SAFER SCHOOLS NEWS-VOL. 67 

School Year 03/04 A bad start  Aug 03, Sept 03, Oct 03, Nov 03, Dec 03, Jan 04, Feb 04, Mar 04, Apr 04, May 04, June 04

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Below is a brief listing of violence in schools gleaned from news sources: 
Dates in RED indicate fatalities.

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September 8, 2003, Tucson, AZ – An unidentified 16 year-old student at Pueblo High Magnet School died during a fist fight with another unidentified 16 year-old student. Authorities cite a prior existing heart condition as primary cause of death. No charges have been filed.

September 9, 2003, Fort Worth, TX – Two unidentified 16 year old students at North Crowley High School ditched 2^nd period. One is now in custody pending charges, the other was found dead with a gun shot wound to the head.

September 10, 2003, Atlanta, GA – Andre Dunn, a 14-year-old aspiring quarterback, flashed a gun at a group of youths who got off a bus following a verbal altercation. One of the youths shot Dunn to death. A trophy winner boxer, he was expelled earlier this year from Therrell High School in Atlanta after a fistfight and had transferred to Banneker High School in College Park,

September 11, 2003, Tucson, AZ. – Luis Steven Encinas, 17, a gang member according to Police, shot and killed Jesus Falcon, 17, and wounded a 15 year-old student at the North Sixth Avenue underpass a popular after school gathering place. The victims were students at Tucson High Magnet School.

September 15, 2003, Woodhaven, NY – Police were looking for the shooter who wounded three Franklin K. Lane High School students. They were involved with about a dozen other teens in a fight outside the school, when a sport utility vehicle pulled up and a man began shooting. Two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old were wounded. Police were looking into reports about gang activity at the school causing the shooting.

September 15, 2003, Kaimuki, HI – The shooting on the grounds of St.Patrick School was police firing at a convicted felon who pointed a gun at them. The students dropped to the ground and low crawled into classrooms and locked the doors, just as they had practiced in a crisis drill earlier this year.

September 16, 2003,  Los Angeles, CA – A 10^th grader was shot in the leg as he walked home from school. Police have arrested one suspect and recovered a gun.

September 16, 2003, Chicago, IL – Deonta Wright, 15, a freshman at Crane High School was shot and killed on his way home from school. He apparently told his sister that he was leaving school early because he was afraid there was going to be a shooting. At his bus stop, an unidentified young man ran up to him and shot him. A passing motorist was also wounded. Police are still searching for the shooter.

September 17, 2003, Boston, MA – A student and a School Resource Offer were wounded by gunfire as school was letting out for the day. Police swept the school two hours later and arrested 17 students on weapons and drug charges. The intended victim of the shooting has been expelled.

September 17, 2003, New Orleans, LA – A Clark High School Student produced a handgun and shot a McDonogh 35 High School Student and sent 60 others running across the street for shelter in a lounge. The owner of the lounge opened the door and took the running kids in, helping the wounded boy. School uniforms made it easy for her to recognize which kids to allow in and when to lock the door.

September 17, 2003, Waterville, ME – The body of Colby College senior Dawn Rossignol, 21, was discovered Wednesday near a stream, a day after she was reported missing. Edward Hackett, 47, on parole from a Utah prison for a 1994 kidnapping and robbery has been arrested.

September 17, 2003, HOPKINSVILLE, KY – Kamesha Polk, 16, placed the tip of a small, .22-caliber pistol flush against the right side of 17-year-old Tiffany A. Prince’s chest and shot her. Polk then apparently pressed the pistol against the side of her own head and shot herself. Police and witnesses said that shortly before noon Wednesday, Prince’s father found the bodies slumped in his daughter’s car in a parking lot across the street from Christian County High School, where Prince was a senior and Polk a junior. Both girls left notes scrawled on their arms. Neither girl’s body showed signs of a struggle, and one girl also left a written note at her house that talked about a boyfriend. The school was placed on partial shutdown until the police could determine whether an assailant was at large.

September 17, 2003, DYERSBURG, TN – Harold Kilpatrick Jr. of Memphis took at least a dozen people hostage at the Dyersburg State Community College, including students and a teacher. The drama ended Wednesday when police shot the hostage-taker dead. The gunman left a note saying he “wanted to kill some people and die today.”

September 18, 2003, Atlanta, GA – A 14-year-old Lovejoy High School student was arrested after police said he planned a Columbine-style massacre at the school. The boy was arrested after students told school officials that he tried to recruit them to take part in a plan to “make history by turning Lovejoy into another Columbine.”

September 20, 2003, Jacksonville, FL – Edgar David Baez, 15-year-old, died Saturday night as a result of a single punch from 17-year-old Thomas White, IV. The incident happened at Ridgeview High School about a week and a half earlier.

September 24, 2003, Cold Spring, MN– Aaron Rollins, a senior at Rocori High School was shot and killed by a freshman student who went on to shoot and critically wound another freshman student.  That student, who was critically wounded at the time of the shooting, later died on October 10, 2003, according to a report from KNOM News.

