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January 13, 2006
LONGWOOD, Fla.–A
15 year old male student at
Milwee Middle School was shot today by members
 of the
Seminole County Sheriff’s SWAT Team. The school is located about 15 miles
north of Orlando. The 8th grader apparently brought a handgun to
school in his backpack. He pulled the weapon out and briefly took another
student hostage during a classroom fight. He then ran around campus with
Sheriff’s Deputies in pursuit until he ran into a restroom. At one point, he
held the gun to his own head and told law enforcement officers that he was
going to kill himself or die. He then threatened the officers with his gun
which forced them to respond with deadly force. The wounded student was
taken to a nearby hospital. His condition has not yet been reported. Parents
immediately started flowing into the school to check on their children. The
school terminated classes for the remainder of the day.
At the
time of this writing conflicting reports are pouring in. Some say the
student was killed while others report is in the hospital with non life
threatening injuries. Some reports say the weapon was a toy, others say it
was a pellet gun and still others refer to it as a firearm. The consistent
elements are that a young man brought a gun to school, he took a hostage,
was engaged in a fight of some degree, he expressed desire or plan to die,
and he was shot by member of law enforcement.
The
questions that always spring to our minds at times like this are:
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Could
this action have been predicted? Were there warning signs?
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Did
everyone involved respond to the incident in accordance with a crisis
response plan? Did everyone know what to do? Did they do it without
needing further guidance during the emergency phase.
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Is there
a plan in place to guide the school into and through recovery from this
ordeal. Was the Crisis Team called into play early and did they start
taking recovery actions even during the emergency?
As our
hearts go out to the family who lost a loved one, the Deputies who were
forced into the worst of all situations and a school that faces weeks of
trauma, Keys encourages all schools to ask, “What if this had been my
school?” What do you have in place for Prevention, Response
or Recovery? If you want to know that you are as prepared as
possible, follow the links below and contact Keys today.
UPDATE:
1/14/06
The
attorney for the family of the student shot by SWAT Team members has
reported that the 15-year old, Christopher Pinley, is brain dead and being
maintained by machines until his organs can be harvested.
 It
now appears that the firearm was actually a pellet pistol that had been
painted to appear to be a real firearm. It has also been reported that
family
members told
police
that the weapon was not a real firearm. His
father
went to the school to talk with his son, but Chris was shot before he
 opportunity
to talk. Neighbors and fellow students are now saying that they knew
something was going to happen by things that Chris had said before the day
of the shooting.
UPDATE: O1/16/06
 Chris Penley was declared dead on Sunday evening. Troubled
teen died as a result of a gun shot wound to his head on Friday at Milwee
Middle school. His parents arranged for his organs to be donated so that
others might live.
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Is it
possible that this
shooting might have been avoided if there had been a system in place for
collecting and
assessing early warning signs?
Programs to Combat Violence
Reported By:
Keys To Safer Schools.com
If
you have any comments or questions please Email us at keys@keystosaferschools.com.
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(501)246-8835
