have
quoted from
Coon's page
as real.
Coon killed
himself
after
shooting two
teachers and
two
students.
"I realize I
should put a
disclaimer
of sorts
stating that
this isn't
the Official
Asa H. Coon
MySpace, but
I believe if
I did do
that people
wouldn't
express
their
feelings,"
said the
page creator
who
published
the
information
at
approximately
9:30 pm
Pacific
Standard
Time, 12:30
am here.
"I've been
reading the
comments on
the stories
on the major
Cleveland
News Agency
websites,
and I hear a
lot of
anger. When
people do
believe this
is Asa
Coon's
MySpace, and
they know
that he will
never read
these, the
people are
inclined to
express
their true
thoughts and
feelings, if
that makes
much sense.
The teen,
who lives in
Orem, said
he found a
photo of
"Asa Coon"
after
searching
for "Goth
kid" on
www.photobucket.com,
a site where
people share
photos.
The teen
also claims
credit for
creating a
fake Myspace
profile for
the Virginia
Tech
shooter,
Seung-Hui
Cho.
"I created
that profile
late in the
event
happened,
and
throughout
that week
and weekend
the page
accumulated
over 300,000
page views,
as well as
20,000 blog
comments,"
he says.
"The
Seung-Hui
Cho profile
was removed
from MySpace
after many
people
reported it,
and I expect
this profile
will
disappear in
the next few
days."
UPDATE: The
Asa Coon
page was
removed from
Myspace.com
about 12:30
p.m.
Cleveland
time.
33 DEAD IN SHOOTING RAMPAGE AT VIRGINIA TECH
(updated number)
4-16-07
Agunman opened fire in a
dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing 33 people and
wounding another 21 before he was killed, police said.
The university said in a news release there were multiple victims.
The shootings happened at West Ambler Johnston, a residence hall and
an engineering building, Norris Hall, on opposite sides of the
2,600-acre campus.
"There has been a multiple shooting with multiple victims," the Web
site reported.
Students were asked to stay in their homes away from windows.
"There's just a lot of commotion. It's hard to tell exactly what's
going on," said student Jason Anthony Smith, 19, who lives in the
building where shooting took place.
The initial shooting was reported at West Ambler Johnston Hall,
which houses nearly 900 students.
Officials ordered the campus closed, the second time in less than a
year the 26,000-student campus was shut because of a shooting.
In August 2006, the opening day of classes was canceled and the
campus closed when an escaped jail inmate
allegedly killed a hospital guard off campus and fled to the
Tech area. A sheriff's deputy involved in the manhunt was killed on
a trail just off campus.
The accused gunman, William Morva, faces capital murder charges.
NOTE: The gunman in this case is dead.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Shooting on Virgina Tech Campus
Leaves 33 Dead (updated number)
By Staff
(AXcess News)
Washington - An unknown assailant took the lives of at least
31 students at Blacksburg, Virginia Tech University this
morning at two campus locations. The University said on a
post on its website that police shot and killed one
suspected gunman. Another 21 students were being treated for
gunshot wounds at two locations; Montgomery Regional
Hospital was treating 17 students who'd been shot and
another 4, one in critical condition, were being treated at
Carilion New River Valley Medical Center in Christiansburg.
Virginia
Tech President Charles Steger said during a press conference
shortly after noon. "I cannot begin to convey my own
personal sense of loss over this senseless,
incomprehensible, heinous act."
Reports contradict the
University's earlier post about a gunman having been killed.
Local police say they have one suspect in custody in the
shooting and are searching the Tech school for a possible
second gunman at this time.
The shootings
took place at two locations at Virginia Tech; West Ambler Johnston, sometime
around 7 to 8am and Norris Hall around 10am.
Police are
on the scene and are investigating along with the FBI.
Virginia
Tech has the largest full-time student population in
Virginia, with more than 25,000 students. It consists of
eight colleges and graduate school and offers 60 bachelor's
degree programs and 140 master's and doctoral degree
programs.
The main
campus includes more than 100 buildings located on 2,600
acres, and includes an airport.
JILTED LOVER WITH AN EXPRESSIONLESS LOOK SHOWING NO EMOTION
LIKE THAT OF A MIND CONTROLLED, PROGRAMMED ASSASSIN! / WAS
HE UNDER SOME KIND OF
HYPNOTIC TRANCE?! / JEALOUS LOVER TIFF IN THE DORMITORY ...
THEN THE UNIVERISTY CRAZED KILLER BEGAN HIS DEADLY,
MIND-BOGGLING, BLOODY CAMPUS
SHOOTING RAMPAGE! –
By David Williams, Staff Writer, The Daily Mail, Associated
News Media,
Tuesday, April 17,2007
– FIRING SQUAD: Terrified students lined up
against the wall of their classroom and shot,
execution-style.
– NO WAY OUT: Doors chained shut by the killer to keep his
victims in and police out.
– BODIES EVERYWHERE: Blood-soaked bodies piled on top of
each other.
These were the scenes of almost inconceivable horror at
Virginia Tech University yesterday as a gunman claimed at
least 32 lives before killing himself.
He was said to have quarrelled in a dormitory with his
girlfriend, whom he believed had been seeing another man. A
student adviser was called to sort out the row. But the
killer produced a gun and SHOT DEAD BOTH HIS GIRLFRIEND AND
THE ADVISER.
Two hours later he rampaged through an engineering building
on the other side of the campus in the town of Blacksburg,
killing indiscriminately.
Student Matt Maroney said: "He had an ungodly amount of ammo
on him. He was just dressed in a vest filled with clips and
started firing away at classrooms."
Another witness said of the killer: "He had a smile on his
face but THERE WAS NO EMOTION IN HIS EYES."
Last night, with 15 more victims injured and the death toll
expected to rise further, police and university authorities
faced stark questions about their failure to act during the
crucial two hours and prevent America's worst-ever massacre.
Some students continued their work unaware there was a
killer in their midst, while university authorities merely
sent round an email saying that a shooting was being
investigated. The gunman was said to be of Asian appearance
and dressed in maroon hat, leather jacket and black-military
style shooting vest. (He was from South Korea)
He had ammunition strapped across his chest as he calmly
walked from room to room refilling his two 9 mm handguns as
he shot students. He locked the doors of several classrooms
to stop anyone escaping.
Some terrified students jumped for their lives from the
fourth floor windows, while others used desks to barricade
doors.
Student David Jenkins
said: "I know one person who was in a room when the shooter
came in and everyone was shot. TO ESCAPE this person lay on
the floor and PLAYED DEAD."
Several teachers were among those shot. Student Derek
O'Dell, who was hit in the arm, spoke of his terror as he
faced the killer.
"He came into our room and started shooting," he said.
"He let off a full round of bullets and I was probably one
of ten or 15 people hit. There was no warning. It was just
random shooting. He didn't say anything. He just shot and
left. A lot of my classmates were hit, and possibly my
professor too.
"The people who were less critical like myself were able to
hold the door shut because he tried to get back inside our
room. He tried shooting through the door at us.
"Then the police came into our hall and cleared the hall and
we all managed to get out to where ambulances were waiting
for us."
Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said: "The university
was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental
proportions ... the university is shocked and indeed
horrified."
He said authorities at first believed that the first
shooting at the dorm was a domestic dispute and that the
gunman had fled the campus. He added: "We can only make
decisions based on the information you had on the time. You
don't have hours to reflect on it."
The sprawling 2,600-acre campus of 25,000 students housed in
100 buildings had been closed down twice in the last ten
days after bomb scares. It was unclear whether the bomb
threats were related or whether the gunman had any possible
terror associations.
The first shootings yesterday took place at 7.15 a.m. (12.15
p.m. British time) at the West Ambler Johnston complex, a
coeducational hall of residence which houses 895 students.
Security there is said to have been tight with individual
identity passes used to enter the dormitory complex.
An immediate lockdown was ordered with students told to
remain in their rooms and away from windows as police and
security officials swamped the area. As some students fled
the scene, they were tackled to the ground and handcuffed by
police seeking to stop the killer fleeing in the chaos.
However other students around the campus were allowed to
leave for their 8 a.m. classes. Police said they were still
investigating the shooting at the dormitory when authorities
got word of gunfire at Norris Hall, the engineering
building.
The gunman appeared to pick his victims indiscriminately.
Some, for no apparent reason, he spared. Others he shot from
less than 10ft away. He is then said to have turned one of
his guns on himself despite still having ammunition
available.
Student Jason Piatt said: "I'm pretty outraged that someone
died in a shooting in a dorm at 7 a.m. and the first e-mail
about it had no mention of locking down the campus, no
mention of cancelling classes.
"They just mentioned that they were investigating a
shooting. That's pretty ridiculous. Meanwhile, while they
sent out that email, all these people got killed."
Student Matt Maloney told how terrified students used desks
to barricade themselves in their classrooms as the gunman
walked down the main corridor blasting off shots. He said he
saw several badly wounded students being led away while
others had been injured leaping for their lives from
upstairs windows.
Josh Wargo was one of those who jumped. He said: "I was in
an engineering class. We all of a sudden heard loud banging
noises. We heard screaming through the walls and everyone
started to panic and jumping out of the windows.
"We heard 40 or 50 shots. They went on for almost two
minutes. The window I jumped out of was two or three storeys
up. When I landed I was in a daze, standing outside of the
building. Some of my friends got shot. They told me my
professor was shot in the face."
Tiffany Otey, who was one floor up in the Norris Building,
said that when the gunfire started she and about 20 other
students went to a teacher's office and locked the door.
"The gunshots were going off downstairs and half of our
classmates were downstairs," said Miss Otey.
"We were just sitting there as if the shooter was going to
come up the next floor.
"Maybe ten minutes later we were in the room when police
arrived. They told us to put our hands above our heads and
if we did not put our hands above our heads we will shoot
you. We were running out of the building
freaking out."
The shooting will re-open the often heated debate over gun
controls in the U.S., whose Constitution declares that the
people's right to bear arms must not be infringed.
A sombre President Bush went on TV last night to say:
"Schools should be places of safety, sanctuary and learning.
When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every
American classroom, in every American community.
"We hold the victims in our hearts. We lift them up in our
prayers."
------------------------------------------
FAST FACTS ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH:
School Type: First Tier
National Ranking: #80
Overall Score: 48 out of 100
Peer Assessment: 3.4 out of 5.0
Average Freshman Retenion Rate: 87%
% of Faculty Who Are Full Time: 95%
SAT/ACT Scores: 1110-1290
Freshmen in Top 10% of Their Class: 37%
Acceptance Rate: 72%
Average Alumni Giving Rate: 21%
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Virginia Tech's ENGINEERING SCHOOL is
ranked #18 in the nation ... AND ... it is ranked #35 in
"The TOP 50 PUBLIC NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES"
(U C Berkeley is #1 and UCLA is #4)
SOURCE: 2007 U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT's "AMERICA's BEST
COLLEGES" (pp. 82, 85, 112, 114)
There is more than one thing
going on here. The shooter is said to be a South Korean
citizen. (His parents live in the U.S.)
not just an 'Asian'. (His
name sounds Chinese) Too many people already know that
the Chinese are trying to take over the U.S. First thing
they want to do is make us weak. First thing they did
was to weaken our economy and buy everything out from
under us - make sure their good were cheap so we didn't
have jobs because U.S. companies used 'their employees
instead of ours. Hardly anyone speaks good English if
you have to call for tech support or get called from a
credit card company - Notice that? Then the U.S. will
use this incident - once again to get the guns out of
our hands so we can't defend ourselves. The first thing
we have to do is go out and buy a gun.
Early details
about the
horrific school
shooting at
Virginia Tech
strongly
indicate that
these events
represent a
Columbine-style
black-op that
will be
exploited in the
coming days to
push for mass
gun control and
further turning
our schools into
prisons.
Eyewitness Matt
Kazee told the
Alex Jones Show
that it was a
full two to
three hours
after the
shootings began
that
loudspeakers
installed around
the campus were
used to warn
students to stay
indoors and that
a shooter was on
the loose.
Quite how the
killer was
afforded so much
time before any
action was taken
to stop him is
baffling,
especially
considering the
fact that the
campus,
according to
Kazee, was
crawling with
police before
the event
happened due to
numerous bomb
threats that had
been phoned in
last week.
The shootings
came three days
after a bomb
threat Friday
forced the
cancellation of
classes in three
buildings, WDBJ
in Roanoke
reported. Also,
the
100,000-square-foot
Torgersen Hall
was evacuated
April 2 after
police received
a written bomb
threat, The
Roanoke Times
reported.
CNN
quoted a student
who was outraged
at the delay in
identifying and
stopping the
killer.
"What
happened today
this was
ridiculous. And
I don't know
what happened or
what was going
through this
guy's mind,"
student Jason
Piatt told CNN.
"But I'm pretty
outraged and
I'll say on the
record I'm
pretty outraged
that someone
died in a
shooting in a
dorm at 7
o'clock in the
morning and the
first e-mail
about it — no
mention of
locking down
campus, no
mention of
canceling
classes — they
just mention
that they're
investigating a
shooting two
hours later at
9:22."
He added:
"That's pretty
ridiculous and
meanwhile, while
they're sending
out that e-mail,
22 more people
got killed."
The details that
are beginning to
emerge fill the
criteria that
this could very
well be another
government
black-op that
will be used as
justification
for more gun
control and
turing our
schools into
prisons,
festooned with
armed guards,
surveillance
cameras and
biometric
scanning to gain
entry.
Ironic therefore
it is that
Virginia is a
concealed carry
state and yet
Virginia Tech
campus
recently
enforced a
policy
prohibiting
"unauthorized
possession,
storage or
control" of
firearms on
campus.
According to gun
rights activists
such as Aaron
Zelman of Jews
For The
Preservation of
Firearms, VA
Tech has "blood
on its hands"
for disarming
the victims who
could
potentially have
defended
themselves
against the
killer.
Initial reports
suggested there
were two
shooters, but
the story
quickly changed
to just one
shooter who
later killed
himself (as
happens in
almost all these
cases) or was
shot by police.
Eyewitness
accounts
describe police
hiding behind
trees and
failing to
pursue the
killer, while
ordering the
school to be
placed on
lockdown so
nobody could
escape the
carnage as the
killer picked
off his targets
with seemingly
little
interruption
from the police.
At the moment,
the official
death toll is
30, but could
rise, making
this the
deadliest school
shooting in
history.
If these figures
are accurate,
the casualty
figures surpass
those of the
school shooting
at Columbine in
1999 when Dylan
Klebold and Eric
Harris killed 12
students and a
teacher before
killing
themselves.
It is well
documented that
disturbing
questions remain
over the
incident at
Columbine. It is
clear that
authorities had
prior knowledge
of what was
going to happen.
Observers were
in the area
hours before the
shooting took
place.
Articles from
the Associated
Press
stated that
ballistics from
Columbine show
that six of the
thirteen victims
were possibly
shot and killed
by Jefferson
County SWAT.
In addition, it
was never
properly
explained how
Klebold and
Harris were able
to
transport over
100 bombs
into the school
before the
shootings began.
In the aftermath
of Columbine
there were calls
for vastly
increased gun
control laws,
more than 15
state
legislatures
passed
significant gun
control bills or
dropped
NRA-supported
bills.
In 1996 a
similar incident
occurred in
Dunblane in
Scotland where
sixteen children
and one adult
were killed. The
resulting
inquiry
recommended
tighter control
of handgun
ownership,
public feeling
had turned
against private
gun ownership,
allowing a much
more restrictive
ban on handguns
to pass.
It then emerged
that the killer
Thomas Hamilton
was
heavily involved
in Freemasonry,
as well as
running clubs
for young boys,
a fact which
Labour and Tory
ministers
acknowledged in
correspondence
to each other. A
a
100-year public
secrecy order
was placed on
the documents,
along with the
majority of
other
information
relating to the
case including
the police
report. There
have been
allegations that
the lengthy
closure order
was placed on
the report after
it linked
Hamilton to
figures in the
Scottish
establishment,
including two
senior
politicians and
a lawyer.
In both the
Dunblane and
Columbine cases
the shooters
turned the guns
on themselves
after the
killing spree
was over.
Campus
threats
forced
lock-downs
and
evacuations
at
universities
in Texas,
Oklahoma and
Tennessee
and two
public
schools in
Louisiana on
Tuesday, a
day after a
Virginia
Tech
student's
shooting
rampage
killed 33
people.
In
Louisiana,
parents
picked up
hundreds of
students
from
Bogalusa's
high school
and middle
school amid
reports that
a man had
been
arrested
Tuesday
morning for
threatening
a mass
killing in a
note that
alluded to
the murders
at Virginia
Tech.
Schools
Superintendent
Jerry Payne
said both
schools were
locked down
and police
arrested a
53-year-old
man who
allegedly
made the
threat in a
note he gave
to a student
headed to
the private
Bowling
Green School
in
Franklinton,
in
southwestern
Louisiana.
"The
note
referred to
what
happened at
Virginia
Tech," Payne
said. "It
said
something
like, 'If
you think
that was
bad, then
you haven't
seen
anything
yet."
In Austin,
authorities
evacuated
buildings at
St. Edward's
University
after a
threatening
note was
found, a
school
official
said.
Police
secured the
campus
perimeter
and were
searching
the
buildings,
St. Edward's
University
spokeswoman
Mischelle
Amador said.
She declined
to say where
the note was
found and
said its
contents
were
"nonspecific."
The
two other
scares were
determined
to be
unfounded.
At the
University
of Tennessee
at
Chattanooga,
officials
ordered
three campus
administration
buildings
evacuated
for almost
two hours
Tuesday
morning in
response to
a telephone
bomb threat.
The city's
bomb squad
searched the
buildings
but found
nothing,
campus
spokesman
Chuck
Cantrell
said.
Cantrell
said there
was no
reason to
believe the
bogus threat
was related
to the
shootings at
Virginia
Tech, but
"we just
chose to err
on the side
of caution
today."
The
other, at
the
University
of Oklahoma,
had started
with a
report of a
man spotted
on campus
carrying a
suspicious
object,
officials
said.
The man was
carrying an
umbrella,
not a
weapon, and
he later
identified
himself to
authorities,
University
of Oklahoma
President
David Boren
said in a
statement.
Boren
initially
had said the
person was
believed to
carrying a
yoga mat.
"We now
consider the
matter
closed,"
Boren said.
"We always
want to err
on the side
of caution
in a
situation
like this."
At
St. Edward's
in Austin,
students who
live on
campus were
being
allowed to
return to
their
dormitories
as police
finished
searching
each
building,
Amador said.
Faculty,
staff and
all other
students
were asked
to stay away
from the
campus, and
morning and
afternoon
classes were
canceled.
About 5,200
students are
enrolled at
the Catholic
university
south of
downtown
Austin.
Amador said
the
university's
reaction was
not
influenced
by Monday's
attack at
Virginia
Tech.
"No matter
what day or
when this
would have
happened, we
will always
take the
necessary
precautions
to protect
our
students,
our faculty,
our staff,
the entire
university
community,"
she said.
Parents
Demand
Firing
of
Virginia
Tech
President,
Police
Chief
Over
Poor
Handling
of Mass
Shooting
Monday
,
April
16,
2007
Parents
of a
Virginia
Tech
student
expressed
outrage
Monday
at
what
they
call
an
inadequate
response
by
college
brass
to
the
worst
mass-murder
shooting
in
American
history.
John
and
Jennifer
Shourds
of
Lovettsville,
Va.
demanded
the
immediate
firings
of
University
President
Charles
Steger
and
Virginia
Tech
Campus
Police
Chief
W.R.
Flinchum
who
he
said
"screwed
up"
the
handling
of
separate
shooting
incidents
that
left
33
students
dead,
including
the
shooter.
“My
God,
if
someone
shoots
somebody
there
should
be
an
immediate
lockdown
of
the
campus,”
said
John
Shourds.
“They
totally
blew
it.
The
president
blew
it,
campus
police
blew
it.”
The
Shourds
said
they
received
a
phone
call
from
their
daughter,
Alexandra,
a
freshman
at
the
college
in
Blacksburg,
who
was
unsure
of
how
to
handle
a
vague
university
e-mail
received
around
9:20
a.m.
regarding
the
first
shooting
incident
that
happened
at
the
West
Ambler
Johnston
Hall
around
7:15
a.m.
Later,
it
was
learned
that
a
lone
gunman
entered
that
hall,
two
buildings
away
from
Alexandra’s
dorm,
and
opened
fire,
killing
two
people.
Shourds
said
the
e-mail
left
no
detailed
information
of
how
the
students
should
proceed
and
didn’t
call
for
a
campus
lockdown.
There
were
no
public
safety
announcements
or
warnings
before
the
second
shooting
at
Norris
Hall
that
killed
30
people.
John
Shourd
said
he
told
his
daughter
to
stay
put
and
avoid
her
10
a.m.
class
until
the
university
sent
more
information.
At
about
9:50
a.m.,
Alexandra
Shourds
told
her
father
a
subsequent
e-mail
was
sent
to
students
instructed
them
to
stay
put
and
not
go
anywhere.
An
e-mail
announcing
the
cancellation
of
classes
for
the
day
didn’t
come
until
10:16
a.m.,
said
John
Shourds.
He
said
many
lives
could
have
been
saved
had
the
school
locked
down
the
campus
immediately
after
the
first
shooting.
“A
lockdown
may
have
not
have
stopped
the
killing
but
it
could
have
lessened
the
tragedy,”
said
Shourds.
At a
press
conference,
Steger
said
authorities
believed
that
the
shooting
at
the
dorm
was
a
domestic
dispute
and
mistakenly
thought
the
gunman
had
fled
the
campus
and
defended
the
university’s
handling
of
the
tragedy.
"We
had
no
reason
to
suspect
any
other
incident
was
going
to
occur,"
Steger
said.
"We
can
only
make
decisions
based
on
the
information
you
had
on
the
time.
You
don't
have
hours
to
reflect
on
it."
Shourds
said
he
believes
the
school
delayed
the
call
to
lock
down
the
school
because
there
was
only
approximately
two
weeks
left
until
the
end
of
the
semester.
John
Shourds
was
at
Washington,
D.C.’s
Dulles
airport
dropping
another
daughter
off
for
her
flight
back
to
college
at
Michigan
State
University
when
he
got
the
first
call
from
Alexandra.
Since
that
call,
Shourds
said
he
and
his
family
have
felt
anger,
fear
and
indignation
over
the
day’s
events.
The
Shourds
have
been
trying
to
contact
their
daughter
as
much
as
possible
and
John
Shourds
said
they
would
have
been
on
their
way
to
see
Alexandra
had
they
had
any
success
in
booking
hotels
in
the
Blacksburg
area.
He
said
no
apology
or
excuse
will
meet
his
satisfaction
without
the
ouster
of
the
university’s
top
officials.
He
wasn’t
pleased
with
the
Steger’s
comments
after
the
incident,
either.
“I
hold
this
president
completely
accountable,”
said
Shourds.
“They
are
cowards.
They
can’t
come
out
and
say
they
made
a
mistake.”
Shourds
said
he
is
second-guessing
his
decision
to
push
his
daughter
towards
Virginia
Tech,
where
several
of
his
nieces
and
nephews
have
attended.
Many
of
those
relatives
have
called
to
offer
support
to
the
family
and
Shourds
said
many
are
equally
displeased
with
the
university’s
initial
response.
He
said
he
initially
expected
the
university
to
respond
as
it
did
to
an
incident
last
August,
during
Alexandra’s
first
day
of
class,
where
the
campus
was
locked
down
due
to a
manhunt
over
an
escaped
inmate
who
allegedly
killed
a
hospital
guard
and
a
sheriff’s
deputy.
His
daughter
told
him
she
received
an
e-mail
warning
while
in
class
of a
lockdown
of
all
academic
buildings
that
day.
Each
Virginia
Tech
student
carries
a
laptop.
“There
are
also
loudspeaker
systems
attached
to
poles
along
the
campus,”
said
Shourds.
“The
warning
system
worked.”
However,
John
Shourds
said
he
had
doubts
about
the
effectiveness
of
Virginia
Tech’s
campus
police
from
the
start.
He
called
the
force,
“an
Andy
Griffith
and
Barney
Fife”
operation.
"They
are
really
small
police
force
for
20,000
students
and
they
are
not
the
best
and
the
brightest,”
said
Shourds.
He
said
he’s
leaning
towards
keeping
his
daughter
at
the
school
after
this
semester
due
to
positive
feedback
about
the
school’s
academic
program
and
a
learning
abroad
trip
to
Spain
this
summer.
He
said
he
trusts
the
school
will
do
the
right
thing
in
his
opinion
and
fire
Steger
and
Flinchum
immediately.
Seung-Hui Cho, 23-Year-Old
Shooter, Wrote 'Disturbing' Note and Violent Plays
By NED POTTER,
DAVID SCHOETZ, RICHARD ESPOSITO, PIERRE THOMAS
and the staff of ABC News
April 17, 2007
—
Seung-Hui Cho, the student who killed 32 people
and then himself yesterday, left a long and
"disturbing" note in his dorm room at Virginia
Tech, say law enforcement sources.
He also
wrote at least two violent plays for an English
course that worried his professor and several
classmates.
Sources described
the note, which runs several pages, as beginning
in the present tense and then shifting to the
past. It contains rhetoric explaining Cho's
actions and says, "You caused me to do this,"
the sources told ABC News.
Sources say
Cho, 23, killed two people in a dorm room,
returned to his own dorm room where he re-armed
and left the note, then went to a classroom
building on the other side of campus. There, he
killed 30 more people in four classrooms before
shooting himself in the head.
Witnesses say he
was stone-faced as he opened fire.
Law-enforcement sources say he may have had a
romantic interest in a young woman who was found
dead after the first shootings.
Violent Plays
Lucinda
Roy, a co-director of the creative writing
program at Virginia Tech, taught Cho in a poetry
class in fall of 2005 and later worked with him
one-on-one after she became concerned about his
behavior and themes in his writings.
Roy spoke
outside her home Tuesday afternoon, saying that
there was nothing explicit in Cho's writings,
but that threats were there under the surface.
