LBPS Security Newslettter 03-13-15_Layout 1

In this Issue
Remember: March 2015
Health outbreaks
Religious parents sue over vaccination
Wisconsin districts settles lawsuit
Youth charged with 2 felonies in NHS
Lawmakers’ school shooting task force
State board rules against device
Former St. Louis security guard acquitted
School treats on the rise
HS student maced by SRO
UK Police looking for 3 girls
Summit Prep shooting scare
5 things to know about Lindsay
5 things to know about Russian Roulette
School Violence: links
Emergency Drill
5
Health outbreaks: Who’s at risk?
As if flu season hasn’t been harsh enough, many schools
have also faced other health risks.
Many of those risks have
been associated with
communicable diseases,
such as:
Tuberculosis:
More
than 140 staff and students at Charlotte Central School in Vermont
will undergo testing for
TB after a staff member
was diagnosed with an
active case of the disease. The bacterial disease attacks the lungs. It
is rare but can be fatal if
left untreated. TB is
treated with antibiotics, and
Measles: The recent measles outbreak has spread to 14
states. In California, 66 unvaccinated students have been
prohibited from attending classes at Palm Desert High
School. The nationwide debate on vaccinations is heating up,
with several politicians weighing in, including President
Obama, Hillary Clinton and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Religious parents sue over
school vaccination rule
Parents of students who were excused
from vaccinations on religious grounds
challenged another vaccine-related
rule.
New York City grants a religious exemption for school vaccinations – but won’t
let unvaccinated students come to
school if a classmate has a “vaccine
preventable disease.”
Three parents sued New York City and
its school district, alleging the stayhome rule violates students’ constitutional religious rights.
But previous New York decisions have
found the First Amendment doesn’t
even require the state to offer the exemption – let alone prohibit the stayhome rule.
Why rights aren’t an issue here
The Supreme Court has found states
can make vaccinations compulsory, and
it has strongly suggested that they don’t
have to offer a religious exemption.
Tellingly, it refused to hear an appeal
from a 2010 New York federal court decision that said “the free exercise clause
of the First Amendment does not provide a right for religious objectors to be
exempt from New York’s compulsory inoculation law.”
The Supreme Court’s refusal to accept
the case for appeal left that holding in
place as the law.
As the students have no religious right
to be exempted from school vaccinations, they can’t challenge the stayhome rule on that basis. Their suit was
dismissed.
Phillips v. City of New York, Nos. 12-cv98 (WFK)(LB) & 12-cv-237 (WFK)(LB)
& 13-cv-791 (WFK)(LB), 2014 WL
2547584 (E.D.N.Y. 6/5/14).
5
Wisconsin district settles
former wrestler’s lawsuit
The Wisconsin Rapids School District
has agreed to pay an undisclosed, sixfigure settlement to a former studentathlete who alleged that school officials
failed to protect him from bullying and
harassment.
T h e
student’s
lawsuit
a c cused
t h e
district of violating its policy that prohibits
bullying and disability-based discrimination. Here’s what led to the lawsuit:
The victim is deaf and legally blind.
Four teammates on his wrestling team
allegedly:
taunted him in the locker room, touched
him inappropriately, and danced around
him while they were naked.
The victim reported the situation to an
assistant wrestling coach, who did not
follow up on the complaints or notify
other school administrators.
That employee was given a warning
about failing to report the victim’s com-
plaints to appropriate authorities. He
was also issued a written reprimand
and given a four-match suspension.
And the four wrestlers have been
charged with disorderly conduct, according to prosecutors.
LBPS
Walter J. O’Neill, Jr
SBTRVA
District Public Safety Liaison
540 Broadway
Long Branch, NJ 07740
732-571-2868, Ext. 40911
[email protected]
www.longbranch.k12.nj.us
Youth Charged With Two
Felonies In NHS Incident
By Andrew Gorosko, The Newtown Bee
Police said that on Monday, February
23, that they arrested a youth under
age 18 on charges of first-degree
threatening and first-degree falsely reporting an incident at Newtown High
School.