Roy told
ABC News that Cho seemed "extraordinarily
lonely—the loneliest person I have ever met in
my life." She said he wore sunglasses indoors,
with a cap pulled low over his eyes. He
whispered, took 20 seconds to answer questions,
and took cellphone pictures of her in class. Roy
said she was concerned for her safety when she
met with him.
She said
she notified authorities about Cho, but said she
was told that there would be too many legal
hurdles to intervene. She said she asked him to
go to counseling, but he never did.
One play
attributed to him, called "Richard McBeef,"
describes a 13-year-old boy who accuses his
stepfather of pedophilia, and ends with the
boy's death.
In another,
called "Mr. Brownstone," three high-school
students face an abusive teacher.
"I wanna
kill him," says one character.
"I wanna
watch him bleed like the way he made us kids
bleed," says another.
The two plays were posted on AOL
after a staffer named Ian
MacFarlane, a December 2006 graduate
of Virginia Tech, brought them to
his editors' attention.
MacFarlane said he was in a class
with Cho in which students were
required to post their plays online
for peer review and comment.
AOL
editors verified the authenticity of
Cho's works before posting them,
according to Alysia Lew of AOL
Corporate Communications.
At a
late-afternoon news conference,
police said they had searched Cho's
dorm room. "There were considerable
writings that were reviewed," said
Col. Steven Flaherty, Superintendent
of the Virginia State Police.
A
'Troubled' Young Man
Some
news accounts have suggested that
Cho had a history of antidepressant
use, but senior federal officials
tell ABC News that they can find no
record of such medication in the
government's files. This does not
completely rule out prescription
drug use, including samples from a
physician, drugs obtained through
illegal Internet sources, or a gap
in the federal database, but the
sources say theirs is a reasonably
complete search.
Cho,
born in South Korea, was a legal
resident alien of the United States.
He was a senior at Virginia Tech,
majoring in English.
Sources tell ABC News Cho bought his
first gun, a Glock 9 millimeter
handgun, on March 13; they say he
bought his second, a Walther .22
caliber pistol, within the last
week. The serial numbers on both
guns had been filed off, they said.
Authorities found the receipt for
the 9 millimeter handgun in Cho's
backpack. They say the bag also
contained two knives and additional
ammunition for the two guns.
Legal
permanent resident aliens may
purchase firearms in the state of
Virginia. A resident alien must,
however, provide additional
identification to prove he or she is
a resident of the state.
Sections of chain similar to those
used to lock the main doors at
Norris Hall, the site of the second
shooting that left 31 dead, were
also found inside a Virginia Tech
dormitory, sources confirmed to ABC
News.
President Bush and the first lady
addressed the Virginia Tech
community at a convocation Tuesday
afternoon.
"Yesterday began like any other day.
Students woke up and they grabbed
their backpacks and they headed for
class," Bush said. "And soon the day
took a dark turn, with students and
faculty barricading themselves in
classrooms and dormitories."
"For
many of you here today, it was the
worst day in your lives," Bush said.
Positive
Fingerprint Match
Cho's
identity has been confirmed by
matching fingerprints on his guns
with his immigration records.
"Lab
results confirm that one of the two
weapons seized in Norris Hall was
used in both shootings," Virginia
Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum
said at a press conference Tuesday
morning.
Cho,
according to law enforcement
officials, had entered the country
through Detroit with his family in
1992, at the age of eight. He last
renewed his green card in 2003. As
of yesterday, his home address was
listed as Centreville, Va., and the
university reported he was living in
a campus dormitory, Harper Hall.
Cho's
parents live in a townhouse
development in Centreville, a suburb
of Washington. They own a
dry-cleaning shop nearby.
His
older sister, Sun-Kyung, graduated
from Princeton University in 2004. A
source, who asked to be identified
as a senior Administration official,
said she works for McNeil
Technologies, a firm contracted by
the State Department to manage
reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
Police searched the family home last
night. On Tuesday, no one was
answering their door.
One
neighbor, Marshall Main, describes
Cho's parents as quiet and polite.
Neither Main nor another neighbor
recalled seeing the son in recent
years.
Cho
graduated from Westfield High
School, a Fairfax County public
school, in 2003. The school system
says two of the dead yesterday at
Virginia Tech had graduated from
Westfield in 2006; they would have
been freshmen when Cho was a senior.
Two-Hour
Gap Between Shootings
Police say Cho killed two people in
West Ambler Johnston Hall, a
dormitory near his own, shortly
after 7:00 a.m. Monday. Then, two
hours later, he opened fire in
Norris Hall, a classroom building
across campus.
Reporters continued to ask today why
administrators did not cancel
classes after the first shooting,
and why it took more than two hours
to inform the university community
via e-mail about the first incident.
The first e-mail notifying students
of the dorm shooting was not sent by
the school until 9:24 a.m — by which
time the second shooting was already
over.
According to President Charles
Steger, the administration locked
down West Ambler Johnston Hall
dormitory after the first shooting.
But he said classes weren't canceled
because the shooting was believed to
be tied to a domestic dispute and
campus police believed the shooter
had left the campus.
"The second shooting, no one
predicted that was also going to
happen that morning," Steger said.
"So if you're talking about locking
it down, what is it you're going to
lock down? It's like closing a city.
It doesn't happen simultaneously."
By
Monday night, investigators had
ruled out the possibility of a
murder-suicide in the first
dormitory shooting. Ryan "Stack"
Clark, a member of the school's
marching band, the Marching
Virginians, and a student resident
assistant, was killed there by a
shot in the neck. His next-door
neighbor, freshman Emily Hilscher,
was also found dead.
At
Norris Hall, the gunman left a trail
of bloodshed, which Flinchum, the
Virginia Tech police chief, called
"one of the worst things I've seen
in my life."
Cho
apparently shot himself in the head
after the killings; part of his face
was missing when his body was found.
Questions
About Earlier Bomb Threats
Police documents today showed
authorities suspected Cho may have
been the source of two bomb threats
last week targeting Virginia Tech
engineering buildings.
The
first of the two threats was
directed at Torgersen Hall, a
classroom and laboratory building,
while the second was directed at
multiple engineering buildings.
Students and staff were evacuated,
and the university sent out e-mails
across campus, offering a $5,000
reward for information about the
threats.
Virginia Tech — formally known as
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University — is located in the
western end of the state near the
borders of West Virginia and
Tennessee. It has more than 25,000
full-time students. Its campus,
which spreads over 2,600 acres, has
more than 100 buildings.
The
number of dead is almost twice as
high as the previous record for a
mass shooting on an American college
campus. That took place at the
University of Texas at Austin on
Aug. 1, 1966, when a gunman named
Charles Whitman opened fire from the
28th floor of a campus tower.
Whitman killed 16 and injured 31.
ABC News' Amy Thomas
and Jason Ryan contributed to this
report.
Virginia Tech University
shooting revives
nightmares of Port
Arthur
17Apr07
Today's Virginia Tech
University shooting has
revived horrid memories
here in Australia.
Nearly 11 years ago to
the day, the world
witnessed what remains
the worst ever mass
shooting when 35
tourists were killed in
Tasmania. JULIE MCNAMARA
reflects on that
horrible day.
APRIL 28, 1996.
Disbelief, horror and
anger echoed through
Australia and the world
as news 35 people had
been killed by a gunman
at Port Arthur.
Chances are you remember
what you were doing when
you heard about the
massacre and it's likely
that your mind flashed
back to it as news of
the horrific Virginia
shooting rampage
emerged.
Tasmanian loner Martin
Bryant was sentenced to
life without parole over
the shootings which also
left 21 people injured.
Virginia Tech University
shooting revives
nightmares of Port
Arthur
17Apr07
Today's Virginia Tech
University shooting has
revived horrid memories
here in Australia.
Nearly 11 years ago to
the day, the world
witnessed what remains
the worst ever mass
shooting when 35
tourists were killed in
Tasmania. JULIE MCNAMARA
reflects on that
horrible day.
APRIL 28, 1996.
Disbelief, horror and
anger echoed through
Australia and the world
as news 35 people had
been killed by a gunman
at Port Arthur.
Chances are you
remember what you were
doing when you heard
about the massacre and
it's likely that your
mind flashed back to it
as news of the horrific
Virginia shooting
rampage emerged.
Tasmanian loner
Martin Bryant was
sentenced to life
without parole over the
shootings which also
left 21 people injured.
Popular and loving
Geelong nurse Elva
Gaylard, 48, was among
his victims.
A long-serving employee
at Geelong Hospital, Ms
Gaylard had been on an
eight-day tour of
Tasmania when she was
killed at Port Arthur.
Ms Gaylard had lived
with her elderly
parents, Alick and
Joyce, in Hamlyn Heights
before her death.
After her death her
mother, Mrs Gaylard,
recalled how her
daughter would spend
hours at home cutting
out tiny pictures to
make special cards,
trimmed with ribbon, to
hang on the end of
newborn babies' beds in
the obstetrics unit
where she worked.
Geelong West grandmother
Margaret Hoskin had been
part of the same tour
group that Ms Gaylard
was with and the pair
had struck up a firm
friendship.
Mrs Hoskin narrowly
escaped death during the
massacre - she had been
in the toilet when
Bryant was in the middle
of his rampage but her
new friend was not so
fortunate.
Lara couple Bev and
Peter Kelly were in the
Broad Arrow Cafe when
Bryant opened fire and
later recalled the
terror they felt hiding
in the nearby gift shop
as they listened to
rapid gunshots. The
couple had been visiting
Tasmania to celebrate
their 10th wedding
anniversary.
A year after the
tragedy, Mrs Kelly told
the Geelong Advertiser
that she would no longer
sit with her back to the
door in a restaurant and
always checked for
escape routes. She said
she found herself
checking for exits or
hiding places for
herself and her two
small children when she
was in supermarkets.
The massacre resulted in
a major overhaul of the
nation's gun laws.
Immediately after the
tragedy Prime Minister
John Howard said he was
determined that large
numbers of mass
destruction would be
taken out of circulation
and that Australia would
be a safer place. He
said a stand had to be
taken so Australia did
not go down the path of
the USA with its gun
culture.
Within two weeks he had
called a meeting between
the federal and state
governments at which the
National Agreement on
Gun Control Law Helped Campus Killer Yet disarmament lobby and establishment media exploit tragedy to disarm more potential victims
In January 2002, a student at the Virginia Appalachian School of Law, Peter Odighizuwa, shot three people dead before other students were able to retrieve guns from their cars and put an end to the carnage before there was more bloodshed. Over thirty victims at VA Tech yesterday were denied that right as a result of a campus gun control law that helped the shooter pick off his targets at will.
A bill in the Virginia legislature last year that would have allowed students with concealed weapons permits to carry their guns at schools was killed, with VA Tech spokesman Larry Hincker heralding the move as action that would "help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus." How hollow those words sound now in light of eyewitness reports of how victims had to cower under desks as the killer calmly approached, their only means of defense throwing chairs or risking their lives by escaping out of high-rise windows.
"Isn't it interesting that Utah and Oregon are the only two states that allows faculty to carry guns on campus. And isn't it interesting that you haven't read about any school or university shootings in Utah or Oregon? Why not? Because criminals don't like having their victims shoot back at them," Gun Owners of America's Larry Pratt said yesterday. "That's why the American people want an end to this ineffective gun ban."
85% of Americans support the right of a principle or a teacher to have instant access to a safely stored firearm in order to defend the lives of students and prevent a school massacre, but a drive is already underway to disarm more victims and grease the skids for more horrors similar to what unfolded yesterday.
The talking points have already been disseminated and the disarmament lobby and the establishment media is doing it's best to exploit yesterday's tragedy to push for gun control.
AFP led the way , writing that "Buying a handgun or rifle is relatively easy in Virginia," before any details of where the killer acquired his weapons have even been released.
The Los Angeles Times lauded the fact that the NRA are still silent on the massacre, claiming that "Supporters of gun rights generally kept their heads down," which is completely untrue. Everyone besides the NRA immediately went on the offensive , pointing out the fact that campus gun control policies directly disarmed the victims. The NRA at its apex is a co-opted organization, and routinely backs down when key gun control debates arise.
Gun Owners of America , the only major no compromise 2nd Amendment group in America, issued a press release in which its President Larry Pratt stated,"All the school shootings that have ended abruptly in the last ten years were stopped because a law-abiding citizen -- a potential victim -- had a gun."
"The latest school shooting demands an immediate end to the gun-free zone law which leaves the nation's schools at the mercy of madmen. It is irresponsibly dangerous to tell citizens that they may not have guns at schools. The Virginia Tech shooting shows that killers have no concern about a gun ban when murder is in their hearts."
Questions linger about the massacre itself, with furious students blaming a delayed, incompetent and cowardly response from police for the over two hour gap between the first and second shootings before they were warned.
The identity of the killer has not yet been released, (Cho Seung Hui) but quite what motivated a man whose girlfriend cheated on him to slaughter over thirty other innocent people is very suspicious. Rumors that two shooters were involved have still not been ruled out. Students of numerology will be all too aware of the connotations attached to the fact that there were 33 victims in all. The massacre occurred three days short of the anniversaries of Waco and Ruby Ridge and four days short of the 1999 Columbine shootings.
~~~~~~
April 18, 2007, 5:03PM
Va. Tech gunman sent material to NBC
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Between his first and second bursts of gunfire, the Virginia Tech gunman mailed a package to NBC News containing what authorities said were images of him brandishing weapons and a video of him delivering a diatribe about getting even with rich people.
"This may be a very new, critical component of this investigation. We're in the process right now of attempting to analyze and evaluate its worth," said Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of Virginia State Police. He gave no details on the material.
NBC said that a time stamp on the package indicated the material was mailed in the two-hour window between the first burst of gunfire in a high-rise dormitory and the second fusillade, at a classroom building. Thirty-three people died in the rampage, including the gunman, 23-year-old student Cho Seung-Hui, who committed suicide.
The package included digital images of him holding weapons and a manifesto that "rants against rich people and warns that he wants to get even," according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the case.
MSNBC said the package included a CD-ROM on which Cho read his manifesto.
"NBC Nightly News" planned to show some of the material Wednesday night, MSNBC reported.
NBC said it promptly turned the package over to authorities on Wednesday.
If the package was indeed mailed between the first attack and the second, that would help explain where Cho was and what he did during that two-hour window.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, authorities disclosed that more than a year before the massacre, Cho was accused of stalking two women and was taken to a psychiatric hospital on a magistrate's orders because of fears he might be suicidal. He was later released with orders to undergo outpatient treatment.
The disclosure added to the rapidly growing list of warning signs that appeared well before the student opened fire. Among other things, Cho's twisted, violence-filled writings and sullen, vacant-eyed demeanor had disturbed professors and students so much that he was removed from one English class and was repeatedly urged to get counseling.
In November and December 2005, two women complained to campus police that they had received calls and computer messages from Cho, but they considered the messages "annoying," not threatening, and neither pressed charges, Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said.
Neither woman was among the victims in the massacre, police said.
Around the same time, one of Cho's professors informally shared some concerns about the young man's writings, but no official report was filed, Flinchum said.
After the second stalking complaint, the university obtained a temporary detention order and took Cho away because an acquaintance reported he might be suicidal, authorities said. Police did not identify the acquaintance.
On Dec. 13, 2005, a magistrate ordered Cho to undergo an evaluation at Carilion St. Albans, a private psychiatric hospital. The magistrate signed the order after an initial evaluation found probable cause that Cho was a danger to himself or others as a result of mental illness.
The next day, according to court records, doctors at Carilion conducted further examination and a special justice, Paul M. Barnett, approved outpatient treatment.
A medical examination conducted Dec. 14 found that that Cho's "affect is flat. ... He denies suicidal ideations. He does not acknowledge symptoms of a thought disorder. His insight and judgment are normal."
The court papers indicate that Barnett checked a form that Cho "presents an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness." Barnett did not check the box that would indicate a danger to others. He ordered Cho to comply with all recommended treatments on an outpatient basis.
It is unclear how long Cho stayed at Carilion, though court papers indicate he was free to leave as of Dec. 14. Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said Cho had been continually enrolled at Tech and never took a leave of absence.
A spokesman for Carilion St. Albans would not comment.
Though the stalking incidents did not result in criminal charges, police referred Cho to the university's disciplinary system, Flinchum said. But Ed Spencer, assistant vice president of student affairs, would not comment on any disciplinary proceedings, saying federal law protects students' medical privacy even after death.
Some parents complained that more had not been done after the first shootings. Still, two days after the shooting spree, many students resisted pointing fingers.
"Who would've woken up in the morning and said, 'Maybe this student who's just troubled is really going to do something this horrific?'" said Elizabeth Hart, a communications major and a spokeswoman for the student government.
Jen Meadows, the student president of Sexual Assault and Dating Violence Education by Students, said at first she was "very, very mad at the administration."
But the more she learned about Cho, the more convinced she became that there was no way the killings could have been prevented. "People who are this mentally ill, there's not much more anyone could do with someone who's going to snap," she said.
Police searched Cho's dorm room and recovered, among other items, two computers, books, notebooks, a digital camera, and a chain and combination lock, according to documents. The front doors of Norris Hall, the classroom building where most of the victims died, had been chained shut from the inside during the rampage.
Fourteen people remained hospitalized Wednesday.
Lucinda Roy, professor of English at Virginia Tech, said that she, too, relayed her concerns to campus police and various other college units after Cho displayed antisocial behavior in her class and handed in disturbing writing assignments.
But she said authorities "hit a wall" in terms of what they could do "with a student on campus unless he'd made a very overt threat to himself or others."
Cho resisted her repeated suggestion that he undergo counseling, Roy said. "I wish I could have lifted him up bodily and taken him. I would have done it if I could," she said.
One of the first Virginia Tech officials to recognize Cho's problems was award-winning poet Nikki Giovanni, who kicked him out of her introduction to creative writing class in late 2005.
Students in Giovanni's class had told their professor that Cho was taking photographs of their legs and knees under the desks with his cell phone. Female students refused to come to class. She said she considered him "mean" and "a bully."
Questions lingered over whether campus police should have issued an immediate campus-wide warning of a killer on the loose and locked down the campus after the first burst of gunfire.
Police said that after the first shooting, in which two students were killed, they believed that it was a domestic dispute, and that the gunman had fled the campus. Police went looking for a young man, Karl David Thornhill, who had once shot guns at a firing range with the roommate of one of the victims. But police said Thornhill is no longer under suspicion.
Colleges and universities are considering a host of new security measures in the aftermath of the massacre, including outdoor warning systems, text message alerts and cameras that detect suspicious activity.
"Would a blast e-mail have been the most effective tool in notifying people of Monday's events?" asked John Holden, a spokesman for DePaul University in Chicago. "Some of the coverage I'm seeing suggests that old-fashioned emergency alarms or broadcast announcements would probably have been more effective."
___
Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed, Vicki Smith, Sue Lindsey and Justin Pope in Blacksburg, Va., Matt Barakat in Richmond, Va., and Colleen Long and Tom Hays in New York contributed to this report.
The
17-year-old
girl was
taken from
H.H. Dow
High School
to a
hospital,
Midland
Police Chief
James St.
Louis said
at an
afternoon
news
conference.
Her
condition
was not
immediately
released.
St. Louis
said the
shooter was
a
17-year-old
from Coleman
and was not
a student at
the school.
The boy had
called her
at home that
morning, St.
Louis said.
After a
conversation
in the
parking lot,
he pulled a
gun out of a
backpack and
shot her
four times
before
turning the
gun on
himself.
The school
was locked
down after
the gunfire,
said Linda
Cline,
finance
director for
the Midland
Public
Schools. She
said the
shooting
appeared to
be an
isolated
incident.
10-2-06
Gunman
Opens
Fire in
Amish
Schoolhouse
Police Say
at Least 3
Girls and
Shooter Dead
By MARK
SCOLFORO, AP
NICKEL
MINES, Pa.
(Oct. 2,
2006) -
A
32-year-old
milk truck
driver took
about a
dozen girls
hostage in a
one-room
Amish
schoolhouse
Monday,
barricaded
the doors
with boards
and killed
at least
three girls
and
apparently
himself,
authorities
said.
It was the
nation's
third deadly
school
shooting in
less than a
week, and
similar to
an attack
just days
earlier at a
school in
Colorado.
The gunman,
identified
as Charles
Carl Roberts
IV, was
inside for
over half an
hour and had
barred the
doors with
2x4s with
the girls
inside,
State Police
Commissioner
Jeffrey B.
Miller said.
By the time
officers
broke
windows to
get in,
three girls
and the
gunman were
dead, Miller
said. Seven
others were
taken to
hospitals,
three in
critical
condition.
"It appears
that when he
began
shooting
these
victims, the
victims were
shot
execution
style in the
head,"
Miller said.
Roberts had
walked into
the one-room
West Nickel
Mines Amish
School with
a shotgun
and handgun,
then
released
about 15
boys, a
pregnant
woman and
three other
women with
infants
before
barring the
doors with
the girls
inside,
Miller said.
The girls
were lined
up along a
blackboard,
Miller said.
"He had wire
ties with
him and flex
ties, and he
began to tie
the girls'
feet
together,"
Miller said.
A teacher
was able to
call police
around 10:30
a.m. and
reported
that a
gunman was
holding
students
hostage.
About 11
a.m.,
Roberts
apparently
called his
wife from a
cell phone,
saying he
was "acting
out in
revenge for
something
that
happened 20
years ago,"
Miller said.
"It seems as
though he
wanted to
attack
young,
female
victims."
Moments
later,
Roberts told
a dispatcher
he would
open fire on
the children
if police
didn't back
away from
the
building.
Troopers
heard
gunfire in
the building
seconds
later.
The school
has about 25
to 30
students in
all, ages 6
to 13.
"It seems as
though he
wanted to
attack
young,
female
victims,"
Miller said.
He released
no further
details
about that
what the
grudge
Roberts
mentioned
could have
involved.
Lancaster
County
Coroner G.
Gary
Kirchner
initially
said six
people were
killed, but
later said
he wasn't
certain
about that
number.
At least
seven people
were taken
to
hospitals,
including at
least three
girls, ages
6-12, who
were
admitted to
Lancaster
General
Hospital in
critical
condition
with gunshot
wounds,
spokesman
John Lines
said.
The small
school,
surrounded
by a white
board fence,
sits among
farmlands
just outside
Nickel
Mines, a
tiny village
about 55
miles west
of
Philadelphia.
Hours after
the attack,
about three
dozen people
in
traditional
Amish
clothing,
broad-brimmed
hats and
bonnets
stood near
the small
schoolhouse
as
investigators
walked in a
line through
fields
searching
for
evidence.
The
shootings
were
disturbingly
similar to
an attack
last week at
Platte
Canyon High
School in
Bailey,
Colo., where
a man took
several
girls
hostage in a
school
classroom
and then
killed one
of them and
himself.
Authorities
said the man
sexually
molested the
girls.
"If this is
some kind of
a copycat,
it's
horrible and
of concern
to
everybody,
all law
enforcement,"
said Monte
Gore,
undersheriff
of Park
County,
Colo.
"On behalf
of Park
County and
our citizens
and our
sheriff's
office, our
hearts go
out to that
school and
the
community,"
he said.
Nationwide,
the 1999
Columbine
High School
massacre in
Littleton,
Colo.,
remains the
deadliest
school
shooting,
claiming the
lives of 15
people,
including
the two
teenage
gunmen. On
Friday, a
school
principal
was gunned
down in
Cazenovia,
Wis. A
15-year-old
student,
described as
upset over a
reprimand,
was charged
with murder
in the
killing.
AP-ES-10-02-06
1535EDT
Copyright
2006 The
Associated
Press.
Teen accused
in school
shooting
used to pick
on others.
9-29-06
Eric
Hainstock,
15, is
charged as
an adult
with murder
for
allegedly
walking into
Weston
Schools near
Cazenovia,
Wis., and
killing
principal
John Klang
Friday.
CAZENOVIA,
Wis. (AP) —
After Eric
Hainstock
was arrested
for
allegedly
shooting his
high school
principal,
investigators
say the
15-year-old
told them he
just wanted
someone to
listen to
his cthat he
last saw
Hainstock at
the end of
his
eighth-hour
social
studies
class
Thursday.
That’s when
Klang came
to talk to
Hainstock.
“I always
thought he
got along
with Mr.
Klang. If
Eric had
trouble,
they would
talk, and
things would
get better,”
he said.
Nowak said
Hainstock
was
initially
placed in
the special
education
program
because he
was thought
to have a
learning
disability.
“Later it
became an
emotional
and
behavioral
situation,”
Nowak said.
Nowak said
that about
two weeks
ago the
student
swore at him
and threw a
stapler at
him.
“He said
something to
me and
scared me,”
Nowak said.
“I backed
out of the
room and got
out of there
and ran. The
stapler flew
past my head
and hit the
wall. He had
the stapler
open — it
cracked the
cement.”
Police were
called, and
they
released
Hainstock to
his father,
Nowak said.
Former
teacher
speaks about
Eric
Hainstock's
troubled
childhood
Updated:
1:52 PM Oct
2, 2006
There's more
information
tonight
about what
possibly led
up to this
murder.
A person who
knows Eric
Hainstock
sat down
with NBC 15
to tell us
about the
teen's
troubled
childhood.
Because of
the
sensitivity
of this
issue, she
did not want
to be
identified.
She has had
frequent
contact with
Hainstock in
the past.
She
described
Hainstock as
an outsider.
Saying kids
often picked
on him
calling him
a
homosexual.
She also
described
Hainstock as
a poor kid,
who was
often dirty.
Hainstock
does have a
long history
of in school
suspensions.
She says
there have
been
incidents
were he has
not only
attacked
students but
also
teachers.
The woman
says, "He
could be a
very sweet
and giving
kid, but
when he got
angry he was
a scary
child to be
around, he
had that
sort of look
where you
just want to
back up. To
some extent,
I think the
system did
fail him
because of
the way that
he acted out
I think he
was sort of
crying out
for more
help."
According to
Sauk County
authorities
Hainstock
will be
tried as an
adult he is
charged with
first degree
intentional
homicide and
will appear
in court on
Monday.
Gunman Kills
Hostage,
Self in
Standoff
Colorado
Authorities
Say Gunman
Kills
Hostage,
Himself as
SWAT Team
Moves in on
High School
By CHASE SQUIRES
BAILEY, Colo. Sep 28, 2006 (AP)— A gunman took six girls hostage at the high school in this mountain town Wednesday, using them as human shields for hours before he shot and fatally wounded a girl and then killed himself as a SWAT team moved in, authorities said.
The confrontation at Platte Canyon High School unfolded just a short drive away from Columbine, the site of one of the nation's deadliest school shootings. The gunman, believed to be between 30 and 50 years old, was cornered with the girls in a second-floor classroom, and he released four of them, one by one.
Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said authorities decided to enter the school to save the two remaining hostages after the man cut off negotiations and set a deadline. He said authorities used explosives as they entered the classroom, only to have the suspect fire at officers, shoot one of the girls and then himself.
The man was not immediately identified one official declared him a virtual John Doe and the sheriff was at a loss to explain a motive.
"I don't know why he wanted to do this," Wegener said, his voice breaking.
The wounded girl identified by acquaintances and a co-worker as 16-year-old Emily Keyes was taken to a Denver hospital in critical condition, but was declared dead, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The last hostage was unharmed and spoke with authorities. School was canceled for the rest of the week.
"We are a community in mourning," schools superintendent Jim Walpole said. "Our thoughts, our prayers are with our students, staff and their families. Especially the family of the student we lost."
Keyes was a member of the volleyball and debate teams and was getting involved with cheerleading, said senior Desaray Trujillo, 17, who had known her since the second grade. Keyes also worked as a waitress at a restaurant in town.
"I'm feeling a lot of things right now, I'm feeling rage, I'm mourning," said her boss, Chip Thomas. "The senselessness of it all, is where the rage comes from. She was a good kid, she'll be missed."
After the suspect entered the building, hundreds of students were evacuated. The sight of students fleeing the high school in long lines, and of frantic parents scrambling to find their children, evoked memories of the 1999 attack on Columbine High School, where two students killed 13 people before committing suicide.
Students said the bearded suspect wore a dark blue hooded sweat shirt and a camouflage backpack. The sheriff said the man claimed to have a bomb in the backpack and threatened to set it off. The man was also toting a handgun.
Tom Grigg said his 16-year-old son, Cassidy, was in a classroom when the man walked in, fired a gun and began telling some students to leave and others all girls to stay.
"He stood them up at the blackboard," Grigg said. "He hand-picked the ones he wanted to get out."
The gunman told Cassidy to leave, but he said he wanted to stay with the girls, Grigg said.
"The guy flipped him around and put the gun in his face and said, 'It would be in your best interest to leave,'" Grigg said.
Students described a chaotic scene inside after the intercom announced "code white" and everyone was told to stay in their classrooms.
The high school and a nearby middle school were soon evacuated. Jefferson County authorities who also handled the attack at Columbine sent a bomb squad and SWAT team to the high school.
"I'm just terrified. I'm terrified," said Sherry Husen, whose son plays on the high school football team and was told not to return to school from his part-time job. "I know so many kids in that school."
Students from the high school and a nearby middle school were taken to another school for a head count. Ambulances were parked in the end zone of the high school's football field, and a tank-like SWAT team vehicle was parked nearby on a closed highway.
Parents pressed authorities for details but had little information on their children.
Bill Twyford said he received a text message from his 15-year-old son, Billy, a student at the high school, at about 11:30 a.m. It said: "Hey there, there's a gun hijacking in school right now. I'm fine, bad situation though."
Michael Owens, who has one son at the middle school and another in the high school, said the anxiety was worse because of the memory of Columbine.
"Things that are out of your control," he said. "It's like an earthquake."
Tom Mauser, whose son Daniel was among the students slain at Columbine, said: "Any adult who holds kids hostage is reprehensible."
The schools are in a narrow, winding canyon carved by the South Platte River about 35 miles southwest of Denver. They have an enrollment of about 770 students, with 460 in the high school.
Husen's family moved to Bailey from suburban Denver about 14 years ago.
"We moved up here for the mountain solitude, and I just never thought this would happen in this school, but it happens everywhere," she said.
Associated Press writers Pat Graham, Don Mitchell, Jon Sarche, Catherine Tsai, Judith Kohler, Robert Weller and photographer David Zalubowski contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Tennessee
Student
Shoots
Principal,
Two
Others
In
School
Lunchroom
11.08.2005
5:20 PM
EST
A
Jacksboro,
Tennessee,
high
school
student
allegedly
shot and
killed
an
assistant
principal
and
seriously
wounded
his
principal
and
another
administrator
on
Tuesday
before
being
taken
into
custody.
A
15-year-old
freshman
was
arrested
in the death
of
Campbell
County
Comprehensive
High
School
Assistant
Principal
Ken
Bruce
and is
also
accused
of
shooting
Assistant
Principal
Jim
Pierce,
who is
in
critical
condition,
and
Principal
Gary
Seals,
who has
been
updated
to
stable,
according
to the
Campbell
County
Sheriff's
Department.
Seals
was
apparently
shot as
he
attempted
to stop
the
teen,
who was
said to
be using
a small
handgun.
Sheriff
Ron
McClellan
said he
is so
far
unaware
of a
motive.
No
students
were
injured
in the
lunchroom
melee,
which
occurred
sometime
between
2:30 and
3 p.m.
The
school
was
immediately
placed
under
lockdown,
although
students
were
allowed
to leave
a few
hours
later.
Pierce
and
Seals
were
airlifted
to
University
of
Tennessee
Medical
Center.
Bruce
was
taken to
St.
Mary's
Medical
Center
in
LaFollette,
as was
the
suspected
shooter,
who was
treated
for a
minor
injury.
The
student
has
since
been
detained
in a
juvenile
detention
center.
About
1,400
students
attend
Campbell
County
High
School,
located
about 30
miles
northwest
of
Knoxville.
That was
the
deadliest
school
shooting
in the
United
States
since
18-year-old
Eric
Harris
and
17-year-old
Dylan
Klebold
killed
12
students
and a
teacher
before
turning
their
guns on
themselves
at
Columbine
High
School
in
Littleton,
Colorado,
on April
20, 1999
(see
"Columbine
Shooters'
Parents
Fight
Release
Of
Homemade
Videos").
If you
ever see
a
student
carrying
a weapon
or hear
talk of
plans
for
violence,
you can
anonymously
call
(866)
SPEAK-UP
toll
free and
the tip
will be
forwarded
to the
proper
local
authorities.
[This
story
was
originally
published
on
11.08.05
at 3:54
p.m. ET]
— Corey
Moss
Students
Shot
Dead in
Classroom
( Death
toll now
up to
10)
Students
and a
teacher
at the
scene,
Diane
Schwanz,
said the
shooter
tried to
break
down a
door to
get into
a room
where
some
students
were.
''I just
got on
the
floor
and
called
the
cops,''
Schwanz
told the
Pioneer.
''I was
still
just
half-believing
it.''
Hegstrom
said
students
pleaded
with the
gunman
to stop
shooting.
''You
could
hear a
girl
saying,
'No,
Jeff,
quit,
quit.
Leave me
alone.
What are
you
doing?''
Hegstrom
said,
using
the name
of the
suspected
shooter.
Ashley
Morrison,
another
student,
took
refuge
in a
classroom.
With the
shooter
banging
on the
door,
she
dialed
her
mother
on her
cell
phone.
Her
mother,
Wendy
Morrison,
said she
could
hear
gunshots
on the
line.
'''Mom,
he's
trying
to get
in here
and I'm
scared,'''
Ashley
Morrison
told her
mother.
Schwanz
was the
teacher
in that
room.
She
said,
''I just
got down
on the
floor
and
(said),
'Kids,
down on
the
ground,
under
the
benches!'''
She said
she
called
police
on her
cell
phone.
All of
the dead
students
were
found in
one
room.
One of
them was
a boy
believed
to be
the
shooter,
McCabe
said. He
would
not
comment
on
reports
that the
boy shot
himself
and said
it was
too
early to
speculate
on a
motive.
Fourteen
to 15
other
students
were
injured,
including
two
critically,
McCabe
said.
The
school
was
evacuated
after
the
shootings
and
locked
down for
investigation,
McCabe
said.
''It
will
probably
take us
throughout
the
night to
really
put the
whole
picture
together,''
he said.
It was
the
nation's
worst
school
shooting
since
two
students
at
Columbine
High
School
in
Littleton,
Colo.,
killed
12
students
and a
teacher
and
wounded
23
before
killing
themselves
on April
20,
1999.
The last
apparent
fatal
school
shootings
involving
a
student
also
happened
in
Minnesota
in
September
2003,
when two
students
were
killed
at
Rocori
High
School
in Cold
Spring.
Classmate
John
Jason
McLaughlin,
who was
15 at
the time
of the
shooting,
awaits
trial in
the
case.
That
shooting
was the
first
major
incident
reported
since
2001.
Red Lake
High
School,
on the
Red Lake
Indian
Reservation,
has
about
300
students,
according
to its
Web
site.
The
reservation
is about
240
miles
north of
the Twin
Cities.
It is
home to
the Red
Lake
Band of
Chippewa
Indians.
AP-NY-03-21-05
21:10
EST
Copyright
2005 The
Associated
Press.
Brooklyn
teen sneaks
gun into
school,
shoots self
BY JEROME
BURDI AND
DARYL KHAN
March 21,
2005,
A
Brooklyn
high
school
student
who
snuck a
.45-caliber
gun into
English
class
Monday
accidentally
shot
himself
in the
leg,
police
sources
said.
The
14-year-old
boy was
passing
the gun
in a
bookbag
when the
gun
discharged,
striking
him in
the left
calf,
sources
said.
He was
taken to
Lutheran
Medical
Center,
where he
was
listed
in
stable
condition.
No else
was
injured.
The
incident
surprised
the
boy's
classmates,
who
described
him as a
quiet
and
unremarkable
student.
They
said he
never
engaged
in any
bravado
or
bragged
about
having a
gun in
the
couple
of weeks
they've
known
him.
He
passed
the gun
to his
friend
just
before
noon in
his
English
class
filled
with
about 30
students
when the
shot
rang
out,
students
said.
"First,
there
was a
loud
shot,"
said
Armel
James,
14.
"Then
the kid
was
leaning
over and
blood
squirting
out of
his
leg."
One of
the
teen's
friends,
Danny
Rhames,
17,
grabbed
the gun
and
tried to
hide it.
Soon
after,
Rhames
was
arrested
with the
gun on
him,
police
said.
Both he
and the
teen,
whose
name was
not
immediately
released,
were
charged
with
criminal
possession
of a
weapon,
the
student
who shot
himself
as a
juvenile.
The teen
and
Rhames
are
students
at Jim
Thorpe
High
School,
but they
participate
in New
Utrecht's
Inclusion
Program,
designed
to
include
special
education
students
in
general
education
settings,
the
Department
of
Education
said.
The teen
and
Rhames
started
at New
Utrecht
about
two
weeks
ago.
Guidance
counselors
met with
students
yesterday
and
would be
available
again
today, a
department
spokesman
said.
New
Utrecht
does not
have
metal
detectors.
Officials
are
going to
review
security
and
assign
guards
this
morning.
This is
the
first
shooting
ever at
the
school,
a
department
spokesman
said.
Nevertheless,
the
shooting
prompted
concern
from
some
parents.
Yvette
James,
Armel's
mother,
said she
pulled
her son
from
another
public
school
in
Canarsie
that
uses
metal
detectors
because
she was
worried
about
violence.
She
drives
her son
to
school
every
day to
ensure
his
safety.
"Now I
have to
worry
about
him
sitting
in the
classroom,"
she
said. "I
took him
away
from
another
school
with
metal
detectors;
maybe I
should
send him
back."
Greg
Morris,
18, a
senior,
disagreed.
"It's an
isolated
incident,"
he said.
"They
try so
hard to
make
this
school
be so
good,
and then
something
like
this
happens
and
ruins
it."
Jerome
Burdi is
a
freelance
writer.
Daryl
Khan is
a staff
writer.
Boy, 17,
charged in
fatal
shooting at
Carrick High
Beltzhoover
teen faces
charges;
others
sought
Saturday,
March 19,
2005
By Nicole
Fuller and
Cindi Lash,
Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
A
17-year-old
boy was
charged
yesterday
afternoon in
the drive-by
slaying of a
Carrick High
School
student this
week.
John
Heller,
Post-Gazette Carrick
High
School
shooting
suspect
Derwin
Milligan
is
led
out
of
the
North
Side
police
precinct
yesterday. Click
photo
for
larger
image.
Derwin
Milligan of
Climax
Street,
Beltzhoover,
was taken
into custody
at about
4:15 p.m.
for
questioning
and arrested
at police
headquarters
a short time
later.
Milligan
was charged
with
homicide in
the shooting
death of
Keith Watts,
16, of
Knoxville,
on Wednesday
afternoon as
he sat in a
car outside
the high
school.
Additional
charges are
pending.
Police
declined to
say whether
Milligan, an
11th-grader
at Langley
High School,
fired the
fatal shots.
They also
wouldn't say
if he was
cooperating
with
authorities.
Watts, a
ninth-grader
at Carrick,
and two
others were
seated in a
Geo Tracker
parked on
Westmont
Street when
a green
Hyundai
Sonata with
at least two
people
inside
pulled
alongside.
Ensuing
gunfire
killed Watts
and wounded
passengers
Alfred
Grimmitt,
17, a junior
at Carrick,
and
sophomore
Raymont
Dillard, 16.
A
handcuffed
Milligan was
escorted out
of police
headquarters
about 7:15
p.m. He
covered his
face with
his sweat
shirt and
declined to
comment to
reporters.
Police
said they
were looking
for at least
one other
person who
was in the
car with
Milligan
during the
shooting.
They
released few
details
about the
investigation,
declining to
elaborate on
what led
them to
Milligan,
whom they
called "a
prime
suspect
early on in
the
investigation."
But they
acknowledged
that they
had received
a number of
tips that
proved
fruitful.
Police
were
conducting
their second
interview
with
Milligan at
the time of
his arrest.
They had
interviewed
him
previously
on Thursday.
The
AK-47-style
assault
weapon that
authorities
said was
used in the
crime has
yet to be
recovered. A
police dog
from the
U.S. Bureau
of Alcohol,
Tobacco,
Firearms and
Explosives
in
Philadelphia
was called
in to help
search for
the weapon.
Meanwhile,
police said
they have
stepped up
patrols
around the
high school.
"I think
people will
be a little
more
confident
knowing that
we have
someone in
custody,"
said
Pittsburgh
Police Chief
Robert W.
McNeilly Jr.
"I'd really
like to get
that gun off
the street."
Visitation
for Watts
will be from
2 to 7 p.m.
tomorrow at
Samuel J.
Jones
Funeral
Home, Wylie
Avenue, Hill
District.
The funeral
service will
be at 1 p.m.
Monday at
Macedonia
Baptist
Church,
Bedford
Avenue, Hill
District.
Earlier
yesterday,
concerns
about
security at
Pittsburgh
public
schools drew
law
enforcement
officials,
parents and
activists to
Carrick
High.
Members
of a
community
group
shuttled
between the
sidewalk and
the nearby
home of a
school board
member,
waving signs
and
demanding an
end to
school
violence.
Inside
the school,
Allegheny
County
District
Attorney
Stephen A.
Zappala Jr.
and First
Assistant
District
Attorney
Edward J.
Borkowski
met with
police,
school and
municipal
officials
and District
Judge
Richard
King. Their
purpose,
Zappala
said, was to
share
information
about
Wednesday's
shooting and
to assess
long-term
safety
issues at
Carrick and
in other
schools.
"We had a
horrendous
crime here.
We know the
larger issue
is that
[students]
may be
afraid to go
to school,"
he said
after the
midday
meeting. "I
want parents
to know
their
children
will be safe
at school."
Investigators
have
speculated
that the
shooting
stemmed from
a longtime
feud between
groups of
young people
from
Beltzhoover
and St.
Clair
Village.
Watts lived
in neither
neighborhood,
but police
said he was
perceived as
being from
St. Clair
Village
because he
socialized
with friends
who live
there.
Police
yesterday
continued to
expend "a
lot of
man-hours
and
resources"
on the
investigation
and on
patrols
aimed at
preventing
retaliatory
attacks,
said police
Cmdr.
Maurita
Bryant, who
also
attended the
school
meeting.
On
Thursday,
Bryant said
investigators
were
receiving
little
cooperation
from people
with
knowledge
about the
shooting. A
day later,
she said
police were
heartened by
an upswing
in helpful
calls from
anonymous
tipsters.
"I do
thank the
community
for that,"
she said.
"Things look
better than
they were. I
think there
is some
pressure
from parents
on their
kids
[because]
they know
the
potential
for
life-threatening
violence."
Zappala
said
yesterday's
meeting also
dealt with
the conflict
between
Beltzhoover
and St.
Clair
Village as
well as
security and
discipline
matters that
must be
addressed to
ensure safe
schools over
the long
haul.
He said
he'll
attempt to
head off
potential
violence by
streamlining
communication
between
schools,
city and
school
police, and
his office.
To do
that, he
said, he
will ask
county
Common Pleas
President
Judge Joseph
M. James to
appoint one
district
judge to
handle all
juvenile
arrests.
Zappala
said he also
will appoint
at least two
juvenile
prosecutors
in his
office to
handle those
cases,
review them
for signs of
brewing
problems and
alert him
when
necessary.
The
meeting
convened
just as
protesters
were leaving
the school
after
walking
there from
an earlier
rally at the
nearby home
of school
board Vice
President
Jean Fink.
There, they
demanded
that she
take steps
to end
school
violence.
Terria
Washington,
34, took her
son to the
protest
rather than
sending the
10th-grader
to classes
at Carrick,
where he'd
been a
friend of
Watts.
"They
knew this
boy was in
trouble.
They should
have done
something
about it,"
she said,
referring to
a previous
failed
attempt to
ambush Watts
outside his
home Feb. 9.
The
Association
of Community
Organizations
for Reform
Now planned
the surprise
visit to
draw
attention to
Fink's
unwillingness
to attend
the group's
school board
forum set
for April 2.
Fink stood
on her lawn
for several
minutes
fielding a
barrage of
questions
from about
25 people.
Fink said
she could
not attend
the forum
because of a
prior
commitment.
She called
the shooting
"a horrible
tragedy."
One
protester
asked Fink
why she had
not visited
the family
of the boy
who was
killed three
blocks away.
"As
someone who
has dealt
with
personal
tragedy, I
don't want
to be
intrusive,"
she said.
March 18,
2005
A
15-year-old
teen was
arrested in
connection
with a
shooting at
a high
school that
left one
student
wounded in
the leg,
police said
on Friday.
The
unidentified
youth was
booked with
aggravated
battery and
with
shooting a
gun in a
school zone,
police said.
The shooting
took place
on Thursday
at O. Perry
Walker High
School.
Police
reported
that they
recovered
the weapon
used in the
shooting and
that more
arrests
could be
made.
Police said
the shooting
resulted
from an
ongoing
dispute
among
students.
Officials
said a
16-year-old
student who
was an
innocent
bystander
was taken to
Charity
Hospital was
struck in
the thigh.
Several
students
said that,
before the
shooting,
they saw two
groups of
students
from
different
neighborhoods
come
together in
the hallway,
looking as
though they
were about
to have a
fight.
One wounded, three questioned in New Orleans school shooting
Mar. 18, 2005
By BRETT MARTEL
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW
ORLEANS
-
A
teenager
was
shot
in
the
leg
Thursday
in a
high
school
hallway
and
three
juveniles
were
being
questioned
as
possible
suspects.
The
16-year-old
student
was
taken
to
Charity
Hospital
with
a
thigh
wound
that
was
not
life-threatening,
hospital
spokeswoman
Diane
Angelico
said.
She
said
the
victim's
mother
had
asked
that
no
other
information
be
released.
No
other
injuries
were
reported.
Police
Chief
Eddie
Compass
said
the
shooting
at
O.
Perry
Walker
High
School
stemmed
from
an
ongoing
dispute
among
students.
But
he
said
the
16-year-old
victim
appeared
to
be
an
innocent
bystander
who
was
not
involved
in
the
dispute.
Several
students
said
that,
before
the
shooting,
they
saw
two
groups
of
students
from
different
neighborhoods
come
together
in
the
hallway,
looking
as
though
they
were
about
to
have
a
fight.
It
appeared
briefly
that
the
group
was
breaking
up
and
heading
for
classes.
But
then
several
who
lingered
in
the
hallway
continued
to
taunt
one
another,
according
to
Jennifer
Williams,
a
student.
She
said
she
saw
the
gun
and
pulled
her
friend
away
from
the
line
of
fire.
"The
boy
was
standing
there
and
the
boy
was
like:
'Say
boy,
take
out
that
thing,
show
them
what
you
about,'...
then
as
soon
as I
pulled
my
friend,
they
started
shooting,"
Williams
said.
Although
a
number
of
students
were
aware
of
an
impending
fight,
few
expected
to
hear
gunfire,
even
after
a
girl
yelled
a
warning
about
a
gun,
said
10th-grader
Ali
Sabla.
"We
heard
her
say,
'He's
got
a
gun'
and
everybody
was,
like,
joking.
Then
all
of a
sudden
we
heard
the
shot,"
Sabla
said.
"When
we
heard
the
gunshots,
everybody
stayed
quiet,"
said
Carlos
Garica,
another
10th-grader.
"And
then
me
and
the
teacher
told
everyone
to
get
down.
We
were
all
very
nervous."
No
weapon
was
immediately
recovered.
The
school
has
metal
detectors,
which
appeared
to
have
been
working,
at
main
entrances
which
students
must
use,
Orleans
Parish
Schools
Superintendent
Anthony
Amato
said.
Amato
said
officials
are
looking
into
whether
the
gun
was
brought
in
when
a
group
of
students
returned
from
a
field
trip
in
the
afternoon.
He
noted
that
the
students
who
went
on
the
field
trip
were
not
required
to
wear
their
normal
school
uniforms.
"When
they
came
off
the
buses
from
the
field
trip
there
was
a
lot
of
mingling
in
terms
of
the
students
coming
in,"
Amato
said.
"From
that
point,
when
the
kids
came
back
in,
the
perpetrator
may
have
slipped
in
with
them
because
the
kids
weren't
wearing
uniforms."
The
school,
which
serves
about
1,400
students
from
grades
7-12,
was
put
in
lockdown
immediately
after
the
shooting.
Then
students
were
released,
class
by
class,
as
worried
parents
gathered
at
the
campus.
It
was
the
latest
incident
of
gun
violence
that
has
periodically
plagued
New
Orleans
schools
in
the
last
few
years:
•
Last
November,
a
security
guard
shot
a
16-year-old
student
in
the
foot
at a
New
Orleans
high
school.
The
guard
told
police
she
smelled
marijuana
when
she
saw
the
student
standing
alone
under
a
tree,
that
the
student
became
aggressive
and
appeared
to
be
reaching
under
his
shirt
for
a
gun.
Police
said
at
the
time
no
drugs
or
weapon
was
found.
•
In
April
2003,
Jonathan
Williams,
15,
died
from
gunshot
wounds
when
gunmen
entered
the
gym
at
John
McDonogh
Senior
High
School
with
an
assault
rifle
and
a
pistol.
Police
said
Williams
was
a
suspect
in
an
earlier
death
and
the
shooting
was
apparently
retaliatory.
Nine
people
were
arrested.
•
On
Sept.
26,
2000,
two
students
were
wounded
at
Carter
Woodson
Middle
School.
Witnesses
said
a
13-year-old
shot
a
15-year-old,
who
grabbed
the
gun
and
shot
back.
Amato
said
O.
Perry
Walker
would
be
open
for
classes
and
previously
scheduled
standardized
testing
today,
with
three
times
the
normal
number
of
security
officers
on
site.
"In
terms
of
security
there's
never
enough,
but
more
important
is
to
keep
your
ear
to
the
ground
to
make
sure
we're
monitoring
the
intelligence
of
the
school,"
Amato
said.
"We
were
monitoring
that
very
closely.
We
really
felt
that
things
had
calmed
down."
Article
Published:
Friday,
March
18,
2005
Suspected
gang
member
arrested
in
school
shooting
By
Associated
Press
Maarch
18,
2005
LOS
ANGELES
(AP)
-
Police
arrested
the
alleged
gunman
Friday
in a
shooting
outside
a
South
Los
Angeles
high
school
that
left
a
15-year-old
student
clinging
to
life.
Police
said
Dejuan
Hines,
18,
a
suspected
gang
member,
was
taken
into
custody
about
3
a.m.
at
the
home
of a
relative
in
South
Los
Angeles.
Two
guns
were
recovered,
but
it
wasn't
clear
whether
either
weapon
was
involved
in
the
shooting.
Hines,
a
former
student
at
the
school,
was
booked
for
investigation
of
attempted
murder.
Deliesh
Allen
was
shot
once
in
the
head
Thursday
afternoon
about
50
steps
from
the
entrance
of
Locke
High
School.
She
was
in
"extremely
critical
condition"
at
Harbor-UCLA
Medical
Center,
Officer
Kathy
Simpson
said.
"She
was
basically
leaving
school,
waiting
to
be
picked
up
by
her
aunt,"
Assistant
Chief
Jim
McDonnell
said.
It
was
"a
senseless
shooting
of a
15-year-old
girl
who
was
trying
to
go
home."
Mayor
James
Hahn,
who
announced
the
arrest,
said,
"An
incident
like
this
shatters
us
all."
Police
said
Allen
was
hit
in a
spray
of
gunfire
shortly
after
she
left
school
around
3
p.m.
The
gunman
fled.
Police
said
they
were
led
to
the
suspect
by
tips,
but
did
not
elaborate.