Police allege that
the boy wrote a
suspicious note
which was discovered by a school
staff member, resulting
in the
school temporarily
entering a “lock-in
open”
security
mode.
Police Lieutenant Richard Robinson
said both charges filed against the boy
are Class D felonies.
Police did not disclose the boy’s identity
because he is under age 18.
The youth was booked on the charges
and then released into the custody of
parents for a March 9 appearance in
Danbury Juvenile Court.
Lt Robinson declined to disclose the
contents of the note which was written
on a piece of paper.
The discovery of the suspicious note at
about 8:15 am prompted the school to
enter a “lock-in open” security status,
wherein teachers and students continue with the school routine and are al-
lowed to leave the school, but visitors
may not enter the building. The security
status was later lifted after a police investigation into the situation.
Police and school officials created such
security modes as an aspect of emergency planning following the December
2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
By John Cody, CBC Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) – State lawmakers
have begun a new effort to figure out
strategies for heading off school shootings, like the 2012 massacre at Sandy
Hook in Connecticut, when a gunman
killed 20 students and 6 staff.
School staff members and students
were immediately notified of the security situation, but normal business
within the school continued, Lt Robinson said.
The school building was checked for
suspicious activity and for suspicious
items by the school’s emergency response team, the school security staff,
and by town police, Lt Robinson said.
“Nothing suspicious was located,” he
said.
“At no time did the Newtown Police Department believe there was any threat
to students or staff,” Lt Robinson said.
“It was determined that the threat to the
school was an isolated incident, was
not credible, and that no one was in
danger,” according to police.
The police detective unit is probing the
incident, with School Resource Officer
Liam Seabrook serving as the primary
5
Lawmakers’ School
Shootings Task Force Has
First Meeting
Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), who
chairs the bipartisan Violence Prevention Task Force, said it’s important to
understand the Sandy Hook massacre
was not an isolated incident, and could
happen elsewhere.
“According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there have been 160 mass
casualty incidents in the United States
since the year 2000. There have been
1,043 casualties, including 486 killed
and 557 wounded,” he said.
Harris said Sandy Hook, the 1999
Columbine High School massacre, and
other such shooting sprees all were
preceded by warning signals that were
not understood or mishandled.
First Lady Diana Rauner, who is president of the Ounce of Prevention Fund
– an early childhood nonprofit group –
said problems start long before someone takes a gun to school.
“It is, of course, most common to think
about violence prevention when children are large and dangerous, but the
reality is that the seeds of resilience,
and of quality mental and social emotional development, are laid in the very
first years of life,” she said.
The security devices named the "Barracuda" manufactured by Bilco, fit on
classroom doors and prevent entry.
Chief Searles told newsnet5.com he
fully backs the Bearacade device and
hopes the state fire marshal will consider changing Ohio's classroom fire
codes.
Rauner urged the task force to keep the
focus and funding on early childhood intervention programs.
She joined other social workers, educators, and police officers who testified at
the task force’s first meeting on Monday, and spoke of the need for closer
coordination between schools and government agencies; as well as adequate
funding for all those tasked with preventing school shootings.
House Speaker Michael Madigan announced the task force’s formation last
week, and said it would seek to find
ways to provide help to children who
might suffer from mental illness, and to
study the state of Connecticut’s report
on the Sandy Hook shooting to determine steps Illinois could take to prevent
a similar school shooting here.
5
State Board rules
against classroom
door blocking devices
By Nick Foley, ABC News Cleveland
MENTOR, Ohio - The Ohio Board of
Building Appeals ruled 4-1 on Monday
to deny a variance request for security
device purchased by community members in the Southwest Licking School
District.
"Our goal was we're developing a device that effectively will barricade a door
but also allow easy egress when they
need to get out,” said Bearacade Door
Control System CEO Bill Cushwa.
Mentor and Madison schools installed
similar security devices called "Bearacades" in their classrooms and Monday’s decision raises the question of
whether those devices would also be
ruled a violation of existing state fire
codes.
Mentor High School sophomore Kara
Silbaugh told newsnet5.com the Bearacade locks in her classrooms are like
an added peace of mind.