Authorities
provided
no
motive
for
the
shooting,
which
was
initially
believed
to
be
gang-related.
"She
is
completely
innocent,"
said
Detective
Sal
LaBarbera,
referring
to
the
victim.
"She
was
just
leaving
school."
Tuesday
22.03.2005,
CET 04:06
March 16,
2005 4:45 AM
California
teens
arrested
in
school
shooting
plot
LOS
ANGELES
(Reuters)
- Two
teens
have
been
charged
with
plotting
to kill
teachers
and
students
at their
Catholic
high
school
in a
scenario
reminiscent
of the
1999
Columbine
massacre,
officials
say.
Investigators
said the
boys,
aged 15
and 16,
had
shopped
for
shotguns
and
prepared
a map
with
places
to plant
bombs at
St. John
Bosco
High
School
in
Bellflower,
20 miles
south of
Los
Angeles.
But one
of the
youths
apparently
got cold
feet and
confided
in a
counsellor
at the
school,
who
alerted
authorities.
The
boys,
whose
names
were
being
withheld,
were
arrested
last
week and
have
pleaded
innocent.
The
situation
only
came to
light
this
week.
The
suspects
were in
custody
and due
to
appear
in court
again on
March
24.
Police
did not
say
whether
they had
found
any
weapons,
and
school
principal
Patrick
Lee said
no bombs
or guns
had been
uncovered
on
campus.
"Because
of the
day and
age that
we live
in ... I
felt it
was
appropriate
that
even if
it
turned
out to
be
nothing,
which it
still
may turn
out to
be, then
at least
I turned
it over
to the
proper
authorities,"
Lee told
reporters
on
Tuesday.
The date
of the
alleged
plot was
set for
April 22
-- two
days
after
the
anniversary
of the
April
20,
1999,
Columbine
High
School
shootings
in
suburban
Denver
in which
two
students
killed
13
people
before
turning
their
guns on
themselves.
It was
the
deadliest
school
shooting
in U.S.
history.
Reuters
Middle-school
shooting
victim dies
3-16-05
By Kory
Dodd, Staff
Writer News &
Record
REIDSVILLE
-- Ask his
friends and
family and
they'll tell
you that
everybody
loved
LeCharleston
"LC"
Broadnax.
"He had a
smile you
couldn't
forget,"
said Yvette
Gilliam, his
mother.
But his
bright smile
dimmed Feb.
15, when the
16-year-old
Reidsville
Middle
School
student was
shot while
he stood on
the corner
of Prince
and Jumper
streets in
Reidsville
about 4:35
p.m.
Broadnax
died Sunday
in the
intensive
care unit at
Moses Cone
Memorial
Hospital in
Greensboro.
His
mother spent
every day of
the past
weeks at his
side,
reading him
his favorite
biblical
passage --
Psalm 91.
Though
medication
and
equipment
prevented
him from
speaking,
his mother
believes he
heard every
word.
Reidsville
police
believe the
shooting may
be connected
to a surge
of violence
among
several
ganglike
groups that
deal drugs
in the
western
section of
the city.
Sitting
in her
kitchen with
a picture of
her son
beside her
on Tuesday
afternoon,
Gilliam said
her son
didn't have
drugs and
wasn't
taking them
at the time
of the
shooting.
She
admonishes
people who
say
otherwise
while his
family is
grieving.
She said
Broadnax
would often
kiss and hug
her, and
loved to
make her
laugh by
deftly
imitating
other
people.
He
worshipped
his older
brother,
Dexter
Scales, who
along with
their
uncles,
taught the
teenager to
play
football.
Broadnax
had been a
linebacker
in the
Reidsville
Parks and
Recreation
Department's
football
program.
When he
played, "the
kids would
run from
him,"
Gilliam
said.
"They'd
actually get
out of his
way when he
came down
the field."
He played
on
Reidsville
Middle
School's
football
team in 2003
and was
planning to
try out for
the team
later this
year, his
mother said.
"He was
friendly, he
was quiet
and he was
really
personable,"
said Louise
Uziel,
principal of
Reidsville
Middle
School.
Uziel said
Broadnax's
teachers all
spoke well
of him and
the students
remembered
his love of
racing
four-wheelers.
His
mother said
it began
when
Broadnax was
7 and he got
his first
go-cart. He
upgraded to
a dirtbike
when he was
8, before
finally
settling on
four-wheeler
racing when
he was about
12, she
said.
Broadnax
raced at
Rolling
Hills Cycle
Park in
Reidsville
for three
years.
He
couldn't
race last
year but
wanted to
start again
this year in
the
pro-class,
Gilliam
said.
Reidsville
police Capt.
Guilio
Dattero said
detectives
were still
interviewing
witnesses
but would
soon be
taking their
findings to
the district
attorney's
office.
On Feb.
16, Lawrence
"Lee-Lee"
Hayes, and
his brother,
Bro L.
Hayes, were
arrested in
connection
with the
shooting and
charged with
assault with
a deadly
weapon with
intent to
kill,
inflicting
serious
injury.
Dattero
said the
district
attorney
will decide
whether to
upgrade
their
charges once
she reviews
the
investigation's
findings.
Lawrence
Hayes is
being held
at the
Rockingham
County Jail
on a
$300,000
bond; his
brother is
being held
in lieu of a
$200,000
bond.
Washington
(AP) - A
student
accused of
fatally
shooting a
classmate in
a Southeast
Washington
school
pleaded
guilty
Thursday to
voluntary
manslaughter.
In December,
Thomas J.
Boykin, 19,
was
acquitted of
first and
second
degree
murder
charges. But
jurors were
unable reach
a verdict on
a
manslaughter
charge, so
Boykin was
facing a
retrial next
month.
Instead,
Boykin -
dressed in
an orange
prison
jumpsuit -
stood before
a District
of Columbia
Superior
Court judge
and admitted
opening fire
in a Ballou
High School
hallway on
Feb. 2,
2004. The
shots killed
James
Richardson,
17, a
football
star at the
school.
Boykin
claimed
Richardson
was bullying
him. During
last year's
trial,
Boykin took
the stand in
his own
defense,
testifying
he thought
Richardson
was reaching
for a gun or
knife.
Boykin told
the court he
accidentally
shot himself
while
pulling out
his gun,
which caused
him to
panic.
Prosecutors
said Boykin
brought a
pistol to
school and
got into a
fight with
Richardson -
shooting him
as he tried
to flee once
the gun was
pulled.
Another
student was
shot in the
leg.
"My son
feared for
his life,
and he
didn't mean
to hurt
anybody,"
the
suspect's
mother,
Pearl
Boykin, said
outside
court.
Richardson's
family left
without
commenting.
During the
trial, the
jury
convicted
Boykin on a
weapons
charge.
Sentencing
was
scheduled
for June 16,
when
prosecutors
said he
faces a
possible 65
years in
prison.
U.S.
Attorney
Kenneth L.
Wainstein
said the
guilty plea
reflected
the
determination
of his
office and
of police
"to ensure
that those
who commit
violence in
our schools
are held
accountable."
Two
17-year-old
Selma High
School
students
have been
charged with
capital
murder in
the weekend
shooting
death of a
Selma man.
The
teenagers'
names were
not released
because they
are
juveniles
and a grand
jury will
review the
case, police
said Monday.
They are
being held
without bond
in the
Dallas
County Jail.
Selma police
said Charles
Edward
Brown, 20,
was found in
a vehicle
near the
Highway 80
bypass with
an apparent
gunshot
wound to the
head about
3:30 a.m.
Sunday.
Brown was
transported
to a local
hospital,
where he was
pronounced
dead. The
two
juveniles
were
arrested by
Officer
Edward
Merrell a
short time
later.
Merrell went
to the areae
after
hearing
gunshots.
According to
a police
department
press
release,
Merrell saw
a vehicle
leave the
bypass in a
"reckless
manner" and
running a
stop sign.
He stopped
the car with
the two
youths
inside.
Dispatchers
reported a
shooting
victim in
the area
soon after.
Merrell
detained the
suspects and
a pistol was
recovered
from the car
later.
"He was
doing his
job and was
in the right
place at the
right time,"
Public
Relations
Officer Lt.
David Evans
said.
While the
two are to
be charged
with capital
murder, they
would not be
subject to
the death
penalty if
convicted
because of
their age.
The Supreme
Court
recently
ruled
against the
execution of
defendants
under the
age of 18.
2
Hospitalized
After School
Standoff In
California
Student Took
Administrator
Hostage; Wounds
Not Considered
Life-Threatening
October 1,
2003
SACRAMENTO,
Calif. -- A
teenager and a
school
administrator
are hospitalized
with gunshot
wounds after a
hostage
situation at a
high school in
Sacramento.
Police say
the wounded
teen,
19-year-old
Mario Rodriguez,
was armed with a
12-gauge shotgun
and took the
administrator
hostage while
also holding a
replica handgun.
They say both
were wounded
after officers
confronted the
youth.
Officials say
neither injury
is
life-threatening.
Rodriguez is in
critical but
stable
condition.
Authorities
say police shot
him in the
shoulder, ending
the siege. If
they hadn't,
police say, it
could have
turned into a
much more
serious
incident.
Officials don't
know yet if
Rodriguez was a
student at the
school.
Police found
the teen
struggling with
the
administrator
over the
shotgun. The
administrator is
being treated
for a leg
injury, but
police say it's
not clear if he
was shot by the
suspect or by
police, or if he
injured his leg
in the struggle.
There are
about 280
students at the
alternative high
school for
students who are
falling behind
in their
credits.
Elk Grove
Unified School
District
superintendent
Dave Gordon said
that despite the
incident, the
school is safe.
"We averted a
tragedy here
today," Gordon
said. "But we
will continue to
stand firm in
working with the
sheriff. And I
think their
presence here,
the sheriff and
the chief, is a
great indication
of how serious
we are about
protecting our
kids."
Copyright
2003 by
TheKSBWChannel.com.
The Associated
Press
contributed to
this article.
Posted on
Tue, Sep. 30,
2003
Two men
charged with
attempted murder
in LA school
shooting
Associated
Press
LOS ANGELES -
Two men were
charged Monday
with attempted
murder in a
drive-by
shooting outside
Taft High School
that left three
teenagers
injured, the
district
attorney's
office said.
Terry Boyd
Taylor, 20, and
Kristopher
Govea, 20, both
face counts of
attempted
premeditated
murder with gun
and gang
allegations and
aggravated
mayhem with
great bodily
injury
allegations.
Arraignment
for the two was
postponed to
Oct. 7 at the
defense's
request, said
Jane Robison, a
spokeswoman for
the district
attorney's
office. The men,
who face life in
prison if
convicted, were
being held on $2
million bail.
Jeffery
Trinell Young,
21, also was
arrested last
week for
investigation of
attempted
murder. No
charges have
been filed
against him.
Police
alleged that
Taylor was the
gunman, Young
was a passenger
and Govea was
driving the 2000
Mitsubishi
Galant that
pulled up to a
crowded bus stop
near the
Woodland Hills
high school on
Sept. 9.
Three
students, ages
15, 16 and 17,
were shot in the
chest. A boy was
paralyzed from
the waist down,
prosecutors
said.
One Dead, One
Wounded in
Minnesota School
Shooting
Sept. 24,
2003 —
MINNEAPOLIS
(Reuters) - A
Minnesota high
school freshman
opened fire in
the gymnasium on
Wednesday,
killing one
classmate and
critically
wounding another
before a teacher
persuaded him to
give up his gun,
police said.
The attacker
was taken into
custody after
the teacher
talked the
unidentified
shooter into
surrendering the
weapon, Phil
Jones, the
police chief in
Cold Spring,
told reporters.
Firing a
small-caliber
handgun, the
unidentified
student at
Rocori High
School shot one
boy in the gym
and the other in
a room used for
weight-lifting,
authorities
said.
One victim
was shot in the
torso, the other
in the head or
neck, Jones
said.
Authorities
did not
speculate about
a motive for the
late-morning
shootings,
though a fellow
student
described the
attacker as a
loner.
"No one paid
attention to
him. He had a
lot of anger," a
student who gave
her name as
Heather told
WCCO-AM radio.
"It
absolutely
shakes the
foundation. It
is very tragic,
very sad, and
we're all trying
to understand
why," Jones
said.
The attacker
was a freshman
at the school,
and the victims
were a freshman
and a senior,
fellow students
said.
The school,
located in Cold
Spring, a town
of 2,500 about
60 miles
northwest of
Minneapolis, was
evacuated
shortly after
the shootings,
which occurred
during a break
in classes.
Copyright
2003 Reuters
News Service.
All rights
reserved
xxxxxx
1 Killed, 1
Injured In
School Shooting
Boy, 15,
arrested after
attack in Minn.
Teen Kills
One, Wounds
Another in Minn.
September 25,
2003
Cold Spring,
Minn. - A
freshman opened
fire at a high
school
yesterday,
killing one
student and
critically
wounding a
second before a
teacher
apparently
talked the boy
into dropping
the gun,
authorities
said.
The youth was
taken into
custody after
the late-morning
shooting at
Rocori High
School in Cold
Spring, about 60
miles northwest
of the Twin
Cities.
Police Chief
Phil Jones said
the 15-year-old
boy, whom he did
not identify,
appeared to be
"the lone
shooter."
The motive
was not
immediately
known. Some
students
described the
suspect as a
loner.
One of the
students was
shot while in
the weight room
and the other
shooting
occurred in the
gym. Aaron
Rollins, a
senior, died at
a hospital after
being shot in
the face and
neck. Seth
Bartell, a
freshman, was in
critical
condition with
gunshot wounds
to the chest and
head.
Jones said it
appeared a
well-respected,
veteran teacher
and coach talked
the boy into
handing over the
small-caliber
handgun. When
police arrived,
the boy was in
the custody of
the school's
staff in an
administrative
office, he said.
Nancy Johnson
told WCCO-TV
that her
husband, Mark
Johnson, a gym
teacher and
coach at the
school, yelled
at the suspect
to drop his gun
when the boy
pointed it at
him.
"He has a
booming voice
and he just
yelled 'no!' and
put his hand
up," Nancy
Johnson said.
"And then the
kid, he stopped,
he dropped it.
He took out the
clip first and
then he dropped
it."
Officials
evacuated the
school and sent
all students
home.
Jamie
Toddingham, a
junior, told
KSTP-TV that
students were
crying. "We were
sitting at a
window where we
could see cops
everywhere,"
Toddingham said.
"I was just
thinking about,
it could've been
me."
Boy Wounded
in School
Shooting Remains
in Critical
Condition
The
14-year-old boy
wounded in the
Rocori High
School shooting
remains in
critical
condition this
morning at St.
Cloud Hospital.
Wednesday's
attack killed
17-year-old
Aaron Rollins
and left Seth
Bartell
critically
injured.
The Minnesota
attorney
general's office
is prosecuting
the case and has
filed papers to
try 15-year-old
Jason McLaughlin
as an adult.
Friends and
family will
remember Rollins
at a wake in
Cold Spring
today.
(Copyright
2003 by The
Associated
Press. All
Rights
Reserved.)
Four
dead at Arizona
nursing school
Monday,
October 28, 2002
Tucson SWAT
officers set up
a command post
outside the
nursing school.
TUCSON,
Arizona (CNN) --
A gunman
believed to be a
student shot to
death two
professors and a
third person
before
apparently
killing himself
Monday at the
University of
Arizona College
of Nursing,
police and
university
officials said.
The building
where the
shootings
occurred was
swept for
explosives
afterward
because of
concern that the
gunman might
have had a bomb,
authorities
said.
Tucson Police
Chief Richard
Miranda would
not say what, if
anything, police
found in the
sweep. In a
statement on the
Internet, the
university said
two professors
-- who witnesses
said were women
-- were shot.
The fourth
victim was found
in the building
during a search,
police Sgt.
Marco Borboa
said. The victim
was not
identified.
Miranda said
the gunman was
among the
victims, and the
university Web
site said he may
have died from a
self-inflicted
wound.
Miranda said
police learned
Monday morning
that the suspect
had threatened
to bomb the
building in the
last few weeks.
He didn't say
from where the
information
came.
The chief
also said a
bomb-sniffing
dog had a
reaction to the
suspect's car,
which was parked
in a lot outside
the college, and
when police
found a backpack
under the body
of the gunman,
they suspected
it might contain
an explosive
device.
Police are
confident that
the gunman acted
alone, he added.
"I am
personally
comfortable that
there is no
further risk,"
university
President Peter
Likins said.
"It's an
intensely
personal tragedy
and trauma."
A witness
said a student
angry over being
barred from
midterm exams
entered a
classroom where
exams were being
given and began
shooting with a
handgun. Police
would not
confirm that it
was a student.
The witness
said the gunman
fired at one
professor as a
number of
students ran out
of the
classroom, then
fired at a
second
professor. The
gunman, he said,
then allowed the
rest of the
students in the
room to leave.
A witness
taking the test
on the fourth
floor of the
building said
she heard about
15 gunshots. It
was "really
scary," she
said. "It was
silent while he
was shooting our
teachers. I was
afraid that I
was going to get
shot."
University
spokeswoman Lisa
Wakefield said
that the college
and surrounding
buildings were
evacuated after
the shootings at
8:40 a.m. (10:40
a.m. EST). In
addition to the
College of
Nursing, other
buildings closed
included the
College of
Pharmacy, Life
Sciences North
and Basic
Sciences, police
said.
The
University
Medical Center
was locked down,
and emergency
cases were being
diverted to
other hospitals,
a spokeswoman
said. Visitors
were barred, but
she said
employees were
able to go in
and out.
Police said
people who fled
the college
after the
shootings were
gathering at a
nearby alumni
center, where
counseling was
available.
Germany in
Shock as 18 Die
in School
Bloodbath
April 26,
2002
By Fiona
Shaikh
ERFURT,
Germany
(Reuters) - A
student bent on
bloody revenge
after being
expelled from
his school shot
dead 17 people,
mostly teachers,
before killing
himself Friday
in the worst
murder spree in
post-war
Germany.
Armed with a
pump-action
shotgun and a
handgun, the
19-year-old man,
masked and clad
in black, walked
calmly through
the Gutenberg
high school in
the eastern town
of Erfurt,
pumping bullets
at teachers he
found in the
corridors and
classrooms.
He killed 14
teachers, two
pupils, a police
officer and then
himself. Six
others were
wounded.
A number of
students who
escaped unharmed
from the school
said a second
gunmen had been
in the school.
Police said late
on Friday they
were
investigating
the reports and
added they could
not rule out the
possibility a
second assailant
had escaped.
More than
1,000 mourners
attended somber
ceremonies in a
cathedral and a
nearby church.
Many of the
grief-stricken
people lit
candles for the
dead. Tears
filled the eyes
of many of the
mourners.
The scale of
the murder,
rivaling some of
the worst school
killings in the
world, stunned
Germans, whose
sense of
security was
upset just two
weeks ago by the
deaths of 11
German tourists
in a bomb blast
in Tunisia.
``Police
called to the
scene found a
scene of horror.
There were dead
people in the
corridors, in
the classrooms,
one was found in
the toilet,'' a
police spokesman
said.
Chancellor
Gerhard
Schroeder said
he was staggered
by the crime and
canceled an
election
campaign event
planned for
Saturday. Flags
on the Reichstag
parliament
building in
Berlin flew at
half-mast.
``This is so
unique that it
exceeds one's
powers of
imagination. I
think we all
need time to
work this
through in our
minds,''
Schroeder told
reporters.
``There are
questions here
that we have to
answer as a
whole society.''
The killer,
who has not been
named, was
expelled from
the school
several months
ago and banned
from taking his
``Abitur,'' a
high-school exam
required for
entry into
university.
The drama
began shortly
before 11 a.m.
(0900 GMT) when
the school
janitor rang
police to report
hearing shots in
school.
TEACHERS THE
TARGETS
``We were
sitting in class
doing our work
and we heard a
shooting
sound,'' said
Filip Niemann, a
student who
survived the
bloodbath. ``We
joked about it
and the teacher
smiled.''
``The teacher
let us go out
and see what was
happening and
when we left the
classroom, three
to four meters
in front of us,
there was a
masked person in
black holding
his gun at his
shoulder,'' said
the teen-ager,
visibly shocked
and his voice
trembling.
``He
stretched out
his gun and
fired. We saw a
teacher fall to
the ground. We
just turned and
ran. I heard
from other kids
the gunmen
opened classroom
doors and aimed
at teachers.''
``The pupils
ran out of the
classroom and he
came after us
and shot a
teacher next to
me,'' one girl,
who was not
named, told
German radio.
``He looked deep
into my eyes.''
One of two
police officers
who arrived at
the school after
the janitor's
phone call was
immediately shot
dead, police
said.
Police had
initially spoken
of two gunmen,
but later said
they believed
the student had
been acting
alone. Local
media reported
witnesses had
spoken of a
second gunman
and police said
they were
checking reports
he may have
slipped out of
the building
with other
students during
the chaos of the
evacuation.
They were
also reportedly
checking the
plumbing of the
building for any
trace of a
second
assailant.
All flags in
Erfurt were at
half-mast.
Church bells
rang across
town.
TRAPPED FOR
HOURS
About 700
students between
the ages of 10
and 19 attend
the imposing
early
20th-century
Jugendstil
building.
Some were
trapped in
classrooms for
hours, too
terrified to
leave as the
gunman roamed. A
piece of paper
reading ``Help''
appeared on an
upper floor
window during
the afternoon.
Later Friday
evening someone
put up another
sign reading
''Warum?''
(Why?)
Armed police
found the gunman
dead in a room
after combing
the corridors
for several
hours.
Other mass
killings at
schools in
recent years
include the 1996
murder of 16
children and
their teacher in
the Scottish
town of Dunblane
by a lone gunman
who later killed
himself.
In April 1999
in the United
States, two
student gunmen
killed 12 other
students and a
teacher at
Columbine High
School in
Littleton,
Colorado.
Both events
caused
soul-searching
in Britain and
America about a
loss of moral
values and
insufficient gun
laws.
The shock of
the murder is
deep in Germany,
where
generations have
grown used to a
life of peace,
prosperity and
physical safety
after the
horrors of World
War Two.
Interior
Minister Otto
Schily said:
``We have to ask
ourselves what
is wrong with
society where
such a young
person causes
such calamity
and acts with
such aggression.
``This
student seems to
have had such
hatred because
he was expelled
and couldn't sit
his exam that he
was driven to
this terrible
deed.''
Schily said
it was macabre
coincidence that
the German
parliament had
Friday passed a
gun control law
tightening rules
on ownership.
Germany
already has
strict laws
governing the
right to a gun,
but experts say
the country is
awash with
illegal weapons
smuggled into
the country from
eastern Europe
and the Balkans.
``Even if I
believed in God,
I would not
believe in him
any more, How
could he let
something like
this happen?''
asked student
survivor
Niemann. ``What
I have seen
today will stay
with me for the
rest of my
life.''
~~~~~~~~~
18 killed in
shooting rampage
at German
school, mostly
adults
Fri Apr 26, 2002
By JOCHEN
WIESIGEL,
Associated Press
Writer
ERFURT, Germany
- A recently
expelled student
opened fire
inside a school
Friday, killing
17 people
including at
least two
children, police
said.
The dead
included 10 male
and seven female
victims and a
19-year-old
gunman, police
officials told a
news conference
in the eastern
city of Erfurt.
They said they
could not
immediately
confirm earlier
statements that
there was a
second gunman.
Meanwhile,
police said the
last 180
students were
safely evacuated
from the Johann
Gutenberg
Gymnasium
school, located
in a residential
area of the
city.
Police initially
said two
teachers and a
police officer
who rushed to
the scene were
killed in the
rampage. Later,
police commandos
were sent on a
room-to-room
search of the
building.
Shocked and
upset students
who fled the
shooting
reported seeing
a man dressed
all in black
roaming the
hallways with a
gun.
"I heard
shooting and
thought it was a
joke," said
13-year-old
Melanie
Steinbrueck,
chocking back
tears. "But then
I saw a teacher
dead in the
hallway in front
of Room 209 and
a gunman in
black carrying a
weapon."
"The guy was
dressed all in
black — gloves,
cap, everything
was black," said
Juliane Blank,
13. "He must
have opened the
door without
being heard and
forced his way
into the
classroom."
"We ran out into
the hallways. We
just wanted to
get out," she
said.
Outside the
school, a police
officer with a
megaphone urged
parents to
register their
kids' names
before leaving
the scene.
Groups of dazed
and shocked
students huddled
in the street,
hugging and
crying.
A handwritten
sign reading
"HILFE" — Help —
was pasted to a
fourth-floor
window and the
face of a girl
could be seen
through the
window in the
classroom.
Police said they
received a call
at 11:05 a.m.
from the school
janitor, who
said someone was
shooting in the
building. An
initial team of
officers arrived
on the scene
shortly after
and entered the
school. One of
the policemen
was among those
killed.
Ambulances and
police cars
massed in front
of the school,
where several
hundred children
in grades five
through 12 were
in classes when
the shooting
began.
Sixth-grader
Martin Streng
said he was in
math class when
he heard gunfire
coming from a
classroom down
the hall. As he
and other
students filed
into the hallway
to flee the
building, they
saw a man with a
gun down the
corridor behind
them, Streng
said.
It was Germany's
second school
shooting in two
months. In
February, a
22-year-old
German who
recently lost
his job shot and
killed two
former bosses
and his old high
school's
principal in a
rampage outside
Munich.
Columbine-Like
High School
Murder Plot
Foiled By Police
The Boston Globe
NEW BEDFORD,
Mass. - Three
New Bedford High
School students
were arrested
Saturday for
allegedly
plotting what
police said was
a Columbine-like
murder spree at
the school.
The students
were arrested at
their homes
after a janitor
found a letter
Tuesday
outlining their
plans to
detonate
explosives,
shoot students
as they fled the
school, then
kill themselves
when police
arrived, police
said.
Police seized
bomb-making
instructions,
knives, shotgun
shells and
pictures of the
suspects holding
what appeared to
be handguns from
the suspects'
homes in this
coastal city of
100,000
residents about
50 miles south
of Boston.
The suspects
referred to
themselves as
the "Trenchcoat
Mafia" -- the
same as a group
Columbine
killers Eric
Harris and Dylan
Klebold were
said to be
associated with
-- and wanted to
model their
attack after
that massacre,
police said.
"They said
specifically it
would be bigger
than Columbine,"
New Bedford
Police Chief
Arthur Kelly
said.
Harris and
Klebold killed
12 students and
a teacher and
wounded 26
people before
killing
themselves in
April 1999 at
Columbine High
School in
suburban Denver.
Eric McKeehan,
17, and two
juveniles whom
police did not
identify, face
charges
including
conspiracy to
commit murder,
conspiracy to
commit assault
and battery with
a dangerous
weapon, and
possession of
ammunition.
McKeehan is
being held on
$10,000 cash
bail. The two
juvenile
suspects are
being held on
$5,000 cash
bail. Their
arraignments are
scheduled for
Monday.
Attempts to
reach McKeehan's
family were
unsuccessful.
Police said they
plan to arrest
at least two
other students
in connection
with the plot.
Those students
are cooperating,
New Bedford
Police Lt.
Richard Spirlet
said.
Jenna Reed, 15,
a Dartmouth
resident who
used to hang out
with McKeehan
and his younger
brother,
recalled when
McKeehan joked
about "how cool
it would be to
pretend to blow
up the school."
Reed,
interviewed at
the Dartmouth
Mall on Saturday
evening, said
none of
McKeehan's
friends felt
threatened.
"He talked about
it but he was
joking around,"
Reed said. "I'd
never expect him
to do anything
like that."
Saturday's
arrests came
after an
investigation
that started
Oct. 17 when a
student told
police about the
alleged plot.
The following
week, police
questioned one
of the suspects
after they found
bomb-making
materials at
property off of
school grounds.
But the bomb
lacked key
elements that
would arm it, so
police could not
make an arrest,
Kelly said.
They decided to
move after the
janitor found
the letter on a
floor at the
high school,
which has about
3,300 students.
The letter
didn't say when
the killings
would happen,
except that it
would happen on
a Monday.
"We decided not
to let another
Monday go by,"
Kelly said.
Police plan to
search the
school Sunday
with
bomb-sniffing
dogs, and open
as usual on
Monday.
"Everything is
in place to
assure the
students, staff,
parents and
community that
the school will
be safe for
occupany," Kelly
said.
McKeehan lives
with a friend in
a three-story
house on Cottage
Street in New
Bedford,
according to
neighbors. He
moved in this
summer, they
said.
"Eric seemed
very quiet,"
downstairs
neighbor Lilian
Ramos said.
"It's shocking.
I have children
who live here."
There was no
answer Saturday
when a reporter
knocked at the
second and third
floor
apartments.
School committee
member Kevin
Finnerty said
McKeehan is a
junior and the
other two are
freshmen, but he
did not know
them personally.
"It's always
been a very safe
school," he
said. "We've
never had any
really serious
incidents
there."
After the
Columbine
killings,
Finnerty said
school
administrators
participated in
crisis
management
training and a
closed circuit
video system
that "covers the
whole building"
was installed.
There are no
metal detectors.
"If it could
happen here, it
could happen
anywhere,"
Finnerty said.
Copyright 2001
Boston Globe
Electronic
Publishing Inc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Students
Allegedly
Plotted to Kill
By Richard Lewis
Associated Press
Writer
Monday, November
26, 2001; 9:13
PM
NEW BEDFORD,
Mass. –– Two
teen-age
brothers and a
15-year-old
friend allegedly
planned to kill
"thugs, preps,
and faculty" in
a
Columbine-style
bloodbath at
their high
school,
according to
police reports
released Monday.
The boys then
planned to climb
onto the roof of
New Bedford High
School and shoot
each other "so
it was a
homicide, not
suicide,"
according to
police
interviews with
two students who
authorities say
were involved
but had not yet
been arrested or
charged.
The students
allegedly
modeled
themselves after
the two
teen-agers who
carried out the
1999 Columbine
High School
massacre in
Littleton, Colo.
They were
arrested at
their homes
Saturday after a
janitor found a
letter outlining
their alleged
plot, which also
included
detonating
explosives.
Authorities who
searched the
boys' homes
found a variety
of weapons,
bomb-making
instructions and
Satanic
materials.
Nearly half the
3,300 students
stayed home when
the school
reopened Monday
after a sweep by
officers and
bomb-sniffing
dogs.
"We didn't think
we were going to
find anything,"
Lt. Richard
Spirlet said.
"But we want to
put the public
at ease."
Eric McKeehan,
17, pleaded
innocent Monday
to charges of
conspiracy to
commit murder,
conspiracy to
commit assault
and battery with
a dangerous
weapon and
possession of
ammunition. He
was ordered held
without bail.
His brother,
Michael
McKeehan, 15,
and Steven
Jones, 15, also
were being held
after pleading
innocent to the
same charges in
closed juvenile
court hearings.
The mothers of
the teen-agers
defended their
sons.
"My kids are
good kids and
this has really
been blown out
of proportion
and, you know,
there's just no
way anything
like that would
have happened,"
Carol McKeehan,
the mother of
Eric and Michael
McKeehan, told
the Boston
Herald.
Susan St.
Hilaire, Jones's
mother, said the
charges were
based on rumors
and hearsay.
"These kids are
good kids – all
of them," she
said outside the
courthouse
Monday, where
some students
had attended
proceedings
instead of going
to school.
One student,
Trisha Boucher,
14, said
McKeehan's
"Goth"-style
clothes and
attitude were
like those of
many other
students.
"He just looks
like a normal
kid," she said
Monday. "I think
they're blowing
it all out of
proportion."
Satanic masks, a
meat cleaver, an
ax and a
photograph of
Adolph Hitler
were found in
McKeehan's
bedroom,
according to a
police report.
Police also
discovered spent
cartridges from
five different
types of guns
and torture
devices.
A student first
alerted a
teacher to the
alleged plot in
mid-October.
Police
questioned one
of the
teen-agers after
discovering
bomb-making
materials at an
undisclosed
property the
following week.
But the bomb
lacked key
elements that
would arm it, so
police could not
make an arrest,
Police Chief
Arthur Kelly
said.
School
Superintendent
Joseph Silva
credited the
student, the
teacher and the
janitor who
found the note
with stopping a
potential
disaster.
"When you start
to think about
what could
possibly have
happened, and
the tragedy that
could have taken
place, you feel
good that the
students feel
comfortable
going to faculty
members," Silva
said.
Student Said
Attack Would Be
`Bigger Than
Columbine'
by Jessica
Heslam
Tuesday,
December 4, 2001
In a dramatic
confession to
police, a
17-year-old boy
plotting a
massacre at New
Bedford High
School said he
wanted his
killing spree to
be ``bigger than
Columbine'' and
he had planned
to go through
with it ``100
percent.''
``Just to see
what the shock
would be of New
Bedford. Just
shooting,
killing. Just to
see the
publicity. See
how big it would
get,'' the
quick-talking,
cussing Eric
McKeehan told
New Bedford
police Det. John
Rebeiro after
his Nov. 24
arrest.
``Whoever's in
my way will get
it, and that'll
be it. You're in
my way, you're
getting a
bullet,'' said
McKeehan, who
allegedly
masterminded the
plot with his
15-year-old
brother, who is
also being held
without bail.
Prosecutors
yesterday played
McKeehan's
tape-recorded
confession
during a
six-hour
dangerousness
hearing in New
Bedford District
Court. The
hearing
continues today
and then a judge
will decide if
McKeehan will be
held without
bail.
Police yesterday
also testified
that a New
Bedford garage
owner suspects
another
15-year-old
charged in
connection with
the plot stole a
.25-caliber Colt
revolver from
his shop in
September and
possibly swiped
his .38-caliber
gun last year.
Neither weapon
has been found.
McKeehan and his
brother are
among five teens
charged with
planning to blow
up and shoot
``jocks, preps,
teachers'' and
others before
turning the guns
on themselves
after a booze
and drug-laden
party on the
school roof.
McKeehan began
boasting to
police when he
learned that his
kid brother had
implicated him.
``I would not
stop until I ran
out of
ammunition. You
ain't going to
get me. I'm
blowin' my
brains out,''
McKeehan said
during his
confession that
was played in
court as the
suit-clad teen
squirmed in his
seat.
During his
confession,
McKeehan also
said he was glad
the massacre
didn't happen
because he and
his brother had
goals and it
``would've
ruined my life''
because he'd
either be dead
or in prison for
life.
When asked what
he would use to
kill people,
McKeehan said
``M-16s'' and
that he knew
people who could
get them.
McKeehan, who
has said his
grandfather is a
war veteran and
has an M-16,
said that was
his weapon of
choice because
``one bullet
will kill five
people.''
McKeehan said
the plan was
called off about
a week or two
after the cops
learned of it
and he and his
brother had
``reality
checks.''
Meanwhile,
police officer
Stephen Taylor
testified that
McKeehan's
brother told him
that his
15-year-old
friend, who is
also charged in
the plot, stole
a gun from
Vintage Motors
in September.
The younger
McKeehan told
police that he
was in the
shop's lot when
the teen came
outside and said
they had to
leave before
lifting up his
waist band and
showing him the
gun.
Officer Scott
Tremblay
testified that
shop owner Steve
Saunders
reported the
.25-caliber Colt
revolver missing
from his desk
drawer Sept. 23,
the day after
the 15-year-old
teen and the
younger McKeehan
visited his
shop.
Saunders noticed
the 15-year-old
adjusting his
trousers as
though he was
``hiding
something,''
Tremblay said.
When reached at
the shop,
Saunders called
the 15-year-old
teen a
``kleptomaniac''
and said the
teen's mother
had dated one of
his employees.
``No one else
would have taken
it,'' Saunders
said.
Shots Fired
At Granite Hills
High School
Suspect
Reportedly In
Custody
EL CAJON,
Calif., 2:05
p.m. PST March
22, 2001 --
According to
10News, school
violence has
struck San Diego
again.
Early reports
indicate that at
least two
people, and as
many as four,
were shot at
Granite Hills
High School
(pictured, left)
in El Cajon
Thursday at
approximately
12:54 p.m.
A teacher
reportedly
called 911,
saying that
approximately
six shots had
been fired and
that there were
bullet holes in
the school's
walls.
According to
10News, there
are unconfirmed
reports that two
of the victims
were teachers at
the school.
One of the
victims -- a
15-year-old male
-- was wounded
in the upper
chest by shotgun
pellets and was
taken to Sharp
Memorial
Hospital.
Suspect Fired
At Police
According to
10News, the
alleged suspect
fired at police
when they
arrived on
campus. The
suspect
reportedly hit
the police car.
Police
returned fire
and hit the
17-year-old
suspect twice,
in the face and
buttocks. He was
also taken to
Sharp Memorial
Hospital.
Police
believe that a
possible second
suspect is at
large and may be
in possession of
a handgun or
rifle. Area
residents were
urged to stay
indoors.
Granite Hills
High School
students were
evacuated to
Kennedy Park
across the
street. Parents
were instructed
to pick up their
children at the
park.
According to
10News, other
schools in the
area are in a
lockdown where
students are
being kept
indoors.
Authorities
asked parents
not to go to the
schools and said
that the
students are
safe.
SWAT teams
have reportedly
surrounded the
area.
Granite Hills
High School is
located at 1719
East Madison in
El Cajon. It is
part of the
Grossmont Union
High School
District, the
same district as
Santana High
School where two
students were
fatally shot
last month.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday
March 22 , 2001
4:53 PM ET
Two People
Shot at High
School Near San
Diego
EL CAJON,
Calif. (Reuters)
- At least two
people --
possibly
teachers -- were
shot and injured
at a high school
in this San
Diego suburb on
Thursday, less
than three weeks
after two
students were
killed and 13
injured in a gun
rampage at
another area
high school,
officials said.
A Fire
Department
spokesman said
there were
reports of a
third person
being shot.
Local
television
reported that
the injured were
two teachers and
that one suspect
has been
arrested at
Granite Hills
High School in
this suburb just
east of San
Diego.
Another
suspect was
thought to be at
large and,
possibly armed
with a shotgun.
Residents
were asked to
stay out of the
area while
police searched
for the second
suspect.
A witness
said he heard
six or seven
shots and then
saw students
running out of
the school via a
back entrance,
calling on their
cell phones for
help.
Students at
the school,
which has 2,900
pupils, were
taken to a
nearby
elementary
school where
their parents
were called to
pick them up.
El Cajon is
adjacent to
Santee, Calif.,
where two
students were
killed and 13
others injured
when a student
opened fire with
his father's gun
at Santana High
School on March
5.
That was the
worst act of
violence in a
U.S. school
since April 1999
attack on
Columbine High
School in
Colorado in
which 15 people
were killed,
including two
teenage gunmen
who took their
own lives.
A middle
school and
elementary
school adjacent
to Granite Hills
High School have
locked their
doors and are
keeping students
inside,
officials said.
Students
described a
frightening
scenario that
seems almost a
repeat of what
happened in
Santee.
One boy told
CNN via
telephone that
he heard about
seven shots
fired: ``I was
walking from the
bathroom and I
heard the shots
rang out and it
sounded like an
explosion from a
chemistry
classroom. ...
Then a couple
more. When I
heard the other
ones go off I
just ran to the
car.''
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shots erupt
at California
high school
One suspect
reported in
custody
Students file
out of Granite
Hills High
School in El
Cajon, Calif.,
on Thursday.
EL CAJON,
Calif., March 22
— Gunfire
erupted at a San
Diego-area high
school Thursday,
injuring at
least two
people,
authorities
said. The
shooting
occurred just
four miles south
of Santee,
Calif., the
scene of the
most recent
school shooting.
At least one
person was in
custody.
WITNESSES
said seven shots
were fired.
A hospital
spokeswoman
speaking live to
KNSD-TV said two
ambulance
brought two
victims and she
said both looked
alert. She said
one of the
victims had his
arms handcuffed
behind his back
and was the
suspect. She
said the other
victim could
have been shot
in the buttocks.
She could not
tell whether the
two victims were
students.
[School
shooting locator
map] Earlier
reports said one
suspect was
reportedly in
custody and
another was on
the loose with a
handgun and a
rifle.
Parents were
flooding into
the school where
the students
were being
evacuated.
The shooting
at Granite Hills
High School was
reported at
12:54 p.m. and
firefighters
took one victim
to a hospital,
said a Fire
Department
spokesman.
“It sounded
like an
explosion, like
in a chemistry
class or
something,”
sophomore Ryan
Carrillo told
KGTV-San Diego.
He said he heard
gunshots as he
walked to a
bathroom near
the office at
the school.
After hearing
two shots and
then five more,
he ran out of
the school and
into a nearby
park.
Other
ambulances were
dispatched along
with a
helicopter
ambulance, but
the spokesman
did not know the
total number of
victims.
Students were
evacuated from
the school east
of San Diego and
taken to a
nearby middle
school. El Cajon
police and the
San Diego County
Sheriff’s
Department
confirmed that
several shots
had been fired.
Granite High
School is part
of the same
school district
as Santana High
School, where a
school shooting
three weeks ago
killed two
students and
injured 13.
NBC’s Chip
Reid reports
that ironically
the two schools
had a baseball
game scheduled
later Thursday.
.
1 Dead, 14
Hurt in School
Shooting
By Ben Fox -
Associated Press
Writer
Monday, March
5, 2001
SANTEE,
Calif. –– A
gunman opened
fire on fellow
students at
Santana High
School on
Monday, killing
one and wounding
14 other people.
One witness said
the youth smiled
as he fired a
long-barreled
handgun.
A suspect, a
male student,
was taken into
custody,
officials said.
Santee Fire
Department
spokesman Jeff
Fehlberg said
one person was
dead at the
scene and 14
others were
injured. At
least one of
those shot was a
campus
supervisor.
"I looked at
the kid, and he
was smiling and
shooting his
weapon," said
student John
Schardt, 17,
told KGTV. He
was in a nearby
classroom when
the shooting
started about
9:20 a.m. in a
boys' rest room.
"It was total
chaos. People
were trying to
take cover,"
Schardt said.
One Student
Killed In
Santana High
School Shooting
One Fatality
Confirmed
SANTEE,
Calif., March 5,
2001 -- A gunman
opened fire on
fellow students
Monday morning
at Santana High
School, wounding
as many as 15
people and
killing one,
officials said.
Santana
Student Recalls
Shooting
TIMELINE:
History Of
School Shootings
One victim
died at the
scene and
another at
Grossmont
Hospital, 10News
reported.
The shooting
took place in
the boys'
restroom or in
the hallway of
the Social
Science building
at approximately
9:25 a.m.,
10News reports.
Seven of the
victims were
transported to
Sharp Memorial
Hospital, 10News
reports. Other
victims were
taken to
Alvarado, Mercy
and Grossmont
Hospitals.
Authorities
reported that
the sole
suspect,
apparently a
student, was in
custody.
According to
Santana High
School student
John Sharp, the
suspect was
smiling as he
fired shots.
"I looked at
the kid, and he
was smiling and
shooting his
weapon," Sharp
told 10News,
describing the
gun as a handgun
with a large
barrel.
Among the
victims were a
Santana High
School security
guard and a
counselor. The
extent of their
injuries was not
known.
The suspect
had bragged to
fellow students
of his plan
Friday and
Saturday night,
according to one
of his friends.
"The whole
weekend he was
talking about
it," student
Josh Stephens
said. None of
the suspect's
friends believed
him, Stephens
said.
Student
Alicia Zimmer
told 10News that
she saw a boy
lying face down
on the floor, a
girl with blood
on her arm and
another with
blood on her
hands.
Zimmer said
that she heard
shots but didn't
see a shooter.
"They sounded
more like a
capgun," she
said of the
noise.
The students
were evacuated
to the Del Taco
restaurant in
the Santana
Village shopping
center at the
intersection of
North Magnolia
Ave. and Mast
Blvd.
Parents have
been instructed
to pick up their
children at that
location.
Parents may
contact the
school
superintendent's
office at (619)
644-8083.
According to
10News, a Crisis
Response Team
has gathered at
the Teen Center
in Santee at
9430 Cuyamaca.
The phone number
is (619)
258-4192.
A SWAT team
was called to
the school,
where they are
assessing the
situation.
Santana High
School is
located at 9915
Magnolia St. and
is part of the
Grossmont High
School District.
Copyright
2001 by
TheSanDiegoChannel.com.
All rights
reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
· Santee
Usually a Quiet
Suburb - AP (Mar
5, 2001)
Monday March
5 11:36 PM ET
California
School Shooting
Kills 2
Student
Gunman Opens
Fire in
California
School - (KPRC,
Houston)
By BEN FOX,
Associated Press
Writer
SANTEE,
Calif. (AP) - A
15-year-old boy
who had been
picked on and
had talked about
shooting
classmates
allegedly opened
fire in a high
school bathroom
Monday, killing
two people and
wounding 13 in
the nation's
deadliest school
attack since
Columbine.
One student
said the boy, a
freshman, had a
smile on his
face as he fired
away with a
pistol at
Santana High
School in this
middle-class San
Diego suburb.
The student
surrendered in
the bathroom,
dropped his gun
and said he
acted alone,
telling
officers: ``It's
just me,''
according to
sheriff's
officials.
The boy will
be charged as an
adult with
murder, assault
with a deadly
weapon and gun
possession, said
San Diego County
District
Attorney Paul
Pfingst, who
identified the
suspect as
Charles Andrew
Williams.
Students said
they knew him as
Andy Williams.
Sheriff's and
FBI officials
served a search
warrant Monday
night on the
apartment where
the teen lived
with his father.
They spent a
little more than
two hours inside
the apartment,
removing a
computer hard
drive, computer
monitor, a
plastic crate
filled with
papers and files
and about a half
dozen bags
filled with
evidence.
Officials with
both agencies
said they
couldn't comment
on the search.
The slain
students were
identified as
Bryan Zuckor,
14, and Randy
Gordon, 15.
Authorities said
one of the
victims was a
campus
supervisor,
while a student
suffered minor
injuries in a
car accident
while fleeing
the
1,900-student
school.
``I know in
your minds is
the overriding
question:
`Why?''' Pfingst
said. ``The
suspect has made
statements. I
will not share
the contents of
the statements
with you at this
time, but there
is no real
answer. I am not
sure in any real
way we will ever
know why.''
Fellow
students and an
adult
acquaintance
said they had
heard the boy's
threats over the
weekend but
thought he was
joking and did
not report him
to authorities.
``He was
picked on all
the time,''
student Jessica
Moore said. ``He
was picked on
because he was
one of the
scrawniest guys.
People called
him freak, dork,
nerd, stuff like
that.''
Student John
Schardt, 17, was
in a nearby
classroom when
the shooting
started about
9:20 a.m. in a
boys' restroom
and spilled into
a quad.
``I looked at
the kid, and he
was smiling and
shooting his
weapon,''
Schardt said.
``It was total
chaos. People
were trying to
take cover.''
Schardt said
he took photos
of victims and
another student
videotaped the
gunman's arrest,
but authorities
confiscated the
film and the
tape.
Andrew
Kaforey, a
17-year-old
senior, said he
ran into the
bathroom with a
security guard
after hearing
what sounded
like a
firecracker or a
gunshot. ``He
pointed the gun
right at me but
he didn't
shoot,'' Kaforey
said.
As he and the
guard ran out,
the gunman shot
the guard in the
back, Kaforey
said.
Investigators
said the boy
used a
.22-caliber
revolver,
stopping once to
reload, and
retreated after
the shooting
into the
bathroom.
On Monday
night, about
1,000 people
gathered at
Sonrise
Community Church
in Santee for a
memorial
service. The
names of the two
students killed
and those who
were wounded by
the gunfire
flashed on a
video screen
above an altar.
The attack
was the nation's
deadliest school
shooting since
the April 1999
bloodbath at
Columbine High
near Littleton,
Colo., where two
teen-agers
killed 12 fellow
students and a
teacher before
committing
suicide.
In
Washington,
President Bush
(news - web
sites) called
the shooting ``a
disgraceful act
of cowardice.''
``This is my
worst
nightmare,''
Principal Karen
Degiescher said.
She said that
the campus will
be closed
Tuesday and that
counselors were
called in to
help students.
Classmates
and
acquaintances of
the boy
described him as
skinny and the
subject of
constant
harassment.
Students said he
boasted about
owning a gun.
Over the
weekend, the boy
``was joking on
and off that he
was going to
come to school
and shoot
people,'' said
Joshua Stevens,
15, a friend of
the boy. ``He
had it all
planned out, but
at the end of
the weekend he
said he was just
joking and he
wasn't really
going to do it.
``I said,
`Like, you
better be.' And
he said, `No,
I'm serious.'''
``I should've
stepped up even
if it wasn't
true and stuff
to take that
precaution,''
said Chris
Reynolds, a
29-year-old who
is dating
Stevens' mother.
``That's going
to be haunting
me for a long
time; that's
going to be with
me for a long
time. It just
hurts, because I
could've maybe
done something
about it.''
Reynolds said
that the boy
lives with his
father and that
his mother lives
out of state. He
said the boy
stayed at
Reynolds' house
Saturday night
and talked about
starting a
shooting spree.
``I even
mentioned
Columbine to
him. I said I
don't want a
Columbine here
at Santana. But
he said, `No,
nothing will
happen, I'm just
joking,'''
Reynolds said.
Neil O'Grady,
15, said the
suspected gunman
had also talked
to him and other
friends over the
weekend about a
shooting at the
school.
``He was
telling us how
he was going to
bring a gun to
school ... but
we thought he
was joking,''
O'Grady said.
``We were like,
`Yeah, right.'''
Recently, two
skateboards had
been stolen from
the boy, O'Grady
said. ``He
always gets
picked on. He's
scrawny, he's
little,''
O'Grady said.
``People think
he's dumb.''
Shannon
Durrett, a
15-year-old
freshman, said
she has known
the boy since
school began in
September. He
liked
skateboarding
and hung out
with his
skateboarding
friends, she
said. ``He was
nice, he was
funny, someone
who would never
do something
like this,''
Durrett said.
After the
shooting,
students were
escorted to a
nearby shopping
center, where
they filled a
parking lot and
milled anxiously
while parents
arrived and
paramedics took
away the
wounded.
The school is
about 10 miles
northeast of San
Diego and is the
alma mater of
Sharon Davis,
wife of Gov.
Gray Davis (news
- web sites).
She spoke during
the school's
commencement in
1999.
``Sharon and
I are shocked
and deeply
saddened by this
tragedy,'' the
governor said in
a statement.
``Our hearts and
prayers go out
to the students
and their
families, the
school
administrators
and the law
enforcement
officials
involved in this
incident.''
In the Santee
shooting,
Charles Andrew
``Andy''
Williams is
charged with 28
felonies,
including two
counts of
murder.
Investigators
say in court
documents that
Williams
carefully
planned the
March 5 shooting
but had no
specific target.
Columbine-Style'
Threat Shuts
Campus
The
Associated Press
Tuesday, Jan.
30, 2001; 2:49
p.m. EST
CUPERTINO,
Calif. –– Police
arrested a
19-year-old man
who they said
had dozens of
pipe bombs,
Molotov
cocktails and
other weapons
and planned to
carry out a
"Columbine-style
attack" on a
community
college.
The man, whom
police did not
immediately
identify, was
arrested late
Monday. Police
closed the De
Anza College
campus Tuesday
morning.
Police said
the man lived in
San Jose and is
a current or
former student
at De Anza.
The man had
30 pipe bombs,
20 Molotov
cocktails,
several weapons
and a stock of
ammunition, said
Capt. Cary
Colla, a
spokesman for
the Santa Clara
County sheriff.
Police in
nearby San Jose
said they
originally
learned of the
arsenal Monday
from a tip.
"Our
investigation
has revealed
that this
suspect intended
to use these
items to conduct
a
Columbine-style
attack," San
Jose Police said
in a statement.