"The codes were employed for good
reason to protect our children, but times
have changed. We have to meet those
changes and this device is an alternative that just makes sense," added
Searles.
"It’s like a comfort seeing them because
now that they're in place I would hope
they would always work the way they
needed to,” said Silbaugh.
5
Mentor Fire Chief Bob Searles argues
the Barracuda and the Bearacade are
better alternatives to stacking desks
and other large objects in front of doors,
currently recommended by state safety
leaders.
"This device allows us to quickly control
that door but more importantly it allows
us quick access should we have to
enter that classroom to treat an injured
student," said Searles.
Former East St. Louis school
guard acquitted of sexually
assaulting teen
By Paul Hampel, St. Louis Post
EAST ST. LOUIS • A former East St.
Louis Senior High School security
guard acquitted of sexually assaulting a
student is fighting to clear his name and
win back his job.
Isaac Turner, 43, had been charged in
August of the criminal sexual assault of
a student in 2012. The female student
who accused Turner was older than 13
but younger than 18 at the time.
Turner was found not guilty on Feb. 5 in
a bench trial before St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge John Baricevic.
Turner said he was working with an attorney to get his job back. He had been
a guard at the high school for three
years.
The East St. Louis School District did
not return calls for comment.
Turner said that he had been in a relationship with a woman for 19 years and
that the couple were raising four children.
Two of the children were forced to return home from colleges in Alabama because Turner could not pay their tuition.
Turner said, “The whole thing is a nightmare that has not ended.”
5
“The verdict was a huge relief,” Turner
said this week. “I am legally in the clear.
But my life was turned upside down.”
Turner said the student had accused
him of taking her from the high school
to a tavern that he was alleged to have
owned. However, evidence showed that
Turner did not own a bar and that the
date in question fell on a Sunday, when
the school was closed and there were
no activities on the campus.
“I have always kind of been a public figure in my community,” said Turner, of
the 5000 block of Old Missouri Avenue
in Alorton. “I know a lot of people. And
a lot of those people are still looking at
me strange because they don’t know
I’ve been found not guilty.”
School threats apparently on
the rise, but reasons
are elusive
By Rob Ryser, Newstimes.com
DANBURY -- Publicly reported school
threats have increased by 150 percent
nationwide this year, according to one
recent survey, and Connecticut's top
police officials want to know why.
It may be that the sharp increase in
threats to schools, such as the recent
threat to "shoot up" Danbury High
School, is part of a pattern of temporary
surges experts saw after the massacres
at Columbine High School in 1999 and
Virginia Tech in 2007. Or it may be that
the increase is due to the prevalence of
social media, which gives threat-makers a tempting public platform.
Nor is it clear how to interpret the re-
sults. The survey, prepared by an Ohio
consultant, relies on media reports and
does not account for threats that news
organizations didn't cover. Nor does it
account for the possibility that more districts are reporting threats, or that more
news organizations are running stories
them in the aftermath of the Sandy
Hook massacre in 2012.
And yet the survey is the best information that anyone has about schoolbased threats today, because no one in
Hartford or Washington, D.C., compiles
statistics on them.
But that is about to change.
"This is something we can do something about," said Dora Schriro, the
commissioner of the state Department
of Emergency Services and Public Protection. "I have already put steps into
place to see what we can do to collect
this information."
The survey, conducted by Ohio-based
National School Safety and Security
Services, found 812 school threats
across the country during the first half
of the school year, from Aug. 1 through
Dec. 31. That total was dramatically
higher than the first half of the 2013-14
school year, when nationwide threats
totaled 315.
The states with the highest number of
threats, including California and New
York, were generally those with the
highest populations, with one exception: Connecticut, which ranks 29th in
population, ranked 10th in school
threats with 29.
SCHOOL VIOLENCE
One expert questions the reliability of
the survey and says it's alarmist to suggest there are more school threats
today than a generation ago, before the
advent of cellphones and the Internet.
"I would be cautious about presuming
there is an increase in the number of
threats," said Michael Dorn, executive
director of Georgia-based Safe Haven
International, who was hired by Danbury schools as a security adviser in
2013. "The notion that this is a new
flood of threats doesn't mesh with my
34 years of experience."
support them -- by disrupting class time,
draining resources and creating distrust
between parents and school officials.