The statement
gave no details
on the tip,
where the
arsenal was
found or how
authorities came
to believe the
college in
nearby Cupertino
was a target.
Tuesday
morning, law
enforcement
officials from
several agencies
including bomb
squads and a
SWAT team,
closed and
evacuated De
Anza's campus.
Colla said
officials wanted
to make sure the
man had not
already placed
any bombs and
that he did not
have an
accomplice.
"We don't
know what areas
are targeted,
and that's part
of the
difficulty of
searching a
campus of this
size," sheriff's
spokesman Doug
Rogers said.
The 112-acre
campus, with
about 26,000
students, is 45
miles south of
San Francisco.
NEWTON,
Mass., May 25
(UPI) --
Handwriting
experts were
called in
Thursday after a
third straight
day of threats
of violence were
found scrawled
on a bathroom
wall at the
Newton, Mass.,
South High
School.
School
officials also
planned to
search the
lockers of all
1,280 students
at the school
Thursday for
weapons or
evidence linked
to the threats.
"Everyone's
on edge," said
Newton School
Superintendent
Jeffrey Young.
"The students,
faculty and
parents all wish
this would end."
Between 700
and 800 students
stayed home from
school on
Wednesday as a
result of the
threats found on
bathroom walls
since Monday.
Those who missed
classes out of
concern for
their safety
will not be
punished, but
all were
expected to
return to
classes on
Thursday, Young
said.
"We feel the
precautions are
in place so that
the school is
safe and we're
prepared to take
our school
back," Young
said. "This
school is ours."
The threats
have disrupted
final exams and
other school
events.
Officials
said all three
threats were
written with a
blue ballpoint
pen and were to
be analyzed by
handwriting
experts.
The latest
threat was
scrawled on a
bathroom wall
Wednesday
despite an
increased police
presence in
school and
numerous parents
who volunteered
to monitor the
facilities. It
read: "Cancel
school tomorrow
or everyone
dies."
Because the
final "s" was
written in the
form of a
swastika, this
is now
considered a
"hate crime,"
said Newton
Police Lt. Paul
Anastasia.
There were no
anti-Semitic
messages in the
two previous
threats.
Authorities
said that
because of the
school shootings
at Columbine
High School in
Colorado and
elsewhere across
the country,
such threats are
taken seriously.
Anastasia
said that three
or four years
ago, such
threats probably
wouldn't have
been reported to
police, but are
now because
outbreaks of
violence at
other schools
have made
officials
sensitive to the
slightest hint
of trouble.
Copyright
2000 by United
Press
International.
.
Two teens in
school shooting
sentenced
One may get
out in as little
as 6 months
Wednesday
October 01, 2003
By Gwen
Filosa
Staff writer
An Orleans
Parish judge
Tuesday
sentenced a
teenage gunman
in a middle
school shooting
three years ago
to the maximum
term available,
until he turns
21, but ordered
him into a
"short-term
offender"
program that
could result in
his release in
as little as six
months.
Juvenile
Court Judge C.
Hearn Taylor
promised Darrell
Johnson, as well
as accomplice
Alfred Anderson,
who also
received
juvenile life,
that he would
visit them while
they serve their
time. Both
teens, now 16,
were convicted
of aggravated
battery for the
shooting in
October 2000 at
G. Carter
Woodson Middle
School. However,
Anderson has a
previous prison
term to finish
before starting
the one Taylor
gave him
Tuesday.
"We'll get
through this
together,"
Taylor told
Johnson. "I'm
sorry for you,
but I'm proud of
your admission
of wrongdoing."
After hearing
defense
attorneys lament
abusive
conditions at
Louisiana's
juvenile
prisons, the
judge crafted
the unique
sentence for
Johnson, who was
13 when he shot
a classmate
during a
lunchtime grudge
match. He will
remain under the
court's
supervision
until he turns
21 even if he is
released early.
Both teens
have been jailed
since Taylor
found them
guilty at trial
July 16. The
judge originally
ruled they were
guilty of
attempted murder
but downgraded
the conviction
weeks later,
saying the boys
did not intend
to kill anyone.
In Juvenile
Court, there are
no mandatory
minimum
sentences, and
judges have wide
discretion in
deciding
penalties. They
usually cannot
choose where a
juvenile serves
time, but they
can specify the
type of facility
for
incarceration.
Taylor
ordered Johnson
to the prison at
Bridge City,
known for better
conditions than
the
much-maligned
maximum-security
cells at
Tallulah.
He did not
specify Bridge
City by name,
however, ruling
instead that
Johnson must
report to a
"facility a
half-block from
a levee that
abuts alongside
the Mississippi
River, and as
close as
possible to the
'Gumbo Capital
of the World.' "
Despite the
death of a
teenager in
custody there
last spring,
Bridge City is
considered the
"best of worst
worlds," as
defense attorney
Derwyn Bunton
put it in court
Tuesday.
The Woodson
shooting three
years ago had
its roots in an
angry rivalry
between teens
who lived in
different public
housing
complexes.
Johnson scrapped
with William
Pennington, then
15, in the
schoolyard and
then walked
away. He
returned with a
handgun, slipped
through the
fence by Alfred
Anderson.
Johnson shot
Pennington, who
wrenched the gun
away and shot
Johnson in the
back as he fled.
Johnson was
confined to a
wheelchair after
the shooting but
has recovered.
Pennington,
who lost a
kidney and his
spleen in the
shooting, was
not charged and
became the
state's key
witness at
trial. He didn't
want to attend
Tuesday's
sentencing,
prosecutors
said.
Anderson, who
was found guilty
of slipping the
.38-caliber
handgun to
Johnson, will
begin serving
time for the
Woodson shooting
after he
finishes a
prison term for
a previous
crime. Since
about two months
before the
Woodson trial in
July, Anderson
has been serving
a 2 ½-year term
for unauthorized
use of a car. He
must complete
that sentence
before starting
the sentence
Taylor gave him
Tuesday.
Unlike his
longtime friend
Johnson,
Anderson says he
is innocent and
has said he
shouldn't be
punished for
something that
occurred three
years ago. The
teen hasn't been
receiving
medication for
depression from
detention center
workers, said
his attorney,
Ferdinand
Valteau III.
Valteau
called no
witnesses.
Anderson
expressed a
desire to speak
for himself in
court, but did
not after a
brief meeting
with his
attorney, mother
and grandmother.
Catrice
Johnson
testified
Tuesday that her
son tried to
enroll in
schools while
the case against
him was pending
but was turned
away. The
necessary
paperwork was
never delivered
by the Woodson
officials, she
and her son's
attorneys said.
When she moved
her family to
Jefferson
Parish, a middle
school principal
there told her
"no judge, no
jury" could make
him accept
Johnson as a
student.
Johnson
hasn't attended
school since the
2000 shooting
but has made
strides in the
classes he has
taken while
jailed in the
past 2 ½ months.
Taylor told him
to get his GED
while in prison.
The
short-term
offender program
is an intensive
rehabilitation
program for
inmates that
includes school
and counseling.
A single
mother of five,
Catrice Johnson
said her son was
no troublemaker
before the
shooting and
that he stayed
close to home
after school.
She walked him
to school that
morning, she
recalled,
because she
wanted to ensure
her children
were safe in a
neighborhood
plagued by
violence.
Gwen Filosa
can be reached
at
gfilosa@timespicayune.com
or (504)
826-3304.
School
principal hailed
as a hero for
negotiating
attacker's
surrender at
Orleans
secondary school
Gary Dimmock and
Glen McGregor
Julie Oliver,
The Ottawa
Citizen /
Students react
in shock to the
steak-knife
(Carine Wilson
Secondary
School)
Julie Oliver,
The Ottawa
Citizen / One of
five stabbing
victims, above,
is rushed into
an ambulance at
Cairine Wilson
Secondary School
in Orleans
yesterday.
A 15-year-old
Orleans high
school boy ran
amok with a
steak knife
yesterday,
slashing and
stabbing four
fellow students
and a school
instructor
before the
principal of
Cairine Wilson
Secondary School
persuaded him to
drop the knife
and give himself
up.
Last night,
the student was
under guard in
hospital
recovering from
self-inflicted
wounds to his
wrists while
police and
school officials
pieced together
the dramatic
events, which
unfolded in the
quiet Ottawa
suburb on the
first
anniversary of
the tragic
Columbine High
School shooting
rampage that
left 15
Americans dead.
While police
said the
stabbings --
none of which
caused life -
threatening
injuries --
appear to have
been planned,
there was
apparently no
link at this
stage of the
investigation to
the
much-publicized
anniversary of
the violence at
the Colorado
school. However
at the
Children's
Hospital of
Eastern Ontario,
which treated
the victims, CEO
Garry Cardiff
said, "it
wouldn't
surprise me that
we are seeing
some element of
a copycat
attack."
The man
emerging as the
hero of
yesterday's
traumatic events
is school
principal Mike
Jordan. He
rushed to the
scene of the
disturbance and
calmly persuaded
the attacker to
hand over the
blood-stained
knife.
"This is a
safe school," he
said as he told
students classes
would be held as
planned next
Tuesday and that
he would explain
yesterday's
events at
assembly that
day.
Last night,
John Owens, a
spokesman for
the
Ottawa-Carleton
District School
Board, described
Mr. Jordan as
"quite a hero.
He disarmed
him."
One of the
students from
Grade 10, Eric
Chenier, wiped
away tears as he
praised his
principal as
"the big hero in
all of this.
"It's a
miracle nobody
died," he said.
Later, Deputy
Chief Vince
Bevan of the
Ottawa-Carleton
police
commented:
"Quite clearly
if there had
been a gun
involved it
would have been
a much more
serious
incident."
While police
said the
suspected
attacker
apparently knew
his first
victim, there
was no evidence
that any of the
other victims
had been
specifically
targeted. But an
all-too-familiar
picture of the
suspect was
being painted
last night by
fellow students
who described
him as a loner
with few
friends, a
"loser" with
greasy hair and
acne problems,
and the frequent
butt of jokes
and teasing.
In the days
leading up to
the Columbine
anniversary,
there had been
reports of
tensions in
schools across
Ontario and
thousands of
parents kept
their children
home, fearing
violence.
Ontario
Premier Mike
Harris offered
his condolences
to victims and
families and
said in a
statement: "As
the father of
two sons who are
in school, I am
deeply troubled
by any news of
violence faced
by our young
people anywhere,
but particularly
in our schools."
The drama
began yesterday
during lunch
break at 11:25
a.m., when an
argument between
two close
friends in Grade
10 turned
violent on the
second floor of
the public
school.
It is not
known if the
boy's friend was
stabbed for
trying to stop
him from
committing
another,
previously
planned act of
violence. But
eyewitnesses
reported that
the suspect
pulled a steak
knife, screaming
that he was sick
enough to kill.
His friend
ran for his
life, while the
attacker gave
chase, waving
the knife.
In the
hallway, outside
the library, the
attacker finally
caught up to his
victim, stabbing
him in the back.
"I can't
believe this is
happening!" the
boy screamed
while his friend
stabbed him.
The boy, his
eyes wild with
rage, turned to
a witness and
threatened to
kill him if he
didn't leave.
"He just kept
stabbing him in
the back so many
times. So many
times," recalled
Brian Caron, 14.
"I couldn't
believe it,"
said the boy,
who was still in
tears. "He had
been running
after him, then
he got him."
The boy said
the victim had
been running
ahead, gaining
distance from
his attacker and
drawing laughter
from students
who thought the
chase was a joke
and the blood
fake.
He came
around the
corner, into a
hall dividing an
English
classroom from
the library.
Further down
the hallway, a
Grade 9 student
sat playing
cards with
friends. Another
student, Joel
MacWilliam,
tried to stop
the attacker,
but couldn't.
The
card-playing
student didn't
see the
knife-wielding
boy coming. The
attacker started
slashing,
cutting the
other boy in the
head and in the
back.
"It felt like
he was hitting
me in the back,
but then I saw
the blood. I
think I tried to
kick him," the
boy told the
Citizen while
paramedics
treated him in
the school's
office.
His attacker
then ran down
the hall and
ducked into a
computer lab,
lunging randomly
at students and
an instructor.
A 16-year-old
girl, known as
an athletic and
intelligent
Grade 11
student, was
working on a
computer
assignment when
the boy rushed
into the room.
He lunged at
her and cut her
forehead. She
fell to the
ground, and
remembers only
seeing people
running.
Yesterday
afternoon, she
lay in bed at
home, her mother
at her side,
recovering from
the wound.
In the
computer lab,
the boy also
stabbed another
male student in
the arm before
turning on a
female
instructor,
puncturing her
back with the
steak knife.
In wild rage,
the boy picked
up a computer
monitor and
threw it through
a window,
sending glass
flying.
Back in the
hallway, student
Rebecca
Greenwood
summoned the
strength and
courage to help
the second
victim get to
his feet.
"I don't know
how I did it,
but I took him
downstairs to
the office and
said, 'Okay,
we'll go down,
we'll talk to
the principal.'
"We took him
downstairs. I
told people in
the office and
told them what
had happened and
went out (of the
school)."
The news of
the stabbings
stunned staff,
sparking an
outpouring of
emotion as they
rushed to call
911. It was then
that Principal
Mike Jordan
raced upstairs
to the computer
lab, where he
found the two
students and the
instructor
bleeding from
their wounds.
The principal
managed to
negotiate the
boy's quick
surrender.
At this time,
scores of
students rushed
upstairs,
craning for a
glimpse of what
was happening.
The victims,
conscious and
clutching their
wounds, were
taken to the
school office
downstairs.
Paramedics
responded within
minutes, finding
an office filled
with
grief-stricken
students and
staff.
The
16-year-old
female victim,
applying a wet
cloth to her
forehead, lay on
a stretcher
waiting to be
transported to
hospital.
Just weeks
ago, the student
-- who has been
voted most
likely to win a
Nobel Prize --
was in Florida
for a field
hockey
tournament.
Her mother
feared for her
safety on the
trip. "I was so
worried that
something would
happen to her
down there. I
never dreamed
anything like
this could
happen in our
neighbourhood."
A few feet to
the girl's left
sat her
classmate, his
shirt torn and
bloody. He
suffered wounds
to his head and
back, yet his
spirits were
remarkably high.
"I don't feel
like I'm dying.
Pray for me," he
said. Against
his objections,
paramedics
wheeled him out
of the school on
a stretcher.
"I'm okay, I can
walk," he
protested.
On another
stretcher lay
the instructor,
stabbed on what
was apparently
her first day at
the school as a
computer lab
technician.
She spoke
with staff busy
trying to
contact
relatives of all
the victims.
Another boy,
applying
pressure to a
cut on his arm,
stood with
friends,
explaining he
wanted to go the
hospital to have
the wound
cleaned.
One victim,
lying in on a
stretcher,
required an
oxygen mask to
breathe.
The suspect
himself suffered
the most serious
injuries, all
self-inflicted.
Unlike the other
students, he has
yet to be
released from
the Children's
Hospital of
Eastern Ontario.
Described by
friends and
family as
unusually
polite, the
suspect now
faces criminal
charges.
Police are
poring over
evidence and
witness
statements,
weighing whether
to charge the
boy with assault
or attempted
murder.
Police say in
the moments
leading to the
knife attack,
the suspect
spoke of planned
violence.
At the
hospital, CHEO
psychologists
gave victims and
their parents
counselling.
Some were
distraught and
others quiet and
withdrawn.
At the
suspect's
Orleans home
yesterday
afternoon, two
uniformed police
officers stood
guard. The home
remained under
guard into the
night, while
detectives
waited for
warrants to
search the
townhouse.
Yesterday,
students were
astonished by
reports that one
of the victims
was a friend of
the suspect --
in fact, many
described the
youth who was
stabbed as the
suspect's only
friend.
"Nobody knew
him and nobody
talked to him
and he ended up
doing it to his
best friend, of
all people. It's
really scary,"
said Grade 10
student Katelyn
Thijssen. She
said the suspect
had bad acne and
was the butt of
jokes.
"They called
him "Pubic Hair"
because his hair
was really short
and curly and
they called him
"Felicity"
because he was
obsessed with
the girl off the
Felicity TV
show," she said.
Grade 10
student Lisa
Aitken said
violence at the
school was
unexpected.
"It's such a
small school.
Everyone thinks
nothing is going
to happen in a
small school,
then something
like this
happens and it
freaks you out,"
she said.
"He had one
friend, and he
stabbed his
friend in the
back,
literally."
Grade 10
student Eric
Chenier, 15,
said he knew the
suspect and
described him as
quiet.
"His hair was
really curly,
people commented
on his
appearance being
kind of greasy,"
he said. "He was
not really
accepted due to
his appearance.
He really had
only one friend.
He stabbed his
best friend."
Nicholas
Cooper, 15, a
Grade 10
student, took
gym and history
with the
suspect, a youth
he says was the
"last person you
think would do
this."
The suspect
was teased over
his "curly,
messy hair,"
even by his
friend.
Though police
said they see no
links to last
year's U.S.
Columbine High
School massacre,
students
couldn't help
but draw
comparisons.
"When
Columbine
happened, we
said, 'Never at
our school,"
said Dylan
Furlong, 19. "We
wouldn't ever
think it could
happen at our
school."
Lindsay
Bustard, huddled
with other
students, cried:
"Why our school?
This is
completely
wrong. Our
school only has
around 400
students and
it's a pretty
safe place.
There's no one
that's really an
outcast, and
it's a place
that's known for
letting people
fit in."
An hour after
the stabbing,
police had
cordoned off the
school. On a
small hill in
front of the
building,
students stood
in a circle,
praying and
singing Amazing
Grace.
The school
has an alert
plan for
emergencies, in
which students
and staff are
required to shut
classroom doors,
cover the
windows, go to
the back of the
classroom and
remain silent
until a public
announcement
advises that
everything is
clear.
In a drill,
everything went
as planned. But
yesterday, the
violence
happened during
lunch, when most
students were
not in classes.
"Instead of
telling people
to get out of
the school, a
lot of kids were
running up to
the second floor
to see what
happened. Some
of the seniors
were trying to
stop them," said
Khris Wong, 19.
.
Two Wounded
Near Arkansas
School
5-11-2000
By DAVID A.
LIEB
.c The
Associated Press
PRAIRIE
GROVE, Ark. (AP)
- A police
officer
exchanged
gunshots with a
seventh-grader
Thursday as the
boy headed
toward his
junior high
school with a
shotgun,
authorities
said. Both were
wounded.
The officer,
who was assigned
part-time to the
school, was
treated and
released from a
hospital. The
12-year-old was
in stable
condition after
being shot in
the abdomen.
``There's
stuff that
indicates he was
heading back to
school,'' said
Police Chief
Robin Casey. ``I
think the good
Lord was on our
side today. I
think he helped
us out and
prevented any
kids from
getting hurt and
hopefully
prevented this
kid from
dying.''
Prairie Grove
Superintendent
Tom Louks said
the boy had
skipped school
Tuesday and
Wednesday after
being involved
in a dispute
Monday. The boy
was brought to
school by at
least one of his
parents Thursday
but left shortly
after classes
began, Louks
said.
Louks said
the boy had not
been suspended
because of
Monday's
incident and had
not been a
discipline
problem before.
``I know the
boy from church.
A nice young
man,'' Louks
said.
The
superintendent
would not say
what happened to
the boy Monday,
but a classmate
said she heard
that he had been
punched.
Students said
the boy, whose
name was not
released, was
friendly.
``He wasn't
violent. We
talked about
school and
stuff,'' said
John Gladwin,
13, who said he
has known the
boy since
kindergarten.
``He was a smart
guy.''
Police said a
resident called
Thursday
morning,
concerned that a
boy seen walking
down a road
might have been
skipping school.
Sgt. Greg Lovett
was dispatched
from his office
at the Prairie
Grove Junior
High School.
In his
search, he ran
across Louks and
a principal who
said they had
seen the boy
near a hay
field. When
Lovett called to
the boy, the
child stood up
in the tall
grass and fired
three or four
blasts from what
Casey described
as ``a family
gun.''
Lovett was
hit in the face
and the chest,
then in the back
and buttocks as
he turned away.
Lovett returned
fire, getting
off about five
rounds, striking
the boy once in
the stomach,
police said.
Louks said he
didn't realize
the boy was
armed until the
first shot was
fired. Lovett
was wearing a
bulletproof
vest.
Prairie Grove
is 200 miles
west of
Jonesboro, where
boys age 13 and
11 shot and
killed four
classmates and a
teacher two
years ago.
Last year,
two students in
Littleton,
Colo., killed 12
students and a
teacher before
committing
suicide inside
Columbine High
School. Other
campus shootings
have occurred
since 1997 in
Pennsylvania,
Oregon and
Mississippi.
The Prairie
Grove school
system, which
has about 1,300
students in
grades K-12,
serves the town
of 1,800 and a
rural,
mountainous area
on the western
fringe of the
Ozark Mountains.
Police didn't
say what charges
they would
consider against
the boy.
AP-NY-05-11-00
2048EDT
.
When Guns
Aren't
Available,
They'll Find
Another Way
Friday -
15:25 04/21/200,
EST
Teen-Ager
Stabs Five at
Canadian High
School
OTTAWA
(Reuters) - A
male pupil
shouting
``I'm...going to
kill you''
stabbed four
students and a
secretary at a
suburban Ottawa
high school
Thursday, a year
to the day after
the U.S.
Columbine High
School massacre.
Police
arrested the
15-year-old
assailant, who
attacked his
victims with a
small kitchen
knife after a
dispute erupted
outside the
school library.
Police said
the victims had
suffered
puncture wounds
to the back and
head but none of
the injuries
were
life-threatening.
All five of the
wounded as well
as the attacker
-- were taken to
hospital.
One pupil
said the
attacker had ``a
lot of
problems'' and
had regularly
been mocked by
other students.
Police said
the principal at
the Cairine
Wilson high
school in
eastern Ottawa
had managed to
calm down the
assailant and
persuaded him to
give up his
knife.
``At 11:25
a.m. (EDT) this
morning a male
student from the
school was
outside the
library and got
into some kind
of a dispute
with other
students. He
began attacking
them with a
small kitchen
knife,'' police
spokesman Leo
Janveau told
reporters
outside the
school.
``The dispute
ended up in the
computer room
where other
students were
attacked. At
some point the
principal
managed to get
into the
computer room to
calm the student
down. He talked
the student into
giving up his
knife,'' he
said.
Three male
students and one
female student
as well as a
female secretary
were taken to
local hospitals.
Janveau said the
attacker's
motive was
unknown but one
student hinted
at a possible
cause for the
attack.
``I know him
quite well. I
think a lot of
people were
making fun of
him because he
has problems, a
lot of
problems...I
didn't think
he'd do that,''
the student told
reporters.
Weeping
parents gathered
outside the
school and some
pupils were
clearly in shock
as they stumbled
out into the
open air.
``My brother
was just sitting
there when this
guy started
stabbing
everyone...He
told my brother
'I'm...going to
kill you too',''
said one
student.
``The guy who
got stabbed came
up to my locker,
man. It was
crazy. Ooooh. He
was like all
bloody. I
thought he was
joking at first.
Then I saw the
blood and I
thought oooh,''
said another
very distraught
pupil.
``I didn't
expect this to
happen here of
all places.
Levels of
violent crime
are much lower
in Canada than
in the United
States, where
there have been
a spate of
school shootings
over the last
few years.
Ontario
Premier Mike
Harris praised
the actions of
the principal
and other school
staff.
``As the
father of two
sons who are in
school, I am
deeply troubled
by any news of
violence faced
by our young
people anywhere,
but particularly
in our
schools,'' he
said.
The Ottawa
school board's
chief social
worker said the
high school had
a good
reputation and
there was no
evidence anyone
had been
planning
violence to mark
the Columbine
anniversary.
``To the best
of our knowledge
it was a random
event. Clearly
(the pupils) are
hurting, they're
sad for their
fellow students.
This is a superb
school, it's a
wonderful
school,'' said
Dan Wiseman.
On April 20,
1999, two
teenage gunmen
killed 12
students and a
teacher before
committing
suicide at the
Columbine school
in Littleton,
Colorado.
Shortly after
the massacre a
15-year-old boy
walked into a
high school in
the western
Canadian town of
Taber, Alberta,
and shot dead
one 17-year-old
student and
wounded another.
The youth,
charged with
murder, emerged
from a coma last
December after
surgery for a
congenital heart
condition but
has still not
gone to trial.
Subj: Two
Arrested in
School Massacre
Plot!/SCHOOL
BOYCOTT APRIL
20!
Date:
04/15/2000
From:
hawki@luckynumber.com
Two Arrested
in School
Massacre Plot//
--SCHOOL
BOYCOTT APRIL 20
---Cal. teens
plot April 20
school massacre!
***SUPPORT
THE APRIL 20
NATIONWIDE
PUBLIC SCHOOL
BOYCOTT!***
If anyone
with their head
in the clouds,
in the sand or
up their rear
ends doesn't
already
understand, this
LATEST news out
of California,
of two high
school students
being arrested
for conspiring
to implement a
mass murder in
their local high
school on the
FIRST
ANNIVERSARY OF
THE COLUMBINE
MASSACRE, ought
to give EVERYONE
a clue! OUR
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ARE TURNING INTO
LIVING HELLS!!!
More and more,
they are
becoming places
of absolutely
horrendous,
unimaginable
violence and
brutality; and
the parents AND
students of this
country need to
FORCE this issue
to the very
forefront of the
nation's
attention. MAKE
THE MEDIA PAY
ATTENTION to the
ROOTS of this
ever-worsening
disease which is
turning OUR
schools into
KILLING HALLS.
We urge ALL
concerned people
in the U.S. to
support the
nationwide
boycott of our
public schools
this Thursday,
April 20. KEEP
ALL STUDENTS OUT
OF SCHOOL ON
THAT DATE!
There's an
aspect to this
LATEST school
mass murder plot
in California
which is of
DEFINITE
interest and
concern.