“She is very special. She needs help
with basically everything,” explains
Shadonna Taylor, Aljasha’s mom.
In Danbury last week, a parent's post
on Facebook alarmed the school community and forced the mayor and the
schools superintendent into damagecontrol mode over a shooting threat,
written on a boys' bathroom wall, that
police had already determined was
empty.
Wednesday afternoon Aljasha acted out
towards school police officers.
As a result, the city assigned extra police officers to the campus to assure
teachers, students and parents the
state's largest high school was safe.
Danbury parents like Elayne Morse acknowledged the school district is in a
difficult position in having to treat every
threat seriously, regardless of its credibility. But she said that is part of school
life in post-Sandy Hook America.
"I think you have to take every precaution," she said. "You can't be cavalier
about anything."
Michael Lawlor, the state's undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning,
said
a
new
uniform
crime-reporting technology is being developed to give the state regular data to
track trends in school threats. In the
meantime, he said he couldn't explain
Connecticut's high ranking.
Increasing threats
"I don't think it's an anomaly," he said.
"An educated guess would be social
media and technology is a driving factor
here -- because it's faster to publish
something that everybody is going to
see than it ever was before."
By Lindsey Eaton, FOX 59
What is clear is that school threats take
an increasingly heavy toll on school districts and the local governments that
5
High school student maced
by school police officer
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (February 19,
2015)- A student is maced at school by
a police officer.
Aljasha Taylor is a sophomore at Northwest Community School and her mom
says she has mental disabilities.
IPS issued this statement, “A physically
aggressive student became a safety
concern in a Northwest Community
High School classroom on February 18.
Students were removed from the classroom as school police and support staff
made several attempts to de-escalate
the situation, but the student began
charging at the officers and bit one of
them several times. To maintain the
safety of all involved, Mace was
sprayed once at the student. The student was then restrained until a parent
was able to come to school.”
Aljasha’s mom understands her daughter caused trouble but she doesn’t understand why Mace was used.
“No, you did not have to Mace her and
throw her down to the ground. No. Even
though she was unruly and out of control with the officer, I understand all that.
As a mother, I do,” explains Taylor.
A day later Aljasha’s eyes are still red
and her wrist is bandaged. Aljasha’
mom feels there school officers should
have used another way to handle the
situation.
“Y’all should have a technique to restrain her without having to use force on
my daughter. It doesn’t add up it don’t
make sense,” explains Taylor.
Aljasha’s mom told FOX 59 her daughter was suspended for five days, but
she isn’t sure if she’s going back to
school once the suspension is over.
5
Summit Prep High School
‘Shooting Scare': 5 Fast Facts
You Need to Know
Unconfirmed reports of a shooting
prompted a lockdown at the Summit
Prep Charter High School in Redwood
City on February 23. Redwood City is
located 25 miles south of San Francisco.
U.K. Police Look For 3 Missing School Girls Suspected
Of Heading To Syria
By NPR
Three British teenagers are believed to
be on their way to Syria, lured by militants from the self-declared Islamic
State.
Scotland Yard has issued an urgent appeal for any clues that may lead to the
whereabouts of the school girls, because police say if they make it to Syria,
they may never be able to return.
"We are extremely concerned for the
safety of these young girls and would
urge anyone with information to come
forward and speak to police," Counter
Terrorism Command Commander
Richard Walton said in a statement.
"Our priority is the safe return of these
girls to their families."
Scotland Yard says that Shamima
Begum, 15; Kadiza Sultana, 16; and a
third 16-year-old girl who police are not
identifying left their home on Tuesday
before 8 a.m.
Police say the three friends gave their
parents a "plausible reason" as to why
they would be out Tuesday. The girls
then headed to Gatwick Airport, where
they boarded a Turkish Airlines flight.
Here’s what You Need to Know:
1. A Witness Called the Evacuation
‘Scary’
The BBC reports that the case has already sparked discussion about how
these girls could be moved to leave
their families and join extremist organizations. The network adds:
"Home Secretary Teresa May said it
was important 'to look at the whole
question of the ideology that is driving
these actions.'