According to
Tuolumne County
Sheriff's
Department
officers, the
FIVE reported
perpetrators, of
which only TWO
have so far been
arrested, were
NOT directly
influenced by
the Columbine
High School
massacre LAST
April 20 in
choosing THIS
April 20 as the
date they
intended to
commit mass
murder at
Summerville High
School.
So--if they
were NOT
influenced in
their choice of
a date by the
Columbine
shootings, then
why DID they
choose this same
date?
Much evidence
indicates that
this is a ritual
date on which
blood sacrifices
are made to the
ancient demonic
deity "Baal"; in
contrived,
staged, scripted
"events--like
Columbine--set
in motion by
"Illuminati"
elements
embedded in
(covert) levels
of government;
in which the
blood of
innocents is to
be shed, to
provide power to
the
perpetrators.
Eric Harris
and Dylan
Klebold, two of
the "KNOWN"
perpetrators of
the Columbine
assault, chose
the date of
April 20 because
it is Hitler's
birth date.
However,
information made
public in our
articles on the
Columbine
killings and
elsewhere shows
beyond ANY
reasonable doubt
that besides
Harris and
Klebold other
persons,
agencies and
forces WERE
involved in both
the planning and
execution of the
slaughter: and
that those two
were to some
degree
manipulated,
mind controlled
pawns in a much
larger
operation.
The fact that
Harris and
Klebold were
influenced by
April 20 being
Hitler's birth
date doesn't
negate there
being other
reasons or
motives for
conducting the
massacre on this
date. The covert
elements
involved behind
the scenes on
the Columbine
slaughter most
certainly chose
the DATE on
which the
massacre
occurred. The
obvious question
now being; does
the fact this
massacre plot in
California was
supposed to
occur on the
SAME DATE
indicate that
THIS LATEST
school massacre
plot ALSO
involves
sinister covert
elements and
forces behind
the scenes, as
did Columbine?
WHY was this
date chosen for
this California
school
massacre??
Sheriffs said
that their
information was
that at least
FIVE people were
involved in this
mass murder plot
in California:
only TWO have
been arrested
thus far.
Sheriffs also
said that this
planned mass
killing had been
in the works for
OVER ONE YEAR.
Was this
operation in
California
perhaps part of
the VERY SAME
malignant,
Illuminati-linked,
covert intel
scheme which
lurked beneath
the surface of
the Columbine
massacre, and is
the April 20
date a clue to
this? We'd say
the chances of
such being the
case are VERY
high, and if so,
then all the
more reason to
keep students
OUT of (public)
school on this
date.
Again--we
urge everyone to
support the
nationwide
attendance
boycott of our
public schools
this Thursday,
April 20. KEEP
ALL STUDENTS OUT
OF SCHOOL ON
THAT DATE!
NewsHawk®
Inc.
+ + + + + + +
+
WIRE:04/15/2000
15:03:00 ET
Students
Arrested in
Columbine-Type
Plot
SONORA,
Calif. (Reuters)
- Two
17-year-olds
have been
arrested on
charges of
plotting a
bloody raid on a
California high
school on April
20th, the first
anniversary of
the Columbine
High School
massacre in
Colorado,
sheriff's
department
officials
confirmed
Saturday.
The teenagers
were booked on
conspiracy to
commit murder
after police
uncovered a
cache of knives
and swords they
allegedly
planned to use
to murder
students and
school employees
at Summerville
High School in
Tuolumne City,
about 85 miles
east of San
Francisco.
One of the
two youths
arrested attends
Summerville High
School, while
the other was a
former student.
Police said they
were apparently
not directly
inspired by the
Columbine
killings,
despite the
grisly
anniversary.
"They had
been planning
this for more
than a year,"
Sheriff Dick
Rogers told
local media late
Friday. "Since
before
Columbine."
April 20 also
marks Adolf
Hitler's
birthday --
apparently one
reason why
Columbine
killers Dylan
Klebold and Eric
Harris chose
that day to
shoot and kill
12 fellow
students and a
popular teacher
before taking
their own lives.
Sheriff's
department
officials
Saturday
confirmed the
arrests, but
said no further
information
would be
available until
Monday.
At a local
news conference
Friday, Rogers
said Tuolumne
County
authorities
first heard
about the
Summerville plot
last month and
were given the
names of three
or four
17-year-olds and
one 18-year-old
allegedly
involved.
Although the
attack was
allegedly
planned for
April 20,
investigators
grew worried
that it might
come earlier
because
Summerville is
on spring break
next week and
the campus would
be empty.
On Thursday,
investigators
obtained a
search warrant
for the home of
one of the
suspects, and
more search
warrants were
secured Friday.
Officials said
that altogether,
more than 40
pieces of
evidence were
seized including
knives, swords,
and some guns as
well as
computers that
the teenagers
used to
communicate.
"The weapons
that were seized
were quite
unusual," Rogers
was quoted as
saying by
Saturday's
Modesto Bee.
"They were not
something you
could find at
the local
hardware store."
Officials
declined to say
if the suspects
belonged to a
political
organization or
a hate group, or
what their
apparent motive
was. They also
declined to say
if there was a
list of specific
targets.
"We do have
that information
but it could
possibly
jeopardize other
work we have to
do," Rogers
said.
Investigators
and prosecutors
plan to meet
Monday to review
the evidence and
determine what
charges to file.
Those convicted
in juvenile
court of
conspiracy to
commit murder
can be kept in
custody until
the age of 25.
.
Subject:
[KENT] Major
"spook"-iness in
Southern
California
Date: Sat, 11
Mar 2000
From:
Phikent@xxx
To:
hawk_news@yahoo.com
Subj: Major
"spook"-iness in
Southern
California
Date: 3/11/00
Kent-
There's a
truly bizarre
story developing
in Southern
California that
I thought your
readers would be
interested in.
Most the
local news is
covering it. The
gist is this:
A wealthy,
exclusive
neighborhood has
been evacuated
in Orange
County, because
one of the
residents
committed
suicide this
week. His name
was Larry Ford,
and we was
co-partner of a
bio-genetics
firm called
BioFem.
Thing is,
after Ford's
suicide, the
police received
an anonymous tip
that claimed the
dead scientist
had buried
AIDS-related
biomedical
research in his
backyard.
Hence, the
evacuation of
the neighborhood
(nearly 200
people, it looks
like a "hot
zone" lockdown)
-- because it
turns out, Ford
DID bury a whole
cache of things
underneath his
house, including
bombs and
firearms. He has
a family, a
wife, and they
are all shocked
by it.
The "spooky"
part -
allegations are
being made that
he worked for
the CIA. Even
his own wife did
not know this.
Quoting from
a Los Angeles
Times article
now:
"...two
former South
African military
science
researchers said
Friday that at
one point, Ford
hosted a seminar
in lacing
everyday items
with biological
agents. The
researchers
asked not to be
identified in
part because
they have been
called as
witnesses in a
criminal trial
and are under
court orders not
to discuss the
case."
"Dr. Neil
Knobel, former
military surgeon
general who held
administrative
responsibility
for the weapons
program,
described Ford
as a 'brilliant
scientist' who
was
knowledgeable
about a wide
range of fields,
including
biochemical
warfare...During
the Persian Gulf
War, Knobel said
he asked Ford
for informal
advice on
protecting South
African forces
based in Tel
Aviv, Israel,
from biochemical
weapons.
"He even
arranged for
antitoxins to be
delivered to our
personnel in Tel
Aviv," Knobel
said, "so he
clearly had
influence
somewhere."
And Kent, it
doesn't end
there!
Even weirder
-- his
co-partner in
the company,
James Patrick
Riley, was
almost killed a
few days earlier
on March 2 in a
separate murder
attempt! He
survived, and it
was three days
later that Ford
then committed
suicide.
This
*screams* spook
activity! Like
somebody's
trying to knock
off the top
executives at
this BioFem
company for
something they
must know.
And what the
hell is a
brilliant
scientist doing
with buried
caches of
weapons in his
backyard?!
Murder!
Suicide!
Whispers of
biological
agents,
neighbors
evacuated,
connections to
intelligence
agencies...you
get the picture.
3-8-00 -
Senator McCain
did not come to
California to
debate, then
lost the
subsequent
California
election and
pulled out of
the Presidential
race. Is that
the meaning of
the 'Deathstar'?
McCain To
Miss This Week's
Debate
By Mike
Glover
Associated
Press Writer
Sunday, Feb.
27, 2000; 8:13
p.m. EST
WASHINGTON ––
Republican John
McCain won't
take part in
this week's GOP
presidential
campaign debate,
and aides say
they pulled out
because rival
George W. Bush
was slow to
agree to the
California event
and that sparked
scheduling
conflicts.
McCain's
aides denied the
move represented
a shift in
strategy and
resources away
from California
toward other
important states
that vote on
March 7, like
New York.
"We're not
going to let
George Bush
dictate our
schedule," said
McCain spokesman
Todd Harris.
Harris said
McCain remained
committed to
fighting hard in
California and
pointed to a
heavy campaign
schedule in that
state all week.
Bush, who was
having none of
the explanation,
said McCain was
ducking.
"He's going
to have to
explain why he's
not going to
this debate,"
said Bush, who
blamed McCain
for pulling out
of the debate
planned in
California on
Thursday. "I was
led to believe
earlier this
week that
everybody had
accepted."
McCain aides
had a differing
view. They said
Bush had
initially turned
down the
California
debate, then
changed his mind
only after
McCain had
assembled an
intense campaign
schedule in New
York. That
schedule was
impossible to
alter, said aide
Lanny Wiles.
Wiles said
aides had
planned live
network
television
appearances from
the campaign's
bus, and
couldn't
reschedule those
events.
"You can't
change all that
simply because
he changes his
mind at the last
minute," Wiles
said.
Other McCain
aides who spoke
on condition of
anonymity said
negotiations
were under way
to schedule a
joint appearance
on NBC's "Meet
the Press" on
Sunday.
Democrats Al
Gore and Bill
Bradley have
held such an
appearance.
McCain did
not address the
issue in public
appearances
Sunday, though
staffers
discussed it
with reporters.
Harris
dismissed Bush's
sudden focus on
campaign
debates.
"They lose a
couple of
primaries and
all of a sudden
they're
born-again
debaters," said
Harris.
McCain
wrapped up his
campaign day
with a noisy
rally at his
suburban
Washington
campaign
headquarters,
after collecting
earlier in the
day the
endorsements of
the New York
Post and the Sun
of Baltimore.
(This is a
copy of an
e-mail I sent to
a close friend
of mine who has
helped me warn
people of my
prophecies in
the past.) Sent
02/24/2000
4:03:49 AM
Central Standard
Time
Hi:
It's me the
worry-wart. This
time I'm worried
half sick.
On 11-2-99, I
had a bad dream
which I turned
into a web page
which you can
see here:
http://www.greatdreams.com/death/deathstr.htm
DEATHSTAR - A
PROPHECY - 1999
Because of
the dream and
it's placement
in Los Angeles
and the
highschool, I
naturally
assumed that
kids were going
to be killed
like Coumbine.
I've been
following school
shootings on
this page, not
even bothering
with the onesy -
twosey
shootings...
just the more
major ones or
the scares.
But now...
Senator John
McCain has been
going around the
country
recently, giving
speeches while
he is running
for President,
and when he said
he felt like
Luke Skywalker
getting out of
the Deathstar,
my blood ran
cold. He's been
using that
speech idiom
over and over
this last week,
and to top it
off, he will
probably be in
Los Angeles
shortly because
the California
primary is March
7, 2000, on
super Tuesday.
Please read
this dream about
the delivery of
the fertilizer,
the homophobia
scene, the
newspaper scene,
the old woman
with the fallen
bicycle, the
Swat Team scene,
the school
surrounded by a
wire cage, and
see what I mean.
I'm freaking
out over this
one. My Oklahoma
bombing dreams
were nothing
compared to
these clues. I'm
hoping you'll
tell me I'm
wrong on this
one. If your
blood runs cold
like mine did,
please pass this
on to the
appropriate
ears.
Thanks!
Dee
McCain to
Bush GOP: Get
With It
By Laurie
Kellman
Associated
Press Writer
Wednesday,
Feb. 23, 2000;
7:57 p.m. EST
SEATTLE ––
John McCain is
inviting George
W. Bush's
supporters to
"get with it"
and join him
after his latest
primary
victories, even
as he seeks to
convince critics
of his
conservative
credentials.
"I'm a proud
conservative
Republican. I am
a Reagan
Republican. Have
no doubt about
that," McCain
told the Rotary
Club here
Wednesday.
"I have to
convince and
tell our
Republican Party
establishment:
It's great over
here," he added.
"Come on in.
Join us. Join us
in this effort
to be an
inclusive party.
Join us in this
effort to reach
out."
After winning
handily in his
home state and
beating Bush in
Michigan, McCain
turned his
attention to
upcoming
battlegrounds on
the West Coast.
He cast the
nomination fight
as a choice
between an
inclusive
reformer who can
win the White
House and a $70
million
candidate who
appeals mostly
to the
establishment.
"The great
thing about this
victory
yesterday was
that we have
proven – I hope
to my Republican
friends and I
believe to most
Americans – that
we can
reassemble a
coalition" of
bipartisan
support in the
tradition of
President
Reagan, McCain
told an overflow
crowd at Gonzaga
University in
Spokane.
"This is a
crusade. Get
with it, and you
will enjoy the
ride," he added.
Here in
Washington, a
McCain win on
Tuesday would
only guarantee
him 12 of the
state's 37
delegate votes.
The rest would
be picked by a
caucus March 7.
But McCain's
effort is more
about momentum
than math, and
on Wednesday he
campaigned in
high spirits.
"Everyone can
come onboard
this train
because we're
leaving the
station, my
friends," McCain
said.
But in epic,
pop-culture
terms, McCain
returned to a
metaphor he has
used often to
acknowledge he
had not won the
nomination yet.
"We're still
Luke Skywalker
trying to escape
from the Death
Star," he said.
McCain is
focusing for the
next two days on
Washington,
which votes on
Tuesday, and
California,
whose residents
go to the polls
on "Super
Tuesday" a week
later. The
Arizona senator
also planned
some down time
Thursday with a
24-hour rest at
his vacation
home in Sedona
before heading
to San Diego on
Friday.
"We've been
going nonstop
for weeks and
the senator
wanted to take a
day to spend a
day with his
family and take
a little rest,"
said Howard
Opinsky,
McCain's
campaign
spokesman.
From there,
his schedule
brings him east
to Cleveland and
Columbus, Ohio,
on Saturday,
then back to
Washington,
D.C., through
Sunday. No
longer planning
to cede Virginia
to Bush, McCain
planned a town
hall meeting in
the Washington
suburbs on
Monday before
swinging through
Atlanta on his
way back to
California.
In California
on Wednesday,
Gov. Gray Davis
rebuked McCain
for describing
his Vietnam war
captors as
"gooks." McCain
apologized
Monday for using
the term. But at
the same time,
Davis warned
critics of
McCain to "just
mentally put
themselves in
his place."
Throughout
the odyssey,
McCain plans to
concentrate on
his signature
issue, campaign
finance reform,
and on such
other matters as
his intent to
use federal
budget surpluses
to pay off the
national debt.
The candidate
plans to resist
being drawn into
distracting
squabbles with
Bush over whose
campaign made
which negative
calls to voters,
one senior aide
said. A day
earlier,
McCain's aides
were caught
denying that the
campaign was
making such
calls to
Catholic voters,
until confronted
with a
transcript
provided by the
Bush campaign.
McCain early
Wednesday said
he "had nothing
to do" with
those calls,
then defended
their accuracy.
"That was an
accurate phone
call. I didn't
call anyone a
bigot," he told
reporters.
The days of
engaging in
distracting
yes-no haggling
"are over,"
senior adviser
Mike Murphy said
later. "The
reform message
is very
powerful,
combined with
the message of
fiscal
conservatism."
For the
second time in
the same speech,
McCain declared
his
conservatism.
And, without
being asked, he
explained his
sponsorship in
1998 of an
anti-tobacco
bill that made
him an enemy of
many on the
right.
"I am a
strong loyal
conservative
Republican,"
McCain said.
"There are times
when you have to
stand up for
what you believe
in."
SEATTLE (AP) -
A decorated
war pilot
challenges a
powerful foe and
escapes
extinction by a
hair, living to
fight another
day. Get the
light sabres.
Cue the musical
score.
Only the
drama isn't
happening a long
time ago, in a
galaxy far, far
away.
Right here,
right now,
Republican
presidential
candidate John
McCain has found
his favorite
campaign
metaphor:
himself as Luke
Skywalker and
rival George W.
Bush as Darth
Vader.
McCain, a
former Navy
pilot who was
shot down by the
Vietnamese in
1967 and held
captive for 51/2
years, waved a
green plastic
light sabre on
stage Tuesday
after declaring
victory over
Bush in Michigan
and Arizona.
But in Star
Wars-speak, he
acknowledged the
next day that
the he hadn't
altogether
mastered The
Force.
``We're
still Luke
Skywalker trying
to escape from
the Death
Star,'' McCain
said aboard his
chartered jet.
There,
unfortunately,
the metaphor
broke down.
His chartered
flying machine,
for example, in
no way resembles
the X-Wing
Fighter; it
flies
substantially
slower.
BY THE
NUMBERS:
21,728 -
number of
Democrats in
Massachusetts as
of Wednesday who
have
reregistered as
unenrolled,
making them
eligible to vote
in either
primary March 7.
As of Wednesday,
4,091 Democrats
had reregistered
as Republicans.
(Source:
Massachusetts
secretary of
state's office.)
VOTER'S
VOICE:
``He's made
the campaign
interesting for
the first time
in my 13 years
of voting,'' -
Wendy
Fairbrother, 32,
of Rockland,
Calif., who
showed up at 7
a.m. to get
McCain's
autograph.
THIS DATE
FOUR YEARS AGO:
Calling
himself a
``happy
warrior,'' Pat
Buchanan vowed
to ignore his
detractors even
as he challenged
Bob Dole to
match his
frenetic
campaign pace in
Arizona. ``They
can call me all
the names they
want. We're not
going to
compromise.
We're not going
to apologize,''
a defiant
Buchanan said.
Dole rapped
Buchanan for his
anti-trade
positions.
``We're not
going to solve
it by building a
wall around
America,'' Dole
said of the U.S.
trade deficit.
Dole also
told senior
citizens he
would protect
their government
benefits.
``We're not
going to
devastate
Medicare. Don't
let Bill Clinton
scare you,'' he
said.
THURSDAY'S
ROUNDUP:
Al Gore was
endorsed
Thursday by the
New York League
of Conservation
Voters. But
Friends of the
Earth, which
supports rival
Bill Bradley,
accused Gore of
selling out on
his promise to
protect
wetlands.
Bradley,
meanwhile,
opened a six-day
swing through
Washington
state.
McCain billed
himself as a
``Reagan
Republican''
while
campaigning in
California, the
former
president's home
state. He also
picked up an
endorsement from
San Diego Mayor
Susan Golding.
Bush was down in
Texas.
FRIDAY'S
TRAIL:
Bush
campaigns at
America Online
in northern
Virginia, and
later in
Richmond. McCain
campaigns in
Ohio. Bradley
continues in
Washington state
and Gore visits
Ohio and
California.
The
information
contained in the
AP News report
may not be
published,
broadcast,
rewritten or
redistributed
without the
prior written
authority of The
Associated
Press.
.
List of
Recent School
Shootings
.c The
Associated Press
Some other
recent shootings
involving
schools:
Dec. 7, 1999
-
Dec. 6, 1999 - A
13-year-old
student at
Fort Gibson
Middle School in
Fort Gibson,
Okla., wounded
four classmates
and was still
trying to pull
the trigger on
an empty gun
when he was
subdued by a
science teacher.
He said ''I
don't know''
when asked why
he did it.
May 20, 1999
- A 15-year-old
boy at Heritage
High School in
Conyers, Ga.,
opened fire with
a .357 Magnum
and a rifle on a
commons area,
wounding six
students. He was
charged with
aggravated
assault and
other felonies.
A judge ordered
him tried in
adult court. His
lawyers are
appealing.
April 20,
1999 - Two
students at
Columbine High
School in
Littleton,
Colo., shot 12
students and a
teacher to
death, wound 23
before killing
themselves.
May 21, 1998
- Two teen-agers
were killed and
more than 20
people hurt when
a teen-age boy
allegedly opened
fire at high
school in
Springfield,
Ore., after
killing his
parents at home.
Kip Kinkel, 17,
was sentenced to
nearly 112 years
in prison on
Nov. 20.
May 19, 1998
- Three days
before his
graduation, an
18-year-old
honor student
allegedly opened
fire in parking
lot at high
school in
Fayetteville,
Tenn., killing a
classmate who
was dating his
ex-girlfriend.
He is awaiting
trial.
April 24,
1998 - A science
teacher was shot
to death in
front of
students at
eighth-grade
dance at banquet
hall in
Edinboro, Pa. A
14-year-old
student awaits
trial. The
motive is
unclear.
March 24,
1998 - Four
girls and a
teacher were
shot to death
and 10 people
wounded during
false fire alarm
at middle school
in Jonesboro,
Ark., when two
boys, 11 and 13,
fired from the
woods. Police
did not suggest
a motive. Both
boys were
convicted of
murder and can
be held up to
age 21.
Dec. 1, 1997
- Three students
were killed and
five others
wounded in a
hallway at Heath
High School in
West Paducah,
Ky. One girl is
left paralyzed.
A 14-year-old
student pleaded
guilty but
mentally ill to
murder and is
serving life in
prison. When
asked why he did
it, he said he
didn't know.
Oct. 1, 1997
- A 16-year-old
boy in Pearl,
Miss., was
accused of
killing his
mother, then
going to his
high school and
shooting nine
students, two
fatally. He was
sentenced to
life in prison.
The alleged
mastermind of
the attack
awaits trial.
Authorities have
said the teens
were in a
cultlike group.
AP-NY-12-06-99
1344EDT
..
Five youths
arrested for
school threat
Tuesday, 21
December 1999
(UPI Focus)
Five youths
arrested for
school threat
PARSONS,
Kan., Dec. 20,
99 (UPI) - Five
boys were
arrested after
planning what
one official
called "another
Columbine" that
targeted seven
people at a
rural high
school.
Labette
County Attorney
Bob Forer said
Monday that the
five, all 17
years old, were
charged with
conspiracy to
commit
first-degree
murder.
An
investigation
showed that two
administrators,
five teachers
and one student
at Labette
County High
School had been
targeted by the
suspects.
A detention
hearing is
scheduled for
Tuesday. The
suspects were
being held
Monday in a
juvenile
facility in
Girard, Kan.
According to
a release from
the Labette
County Sheriff's
office, school
officials
reported a
threat Friday
and, after a
"fast-moving
investigation"
officers from
six
organizations on
Saturday morning
arrested the
suspects at
their homes in
the area around
Altamont, Kan.,
in the southeast
corner of the
state.
The release
stated that the
suspects were
planning an
"armed assault"
at Labette
County High
School on Monday
morning after
having "targeted
several specific
individuals."
Among
writings
recovered from
the suspects was
the marking
"4:20," believed
by investigators
to be a
reference to
April 20. That
is the date two
high school
students stormed
into Columbine
High School in
Littleton,
Colo., and
killed 12
students and a
teachers before
taking their own
lives. It is
thought the
suspects in the
Columbine
shootings picked
the April 20
date because it
was the birth
date of Adolph
Hitler.
-- Copyright
1999 by United
Press
International.
All rights
reserved.
.
Chat Room
Threat Closes
Columbine
Internet Chat
Room Threat
Directed at
1,900-Student
School
.c The
Associated Press
LITTLETON,
Colo. (Dec. 16,
99) - Classes
and final exams
were canceled
today and Friday
at Columbine
High School
after a threat
was made in an
Internet chat
room.
School
district
spokesman Rick
Kaufman would
not give
specifics about
the threat but
said it was
directed at the
1,900-student
school and not
an individual
student.
''It was
about some kind
of act that was
to occur today
at Columbine
High School,''
Kaufman said.
''In the
interest of the
safety and
emotional
well-being of
our community,
we canceled
classes.''
The family of
the student who
saw it Wednesday
night
immediately
contacted the
sheriff's
department and
school security,
Kaufman said.
Marilyn
Saltzman,
another school
spokeswoman,
said authorities
''swept the
building inside
and out'' but
found nothing.
Students had
been scheduled
to take final
exams today in
advance of the
winter holiday
break. Friday
was to have been
a make-up day
for those who
missed any final
exams. The
finals will
likely be
rescheduled
after classes
resume Jan. 5,
Kaufman said.
''It's a
really bad joke.
Now we're going
to have to study
over the
break,'' said
Dan Goin, a
senior who drove
to school in a
pickup truck.
''But you never
know, they may
have saved all
our lives
today.''
Twelve
Columbine
students and a
teacher were
killed April 20
by two teen-age
gunmen, who then
killed
themselves.
AP-NY-12-16-99
1120EST
12.17.99
1 Arrested,
Other Still
Sought For
Columbine
Threats
No sooner was
18-year-old
Michael Ian
Campbell of Cape
Coral, Florida
arrested by the
FBI at his home
Friday, charged
with making an
Internet threats
of an impending
massacre at
Columbine High
School such as
occurred there
last April, then
Colorado's U.S.
attorney Tom
Strickland
disclosed that
other similar
threats
regarding the
school were
currently under
investigation.
Campbell's
threats were
frightening
enough for
school
authorities to
cancel classes
at Columbine for
two days.
Strickland
said Campbell
was arrested for
"transmitting in
interstate
commerce a
communication
containing a
threat to injure
another person;"
adding that the
arrest "should
send a strong
message that
threats,
especially
against our
schools, will
not be
tolerated."
Even though
Strickland then
noted that other
threats against
the school had
been made and
were being
investigated, he
refused to
comment further,
which would
indicate that
the ongoing
investigations
have yet to
yield tangible
results.
Comforting,
isn't it?
Maybe parents
ought to just
stop sending
their children
to the place.
NewsHawk®
Inc.
.