" 'We're very clear as a government that
we need to look at extremism across
the whole spectrum and that's why
we're working on an extremism strategy.'
"Salman Farsi, a spokesman for the
East London Mosque, said she thought
the girls had been misled.
" 'I do not know what was promised to
them. It is just sad. I think the girls need
to know they have done nothing wrong.
They have been manipulated.' "
This case echoes the case from Colorado, where three teenagers from the
Denver suburbs left home with plans to
join the Islamic State. The girls in that
case were intercepted by authorities in
Frankfurt, Germany.
The school has been evacuated by authorities. In a press release, the Redwood City Police Department referred
to their operation as a “safety incident.”
The school is located at 890 Broadway
in Redwood City. The evacuation was
ordered as a result of a 911 call. That
call indicated that there was a gun at
the school. Joe Witherspoon, who
works at a nearby bicycle store, told
local newspaper The San Mateo Daily
Journal, “They’re evacuating students
with their hands in the air. It’s kind of
scary.”
2. There Were No Injuries
There were no shots fired, a gunman or
any injuries. Although a CBS San Francisco live feed from the scene showed
a person in a stretcher by an ambulance. The station also reported that a
student contacted a teacher who called
911 after the student heard popping
sounds. KTVU reports that those
sounds came from a nearby construction site.
mentor groups outside of Summit Prep.
Teachers have taken attendance and
every student is accounted for. Currently, students are waiting to re-enter
the building. The police have been
abundantly cautious in ensuring that the
building and students are safe. At this
point, we can say that no one was ever
in danger and everything is fine at Summit Prep. We encourage you to share
this message with friends, family,
alumni and community members who
may have questions regarding this
event. Summit Prep’s Directors and
Summit Public Schools’ leadership
team are on the ground working closely
with police. We will continue sharing updates throughout the day.
Summit Prep, is currently on lockdown
due to police activity outside of the
school this morning. Summit Prep immediately followed all emergency procedures and is taking all precautions to
ensure the safety of our students. All
students and faculty have been successfully evacuated, and are with their
5. In 2011, Newsweek Called the
School a ‘Miracle High School’
4. Around 400 Students Are Enrolled
at the School
3. A Massive Police Response Was at
the School
SWAT Teams were on scene at the
school. In a statment on the school’s
Facebook page, it reads:
ble of college and career readiness.
While some students will select career
paths or community colleges, the
process of preparing to attend a fouryear college helps young people avoid
the academic and skill deficit that results from placement in a non-college
prep, high school diploma program.
Newsweek named the school as one of
the top three in Northern California in
2011. In writing about the school, the
magazine referred to it as a “miracle
high school” because of the institution’s
policy of “taking students at all skill levels, from all strata, and turning out qualified graduates.”
Students waiting in groups after the
evacuation. (Screengrab via CBS San
Francisco)
There are just over 400 students enrolled at the school. On the school’s
Facebook page it says that Summit was
opened in 2003 and “quickly became
one of the best public high schools in
the nation.” The school’s director is
Brian Johnson. Summit’s mission statement is made clear on the school’s
website where it reads:
We believe that every student is capa-
5
Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath:
5 Fast Facts
You Need to Know
Lindsay Souvannarath pictured on her
Facebook page.
A 23-year-old Neo-Nazi from Illinois has
been charged with plotting a mass
shooting in Canada. Lindsay Kantha
Souvannarath has been charged along
with Randall Shepherd, 23, from Nova
Scotia, of plotting a St. Valentine’s Day
massacre at a mall in Halifax. Another
man said to be in on the plot, James
Gamble, 19, committed suicide prior to
being arrested. Police have also taken
a 17-year-old kid into custody in relation
to the planned attack. He was subsequently released. The arrests came on
February 13, a day before the shooting
was due to happen.
On her Facebook page, Lindsay made
haunting claims about her admiration
for Adolf Hitler, the Columbine massacre and various other racist and antisemitic statements. On her Tumblr
page on February 11, she wrote “IT’S
ALMOST HERE. THE CLOCK IS TICKING.” Then on February 13, after receiving a tip, police swooped in on
Lindsay and her motley crew. A week
before Valentine’s Day, she posted a
photo with the writing “Saturday the
14th” written in blood. Underneath, it
read “HA HAHA.”
3. She Was Arrested at Halifax’s Airport at 2 a.m. on February 13
2. Her Tumblr Was Called ‘C*ckswastika’ & Was an Homage to Mass
Shooters
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Just Days Before the Planned Attack, She Wrote on Tumblr ‘It’s Almost Here’
One of Lindsay’s haunting Tumblr
posts.
page is used as an homage to shooters
and guns, especially Columbine killers
Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. The
Kane County Chronicle reports that in
2007, she wrote on an Internet forum,
“Free speech is dead. That’s why we
need people like David Duke to bring it
to life again.” The Chronicle reports that
she went by the name Snoopy Femme
on the site. Randall Shepherd’s Tumblr
page features similar racist tributes and
posts about mass shooters.
Her Tumblr page is entitled, “C*ckswastika.” In the introduction to the
page users are greeted by a swastika
with the description, “school shooter
chic” and “violence is the aesthetic.” Her
According to a statement from Halifax
police, cops received a tip from a member of the public about the planned attack at the Halifax Shopping Center.
The statement referred to those arrested as “murderous misfits.” Cops say
that group planned to start shooting at
a mall and then take their own lives in a
manner similar to many school shooters. Canadian Justice Minister Peter
MacKay told the media on February 14,
“Based on what we know so far, it would
have been devastating – mass casualties would have been a real possibility.”
He added “The attack does not appear
to have been culturally motivated,
therefore not linked to terrorism.
A day known to represent love and affection could have taken a much different meaning today had it not been for
the exceptional efforts of the combined
law enforcement community.” Police
say that Lindsay was arrested after she
landed in Halifax at 2 a.m. on February
13. She was due to meet Randall Shepherd there, according to cops. Speaking
to the Associated Press, a source said
that Lindsay admitted her plans after
her arrest and said she had programmed tweets to be sent out posthumously. Cops said that the group had
guns. According to Randall Shepherd
and James Gamble’s Facebook pages,
the two both worked at Walmart. Walmart’s in Canada stock firearms.
Her parents were both natives of Laos
in southeast Asia. Lindsay is a native of
Geneva in Illinois, located in Kane
County. The Kane County Chronicle reports that Lindsay was a normal student
at high school there. She went on to
study creative writing at Coe College. A
neighbor of Lindsay’s, Kathy Schooley,
told the Chicago Sun Times that Lindsay was “normal” and would sometimes
change her look, often dressing as a
goth. Geneva police commander Eric
Passarelli told the Daily Herald in Illinois
that “We’ve had not contact with the
suspect. She’s completely unknown.”
Passarelli went on to say that the girl’s
family are being extremely co-operative
with cops and that police have
searched the home and seized several
items that they will hand over to Canadian authorities.
5. The Cops Got Their Tip From Lindsay’s Hometown in Illinois
J a m e s
Gamble
pictured
on
his
Facebook
page.
4. Her Parents Are From Laos in Asia
The tip off
against the
g r o u p
came from
Lindsay’s home town of Geneva, reports CBC. The network also reported
on the suicide of James Gamble. He
apparently killed himself just after 1
a.m. on February 13 as police surrounded him in his parents’ home in
Timberlea, Nova Scotia. The fourth suspect, the unnamed 17-year-old, was arrested at 11 a.m. on February 13 in
Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia. He has been
released but is still under investigation.
5
Russian Roulette Shooting in
Torrance: 5 Fast Facts You
Need to Know
A 17-year-old killed himself during a
game of Russian Roulette with friends
in Southern California. The shooting
happened in Torrance early on the
morning of February 16, according to
the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office.