11-4-99
School Essay
Lands Boy in
Jail
Paper
Mentions Guns,
Drug
Paraphernalia;
Lawyer Calls
Boy's Ordeal
'Bizarre'
By JOSH
ROMONEK
.c The
Associated Press
PONDER, Texas
(Nov. 4, 99) - A
seventh-grader's
Halloween essay
about shooting
classmates and
his teacher was
a wake-up call
for educators,
the Ponder
school
superintendent
says.
''We are
going to take a
look at all our
writing projects
with our
students, the
assignments that
are given, the
kind of things
that may be said
in those,'' said
Byron Welch, who
runs the
district in
Denton County.
Thirteen-year-old
Christopher
Beamon was
arrested last
week and
released from
juvenile
detention
Tuesday. His
paper mentions a
shotgun, a
handgun and
different kinds
of drug
paraphernalia.
Christopher's
parents say they
plan to pull him
from Ponder High
School and place
him in a private
school.
The family's
lawyer, William
Short, said
Christopher will
get professional
help for the
ordeal he has
been through.
''It started
as confused,
became absurd
and ended as
bizarre,'' Short
told The Dallas
Morning News.
Welch said
the Beamons can
tell their side
of the story at
a school
district
hearing.
''At that
time, any
disciplinary
actions by the
district will be
decided,'' he
said. ''If
disciplinary
measures are
forthcoming, the
parents will
have an
opportunity to
appeal the
decision to the
school board.''
Denton County
District
Attorney Bruce
Isaacks has said
he won't
prosecute.
Christopher's
essay and arrest
drew comments
about school
violence and
teacher
responsibility.
Gov. George W.
Bush, asked
about the case
while on the
presidential
campaign trail
in Delaware,
said hints of
violence in
schools can't be
taken lightly.
''We've
instructed our
school officials
to take any
threat to any
child
seriously,'' he
said.
Judith Kelly,
director of the
National Writing
Project for the
Washington,
D.C., area, said
teachers must
consider the
world students
live in when
making
assignments.
Christopher's
teacher, Amanda
Henry, asked the
class to write a
story about
being home alone
in the dark and
hearing noises.
''Times have
changed and
things are
happening now,
with violence in
schools and
violence in the
community, that
didn't back
then, 20 or so
years ago,''
said Ms. Kelly,
who taught
junior high
students for 27
years. ''In my
time, kids would
have written
about ghosts and
goblins.''
AP-NY-11-04-99
0657EST
..
11.13.99
Columbine-type
Gun Slayings in
Brazil
Gunman said
influenced by
violent computer
game
Prescribed
use of
psychotropic
drugs also a
factor
Unfortunately,
it appears the
cancer of mass
shootings by
mind-controlled,
"Manchurian
Candidate"-type
murderers is
spreading to
other countries.
We're betting
heavily there's
a major movement
afoot in Brazil
to have their
national
government
restrict the
rights of
residents to own
guns.
SAO PAULO
(Reuters) - A
computer game
may have
motivated a
medical student
to go on a
deadly shooting
rampage in a
packed Brazilian
cinema hall last
week, according
to police.
Local news
reports on
Thursday quoted
police as saying
Mateus da Costa
Meira, 24, a
computer
devotee, may
have copied a
scene from a
popular
three-dimensional
game ``Duke
Nukem,'' when he
killed three
people and left
eight wounded in
the theater of a
posh shopping
mall in Brazil's
biggest city.
The game,
where the player
has to
exterminate as
many aliens
invading Los
Angeles streets
as possible,
normally carries
''violence'' and
``adult
language''
warning labels.
Police found
three computers
and hundreds of
CD-ROM computer
disks at Meira's
apartment.
Folha de Sao
Paulo newspaper
said police
suspected Meira
followed the
game step by
step, including
his choice of
weapons and
shooting
position at the
Sao Paulo
theater.
In the game,
the player can
find a similar
automatic gun
before entering
a cinema
building. Then,
he can go into
the cinema's
bathroom, where
some evil
monsters hide
and before
finally entering
the movie
theater.
Meira also
entered the
cinema's
bathroom before
the massacre and
fired one shot
in the mirror
there. In the
game, mirrors
spectacularly
crack when hit
by bullets,
sometimes
revealing hidden
weapons or
useful objects.
Later Meira
entered the
theater where a
film was being
screened and
allegedly
sprayed the
movie-goers with
at least 50
rounds from an
automatic
handgun. Two
people were
killed on the
spot and one
died later in a
hospital.
According to
police, Meira
was overpowered
by security
guards when he
stopped to
reload his gun.
Officials said
it was Meira's
clear intention
to kill everyone
in the hall.
Authorities
said Meira may
also have been
under the
influence of
drugs. They also
said he had in
the past
received
psychological
treatment for
stress-related
problems.
The shooting
took place
during a showing
of the
post-modern
satire ``Fight
Club,'' which
stars Brad Pitt
and Edward
Norton and has
been criticized
by some for its
violence. Police
gave no
indication if
the movie had
anything to do
with the
shooting.
Child
Killer’s Brutal
Childhood
Confessed
Serial Killer in
Colombia Beaten
and Raped as
Youth
Forensic
investigators
carry bags
containing
remains of some
of 36 boys found
in a mass grave
in the western
city of Pereira
in November of
1998.
Authorities say
a man arrested
in April has
confessed to
abducting and
killing 140
children. (AP
Photo)
By Martin
Hodgson
The
Associated Press
B O G O T A,
Colombia, Nov. 1
— The drifter
who allegedly
admitted killing
140 children
across Colombia
said he has a
history of
mental illness
and alcohol
abuse and was
beaten and raped
as a child,
according to
published
reports.
When the
judge asked him
if he was the
killer of 114
children whose
bodies were
found in 59
Colombian towns
beginning in
1994.
(ABCNEWS.com/
Magellan
Geographix)
Excerpts of
Luis Alfredo
Garavito’s
confession,
appearing Sunday
in Bogota’s
leading
newspaper, El
Tiempo, offered
a more complete
picture of his
background.
Garavito, 42,
arrested in
April on an
attempted rape
charge,
reportedly told
all during a
five-hour
interview with
an investigating
judge and a
psychologist
that began
Thursday night.
When the
judge asked him
if he was the
killer of 114
children whose
bodies were
found in 59
Colombian towns
beginning in
1994, Garavito
admitted the
crimes and
begged to be
forgiven. Then
he confessed to
26 more murders.
“I ask you to
pardon me for
all I have done,
and all I will
confess. Yes, I
killed them —
and many
others,” he said
in an excerpt
from the
videotaped
confession
broadcast by
Colombian
television
newscasts.
Drawing a
battered
notebook from
his pocket,
Garavito showed
the judge and
psychologist his
tally of the
killings he
claimed, El
Tiempo said.
Across the
creased pages
were scratched
140 lines — one
for every
victim.
A Killer’s
Story
As the night
wore on,
Garavito told
his life story,
the newspaper
reported:
Born in
Colombia’s
western
coffee-growing
region, he was
the oldest of
seven children
and grew up in
an atmosphere of
violence: beaten
by his father,
and repeatedly
raped by two
male neighbors.
Garavito was
also treated for
alcoholism,
depression and
suicidal
tendencies.
According to
the newspaper,
Garavito had
just five years
of schooling and
left home at 16,
working first as
a store clerk,
then as a street
vendor who sold
religious icons
and prayer
cards.
Prosecutors
said that it was
on the street
that Garavito
found his
victims, gaining
their confidence
with gifts of
soft drinks and
money.
The Terror
Begins
Garavito
apparently
committed his
first murder in
1992, but the
hunt for the
worst
serial-killer in
Colombian
history was not
launched until
last year, when
25 bodies were
found in the
western city of
Pereira. The
victims — mostly
boys between 8
and 16 — were
found with their
throats slit.
Some had been
tortured and
raped, said
chief prosecutor
Alfonso Gomez
Mendez, who
announced
Garavito’s
gruesome killing
spree at a
Friday news
conference.
Investigators
were led to
Garavito when
witnesses and
hotel records
placed him near
many of the
murders, and
rope found in
his home matched
the cord used to
tie many of the
victims’ hands,
among other
clues.
He awaits
formal charges.
..
Boy pulls
guns on biology
class
Tuesday, 14
December 1999
(UPI Focus)
Boy pulls
guns on biology
class
MIAMI, Dec.
14, 99 (UPI) - A
ninth-grader at
Archbishop
Curley Notre
Dame High School
in Miami pulled
two guns on his
biology class
Tuesday and held
it hostage for
several minutes.
A team of
teachers trained
in negotiations
after the
Columbine High
School tragedy
in Colorado last
April talked the
youth into
releasing the
class. Police
were summoned
and took him
into custody.
The two handguns
- a 9 mm pistol
and a .25
caliber
semi-automatic -
were not fired
and no one was
hurt. Witnesses
said the student
got into an
argument, left
the classroom
for his locker
and came back
with a gun in
his hand. Police
said he soon he
produced another
handgun and
ammunition from
his backpack.
Biology teacher
Heather
Gillingham said,
"He immediately
took control and
said 'This is
how we're going
to do things."'
Jerry Yeash, one
of the
negotiators at
the parochial
school, said he
feared for the
boy. "He never
pointed the guns
at anyone. He
never pointed
them at me,"
Yeash said. "He
basically held
them at his
side. I was
afraid more than
anything of what
he was going to
do to himself."
Police were
considering
charges,
including
reckless display
of firearms.
Copyright
1999 by United
Press
International.
All rights
reserved
Shooter
committs suicide
at WCC
http://www.wcc.co.westchester.ny.us/
The college
shooting leads
our news. The
shots rang out
this afternoon
in a school
building at
Westchester
Community
College. In the
end a female
student was hit
in the forehead.
The man
responsible
killed himself.
Our team
coverage begins
with News 12's
Dan Loughran in
Valhalla.. Dan
what's the
latest.
The shots
rang out as
students were in
classrooms just
feet away. None
of them were
hurt. But many
on campus say
they were taken
by surprise. The
case comes just
days after a
similar crime at
Columbia
University.
One dead, one
wounded, in WCC
shooting
(Valhalla-AP)
-- February 7,
2000 - A man
shot and wounded
a female student
at Westchester
Community
College today
before killing
himself.
Westchester
County Police
said the woman
was shot shortly
after noon
inside the
Academic Arts
Building of the
community
college. She
suffered a
superficial
wound to the
head.
Police say
the man didn't
attend the
school. A
spokeswoman for
the Westchester
County
executive's
office, said the
two had known
each other.
Police said they
may have had an
argument just
before the
shooting. Their
names and
details of the
shooting weren't
immediately
available.
Prosecutor
Discusses Young
Shooter
By NEDRA
PICKLER
.c The
Associated Press
MOUNT MORRIS
TOWNSHIP, Mich.
(AP) (Mar 1,
2000)- The
6-year-old boy
who killed a
fellow
first-grader
lived in a
``flophouse''
where drugs were
found and used a
stolen handgun
he apparently
discovered
loaded and lying
in a bedroom
there,
authorities said
today.
The boy's
jailed father
told a sheriff
he had ``a
sinking
feeling'' his
son was involved
when he heard
about the
shooting.
Genesee
County
Prosecutor
Arthur Busch
said the house
where the boy
and his mother
and brother were
staying with an
uncle was
frequented by
strangers, and
the father said
people there
traded crack for
guns. The uncle
was arrested on
an outstanding
warrant and was
to be
questioned,
police said.
``This boy
comes from a
very troubled
home,'' Busch
said on NBC's
``Today'' show.
``He is really a
victim of a drug
culture and a
house that's
really in
chaos.''
Kayla
Rolland, also 6,
died a half-hour
after she was
shot in the
chest at Buell
Elementary
School on
Tuesday morning.
Busch said there
may have been
``some sort of
scuffle or
quarrel on the
playground''
between the two
a day earlier in
which one child
slapped the
other.
When he was
questioned, the
boy didn't seem
to understand
the gravity of
the shooting,
Police Chief
Eric King said.
Later, he ``sat
there drawing
pictures,'' King
said.
Because of
the boy's age,
charges against
him are
unlikely, Busch
said.
Busch said
someone could
face charges for
enabling the boy
to get the
.32-caliber
handgun, which
officials said
had been
reported stolen
in December.
Investigators
also found a
stolen 12-gauge
shotgun and
drugs in the
house, the
prosecutor said.
``It's our
understanding
from the police
investigation
that this gun
was obtained
from a bedroom
under some
blankets which
had been left
laying,
apparently
loaded, in this
bedroom,'' Busch
said at a news
conference.
Police
arrested the
boy's uncle,
Sirmarcus B.
Winfrey, on an
outstanding
felony warrant
late Tuesday and
planned to
question him
about the
shotgun, Busch
said.
The boy and
his brother had
been staying for
about two weeks
with Winfrey,
their mother's
brother, after
the mother had
been evicted
from her home,
Busch said.
``There were
people coming
and going from
this house,''
Busch said
earlier. When
police went to
the house
``there were
several people
just hanging
out. I call it a
flophouse.''
Police also
said they were
seeking another
person for
questioning
about the
handgun used in
the shooting,
but they would
release no other
details. The
Flint Journal
said police were
seeking a
19-year-old man
who was believed
to be a roommate
of the uncle.
The boy
pulled the
pistol from his
pants, aimed it
at another
classmate and
then turned it
on the little
girl, Busch
said.
``His actions
were naughty, in
his mindset,''
he said. ``What
he understood he
did is another
matter.
``He is a
victim in many
ways,'' Busch
said. ``It is
very sad, we
need to put our
arms around him
and love him.''
Busch said
the boy was
placed with a
relative after
the shooting and
police said he
would be put in
state custody.
State law
allows adult
prosecution of
young offenders,
but the
prosecutor said
he thinks that
is unlikely in
this case.
``You have to
be old enough to
form criminal
intent to commit
the crime of
murder,'' Busch
said Tuesday
night. ``The
common law of
our country says
that a child
under the age of
7 is not
criminally
responsible -
cannot be
convicted of a
felony.''
The boy's
father, who is
serving time in
the county jail,
told a sheriff
that his son had
been suspended
from school for
fighting and for
stabbing a girl
with a pencil.
Genesee
County Sheriff
Robert J.
Pickell told The
Associated Press
he spoke with
the father late
Tuesday. The
father, 29, has
been jailed
since Feb. 20
for an alleged
parole violation
involving
burglary,
Pickell said.
The father
heard about
Tuesday's
shooting from a
cellmate and ``a
cold, sinking
feeling came
over him because
he knew it was
his son,''
Pickell said.
``He said (his
son) liked to
watch the
violent movies,
the television
shows.''
The sheriff
said the father
told him that
when he asked
his son why he
fought with
other children,
the boy ``told
him that he
hated them.''
And Pickell
said that
although the
father told him
``he'd never
seen the
.32-caliber
weapon the boy
used, he said
they'd (people
in the house)
trade crack for
weapons or any
kind of
merchandise.''
Classes were
canceled at the
school today.
Sheila Alger
and her
4-year-old son,
Austin, placed a
teddy bear at
the school's
front door,
which has become
a makeshift
memorial of
candles, flowers
and cards.
''(Austin)
doesn't
understand, and
I don't think
other kids do,''
Alger said. ``I
don't think the
boy who did it
understands.''
At the time
of the shooting,
most of the 22
students in the
classroom had
filed into a
hallway to head
to the library
and just five
students
remained inside.
Busch said the
teacher was
standing in the
doorway when the
boy fired the
only bullet in
the gun.
A girl who
identified
herself as a
classmate,
6-year-old Haili
Durbin, told The
Associated Press
that Kayla had
yelled at the
boy because he
spit on her desk
and stood on it.
Haili was
interviewed with
her father
present.
Asked about
the girl's
account, Busch
said: ``I
wouldn't take
that too
seriously at
this point.
That's not what
we've learned
from talking to
several
witnesses.''
Busch said
the school had
no metal
detectors but
had ``non-police
private
security''
workers.
The boy is
the youngest
suspect in the
deadly school
shootings that
have rocked the
nation over the
past three
years. In 1998,
two boys, 11 and
13, opened fire
at a school in
Jonesboro, Ark.,
killing five.
AP-NY-03-01-00
1241ES
Mich. Girl
Shot, Killed in
School
The
Associated Press
Feb 29 2000
3:13PM ET
MOUNT MORRIS
TOWNSHIP, Mich.
(AP) - A
6-year-old boy
shot a
schoolmate to
death today in
their
first-grade
classroom,
authorities
said. Police
were
investigating
reports that the
two youngsters
may have had a
playground
scuffle the
previous day.
A single shot
was fired inside
a classroom at
Buell Elementary
School near
Flint about 10
a.m., Police
Chief Eric King
said.
It was not
immediately
clear if the
shooting was
accidental or
intentional, but
Genesee County
Prosecutor
Arthur A. Busch
said authorities
were
investigating
reports that a
playground fight
preceded the
shooting.
``It would
appear from the
investigation so
far that there
may have been
some sort of
scuffle or
quarrel on the
playground the
day before the
shooting between
this little boy
and this little
girl,'' Busch
said.
The
6-year-old girl
died about 10:30
a.m., hospital
spokeswoman
Stephanie
Motschenbacher
said.
The boy, was
in the custody
of the state
Family
Independence
Agency, Busch
said, adding
that regardless
of what an
investigation
reveals, it may
be impossible to
bring charges
against the boy.
``There is a
presumption in
law that a child
... is not
criminally
responsible and
can't form an
intent to
kill,'' he said.
``Obviously, he
has done a very
terrible thing
today, but
legally, he
can't be held
criminally
responsible.''
President
Clinton, in
Florida for a
Democratic
National
Committee
fund-raiser,
decried the
shooting and
challenged
Americans to
take gun safety
into
consideration
during this
year's
presidential
elections.
``How did
that child get
that gun? Why
could the child
fire the gun?''
Clinton said.
``If we have the
technology today
to put in these
child safety
locks, why don't
we do it?''
Buell
Elementary
third-grader
Corey Sutton, 9,
said he heard a
bang and thought
a desk had
fallen this
morning.
Then, ``The
principal came
over the PA
system and told
teachers to shut
their doors and
lock them.
``I was
scared, my heart
was pounding,''
he said.
The teacher
told students to
line up and get
their coats on,
and then ``she
told us what
happened. A girl
got shot, and
the teacher
started
crying.''
About 22
pupils were
inside the
classroom when
the shot was
fired. About 500
children attend
Buell
Elementary.
Police closed
off nearby
streets, and
parents picked
up their
children from a
church across
the street. The
pupils who were
in the classroom
where the
shooting
happened were
being questioned
by police.
Crystal
Watson, 8, who
was in her
third-grade
class this
morning, said
she didn't know
anything had
happened until
hearing sirens.
``We were
told to stay in
our class and
stay calm,'' she
told The Flint
Journal. ``A
couple of boys
were crying, but
everyone else
was staying
calm.''
A
fourth-grader,
Christopher
Burch, 9, was
upset because he
has relatives in
the first grade.
``My teacher
told me a
first-grader
shot another
first-grader,
and I started
crying because I
thought it was
my cousin or
sister,'' he
said. He found
out minutes his
relatives were
not shot.
Busch said
officials ``will
get to the
bottom of how
that gun got in
this little
boy's hands.''
``We've had
other
schoolchildren
take guns to
elementary
schools before
... but it never
went this far
with it,'' he
said. ``It's a
sign of our
times where we
have a fully
armed society
that doesn't
take its
responsibility
to secure its
weapons
seriously.''
Busch said
someone may face
charges for
allowing the boy
to obtain the
gun.
Freddie Booth
Sr. of Mount
Morris Township
said he came to
the school to
look for his
8-year-old
daughter,
Fredricka.
``I don't
believe this is
happening,''
Booth told said.
``A first-grader
shoots another
first-grader.
First-graders
shouldn't be
able to get a
gun. I just want
my daughter out
of here. She has
been
traumatized, I'm
sure.''
LAKE WORTH,
Fla. –– A
middle-school
student shot and
killed a
seventh-grade
language teacher
in a classroom
Friday during
the last period
on the final day
of classes,
police said.
The student
was arrested. No
information was
available about
the gunman.
Barry Grunow,
35, of Lake
Worth, was shot
in the face at
Lake Worth
Middle School at
about 3:30 p.m.,
according to
Mabel Cardec, a
spokeswoman for
the Palm Beach
County School
Board.
Students
witnessed the
shooting, but
there were no
other injuries,
Cardec said.
Lake Worth is
just south of
West Palm Beach.
Palm Beach
County is the
fourth largest
school district
in Florida and
14th largest in
the nation with
more than
149,500
students.
The once mighty
Empire has managed to
survive on the inner
planet in the Vader
Vortex. Due to the
hordes of pirates
cruising in the nearby
systems Vader has had
peace for several
centuries. No invasion
fleet has yet dared to
pass the belt of pirate
systems. Now the Empire
is once again trying to
expand its power.
Information of military
installations, weapons
a.s.o. has become vital.
This has led to that the
Empire has engaged
several neutral captains
for dangerous and mostly
well paid missions. The
expansion has also made
a severe shortage of
most things, this has
made most prices
sky-high. Daredevil
merchants can make a
fortune of this
shortage. One of
obstacles in the
Empire's path to power
is the mighty Sagylian
Kingdom. An enemy to the
death of the Empire are
the Llitians, they're
still a bit pissed off
that the Empire
pulverized their home
world many centuries
ago. Rumour also says
that the ConFed's are
doing something fishy
around sol .... Lately
have there been reports
of a new type of
intelligence in the
omikron sector. These
creatures are by rumour
said to been those that
were near earth in the
late 2000th century.
The agreement outlined a
series of reforms to be
enforced over the next
year including
prohibitions on certain
firearm categories -
specifically automatic
and semi-automatic
military-style firearms
that had been used in
massacres before.
This was supplemented by
a guns buyback and a
total of 643,726
prohibited firearms were
handed in at a cost of
$320 million.
May 12, 2012
NRA Sets 1,000 Killed In School Shooting As
Amount It Would Take For Them To Reconsider Much Of Anything
'Yeah, Something Like 1,000 Dead Kids,' Reports Spokesperson
NRA
officials said the school would have to be "super, super bloody" after
the shooting for the organization to question their pro-gun stance.
Article Tools
FAIRFAX, VA—National Rifle
Association Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre said Monday that
somewhere around 1,000 kids would have to die in a school shooting in order
for the organization to reconsider their longstanding opposition to gun
control.
"Yeah, that's probably the only way we'd reassess much of
anything at this point: 1,000 dead kids, shot up pretty good, lying face
down in the school auditorium or something like that," LaPierre said, noting
that anything less than 1,000 dead kids would not be enough for the NRA to
stop urging Congress to pass pro-gun legislation. "I mean, that's just a
ballpark number, but I imagine seeing 1,000 or so body bags being wheeled
out of a school and a whole town of crying parents would probably make us
reflect on our values for at least a little bit."
"So yeah, more or less 1,000 dead kids," LaPierre added.
"Something around there. And teachers don't count."
In his 21st year leading the right-wing lobbying group,
LaPierre reiterated that "350 or 470 dead kids or some low number like that"
would have no impact on the NRA's belief that there should be more firearms
on college campuses or that concealed carry laws should be more laxIn
order to reconsider their position on the Brady Bill, this amount of kids
multiplied by 200 would have to be shot to death in school.
In addition, LaPierre added that while 800 dead kids in
one school shooting would "certainly be a little closer to the number we're
talking about here," ultimately that amount would, according to the NRA,
constitute more of a society issue than a gun issue.
"For us to come anywhere close to reassessing our
beliefs, it's gotta be one of those deals where a ton of kids get their
heads blown off in school and there is one of those big, town-wide memorial
services where they read off all the names of all the dead kids and you feel
like, wow, that has to be somewhere around 1,000 names," said LaPierre,
adding that seeing pictures of all the dead kids in front of the "pastor or
whoever is doing the eulogies or whatever" might be a sobering enough visual
for the NRA to reconsider whether it should be harder, not easier, to
acquire firearms. "And I think the shooter would also have to use around 30
different types of guns in the shooting in order for us to rethink what the
Founding Fathers intended when they wrote the Second Amendment."
The former member of the American Conservative Union's
board of directors further qualified his statement, adding that the NRA's
response to 1,000 or so kids being mowed down by a school shooter would more
than likely vary based on the age of the students, the school's
demographics, and the extenuating circumstances of the situation as a whole.
Though he didn't offer a reason why, LaPierre said 1,000
dead 14-year-olds is "not even close to the same thing" as 1,000 dead
18-year-olds.
"If we're talking about one of those big high schools
with 4,000 students then 1,000 dead ones aren't really even a drop in the
bucket, you know?" LaPierre said, explaining that if an uzi-carrying
16-year-old only kills 45 percent of a school's total population, the NRA
would still be more inclined to blame the shooting on poor parenting, and
wouldn't consider soft gun laws to be part of the problem. "Oh, and of
course, if it's a giant state university or something like that then I'd
imagine we'd need to see numbers closer to 8,000 dead kids before we really
even begin to talk about potentially having a conversation about changing
our philosophy."
"And for argument's sake, let's say it's a situation
where 999 people die and the 1,000th person is just the school shooter
blowing his brains out," LaPierre continued. "Do you honestly expect me to
take that seriously? To me, that seems more like an isolated incident that
shouldn't really impact everyone's rights, you know?"
While some believed that LaPierre's remarks finally
indicated a slight loosening of the NRA's pro-gun stance, LaPierre was
forced to clarify his comments after his membership criticized him for
introducing the idea that a playground full of bullet-riddled dead kids
might cause the NRA to reconsider their position on gun control if even for
a second.
"At the end of the day, I want to make it very clear that
the NRA is in absolutely no rush to change anything," LaPierre later said in
a written statement. "One thousand dead kids would have very little impact
on us. Now if 50,000 kids died in a school shooting that might be a
different story. Something around 50,000 to 80,000 dead kids. You know what,
forget that. Maybe something closer to 250,000. Yeah, 250,000 dead kids."
CNN's Meredith Artley and David Ariosto contributed to this report.