The lethal game is played by putting a
single bullet in a revolver, spinning the
cylinder and pulling the trigger with the
gun pointed at your temple.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. The Building’s Security Guard
Called 911 Because He Thought
There Was a Fight in the Apartment
The Harbor Cove apartment where the
shooting occurred. (Screengrab via
KTLA)
Police responded to the Harbor Cove
apartments in Torrance just after midnight. When cops got to the scene, they
found a 17-year-old boy with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was rushed
to hospital where he was pronounced
dead. NBC Los Angeles reports that the
building’s security guard called police
because he thought there was fight in
the apartment.
4. A Month Ago, a Kentucky Man
Drunkenly Killed Himself While Playing Russian Roulette
2. After the Shooting, His Family Got
Rid of the Gun
A Russian Nagant M1895 is the gun
historically associated with Russian
Roulette. (Wikipedia/”Nagant Revolver”
by Mascamon)
Investigators on the scene at the Harbor Cove apartments. (Screengrab via
KTLA)
The gun was found outside the building
by officers. The boy’s family say they
threw the gun out of their apartment in
fear. No charges will be filed in the
case, reports KTLA. Family members
told NBC Los Angeles the boy was a
football player at Carson High School.
5
On January 22, a Kentucky man, 41,
was killed during a drunken version of
the game, according to the Ashland Independent. Earlier in February, numerous media reports emerged from
Russia saying that thrill seekers had
switched to using tasers while playing
the game.
5. Russian Roulette Has a Prominent
History in America
3. The Boy’s Friends Begged Him to
Stop Playing
The boy was playing the game with four
other people who were friends and
cousins. The Los Angeles Times reports
that his friends were pleading with the
17-year-old to stop playing. Nobody
else was harmed. The shots were fired
inside the boy’s bedroom. Family members told officers that they don’t know
where the victim got the gun, reports
CBS Los Angeles.
Roulette with blank bullets. The blank
round did enough damage to mortally
wound Hexum. The TV-star died in hospital six days after the shooting. Scottish actor Alan Cumming, who
frequently plays Americans, found out
in 2010 on an episode of Who Do You
Think You Are? that his grandfather was
killed while playing the game.
Jon-Erik Hexum, actor
In 1954, blues musician Johnny Ace
was killed in Texas while playing the
game. Though a later Washington Post
report suggested that it was an accident. Then, in 1984, actor Jon-Erik
Hexum died after playing Russian
“Safety is something
that happens between
your ears, not
something you hold in
your hands.”
Jeff Cooper
Long Branch
Public Schools
Administration
http://mtstandard.com/news/local/kalispell-mancharged-with-online-school-shootingthreats/article_f8bd6a26-c857-557b-aeab-d51a317ae0fd.
html
Kalispell man charged with online school shooting
threats
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/559683/Boy-survivesPakistan-school-shooting-by-pretending-DEAD
Boy survives horrifying Pakistan school shooting
http://www.inforum.com/letters/3684183-letters-nocause-guns-school
Letters: No cause for guns in school
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/shooting-reported-bethune-cookman-university-campu/nkHSJ/
Surveillance video released in Bethune-Cookman shooting
http://wpri.com/2015/02/23/suspect-indicted-in-deadlyshooting-near-providence-school/
Suspect indicted in deadly shooting near a school
http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/28180884/2015/02/23
/argument-at-high-school-basketball-game-leads-todeadly-drive-by-shooting
Argument at HS basketball game leads to deadly shooting
http://daytonatimes.com/2015/02/23/b-cu-president-toaddress-community-following-school-shooting/
B-CU president addresses community following shooting
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/02/24/students-arrestedfor-shooting-paintballs-in-school/
18-year olds arrested for shooting paintballs in school
Michael Salvatore, Ph.D
Superintendent
Alvin L. Freeman
Assistant Superintendent
JanetLynn Dudick
District Administrator for Personnel
Peter E. Genovese III
School Business Administrator & Board Secretary
Nancy L. Valenti
Assistant Business Administrator &
Assistant Board Secretary
Roberta Freeman
District Administrator for Assessment &
Accountability
Board of Education
James N. Parnell - President
Mary L. George - Vice President
Lucille M. Perez
Avery W. Grant
Michele Critelli, Ed.D.
Bill Dangler
Armand R. Zambrano, Jr.
Donald C. Covin
Rose M. Widdis