September 24, 2003 Maywood, IL – An unidentified 16-year-old student was shot in the foot at 8:20 a.m. Sept. 24 as he was on his way to school. He was treated and released the same day from Loyola University Medical Center.

September 25, 2003, LAWNDALE, NC – Justin Arrowood, 13 years-old, fired two bullets into the ceiling at Burns Middle School. The incident came to an end when SRO Tim Russ successfully disarmed the student.

September 30, 2003, Sacramento, CA – Roberto Treadway, 15 year-old student at C.K. McClatchy High School, was shot dead by another youth at an after school hang-out as students were walking home.

October 1, 2003, Sacramento, CA – A gun-wielding teen, Mario Rodriguez, 19, took an administrator hostage at Rio Cazadero High School Wednesday, and both were wounded after officers confronted the youth. Rio Cazadero is an alternative high school for 280 students who have fallen behind in classes and is part of the Elk Grove Unified School District.

October 2, 2003, Austin, TX – A brawl near Bowie High School left one Arlington teenager dead. Former Bowie student Ruben Rosales, 17, died at Medical Center of Arlington not long after the 3 p.m. fight. Rosales attended Venture School, an alternative school that offers a dropout and recovery program for high school students. Three of the five teens involved are Bowie students.

October 3, 2003, Osaka, Japan – Mamoru Takuma was sentenced to death for stabbing 8 schoolchildren to death during a rampage at an elementary school in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, in June 2001. His statement was, “I should have used gasoline, so I could have killed more than I did.” 

October 8, 2003, McMinnville, TN – Two 16 year-old students at Warren Academy, an alternative school were arrested in possession of rifle after they reported to a substitute teacher that they planned to open fire on teachers there. Apparently they like the substitute and did not want her hurt.

October 24, 2003, Bronx, NY Kamal Singh, 15, was shot in the chest in front of the Dewitt Clinton High School in the Norwood section of the Bronx Friday morning.

October 24, 2003, Worchester, South Africa Melikhaya Maye, 15, died at the school administration building on Friday after he was stabbed in the chest by a 15-year-old classmate. Earlier this year a girl was shot at the same school by four boys and a teacher was assaulted by another teacher.

October 26, 2003, Leitchfield, KY The crisis team of administrators and counselors worked until 11pm Sunday night to put a plan into action to help students and staff the unexpected shooting death of a 2^nd Grade teacher. Jennifer Risner lived in the Hardin-Grayson County area for about 15 years. She was a 1990 graduate of West Hardin High School and had taught second grade at Clarkson Elementary School in Grayson County for the past seven years. Sunday evening, her estranged husband shot her, their 3 year-old son and himself in her front yard. Most parents opted to keep their children at home Monday.

October 30, 2003, Washington, DC Devin Fowlks, a member of Anacostia High School’s football team, died at a hospital less than two hours after being shot in the chest as classes were being dismissed for the day. Police have no suspects in custody. Picture of victim Devin M. Fowlkes, 16, who was an innocent bystander, police say.

October 30, 2003, Chicago, IL. Two teens were charged as adults Wednesday in connection with a shooting near Washington High School in Chicago’s East Side community. Bennie Trevino and Samuel Lopez, both 15, were charged with one count each of aggravated battery with a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, a felony in the shooting of another Chicago Public school student.

October 30, 2003,Wheeling, WV – A student at Moundsville Junior High has complied a hit list of other students at the school. Now, school officials are taking the threat very seriously. Phone calls from worried parents flooded the Newsroom who broke the story, and that prompted school officials to talk about an alleged threat at Moundsville Junior High. The hit list was discovered by a school official and school resource officer. Eight student names were on the list, which prompted anxious moments from parents. But the school district says the situation is under control. The situation remains under investigation- but the district has taken action. 

November 5, 2003, UK – A mother of the stabbed schoolboy Luke Walmsley broke down yesterday as she told how her family “has been ripped apart” by the killing. Jayne Walmsley, who was comforted by her estranged husband, Paul, had been told her only son died from a single stab wound to the heart after an altercation with another pupil on Tuesday in a corridor at their school. A knife was recovered at Birkbeck School and Community Arts College, in North Somercotes, Lincs.  Last night, a 15-year-old schoolboy arrested in connection with the stabbing was charged with murder. He will appear at Skegness magistrates’ court this morning.

November 6, 2003, CONCORD, Calif. – Concord police have taken the suspects involved in an officer-involved shooting at the 3500 block of Northwood Drive into custody. A nearby school was under lock down temporarily, but that has now been lifted and parents are able to pick up their children.

November 6, 2003, San Antonio, TX – A 17-year-old accused of fatally shooting another teen during a street brawl was released on bond from Bexar County Jail. Jonathan Burns was charged with murder in Tuesday’s death of Antony Moore, also 17. The brawl started at about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday when a group of teen boys rode their bicycles to a home in the Woodlake Park neighborhood in Northeast Bexar County, the Sheriff’s Department said. The group of eight to 12 boys were looking to beat up Burns because one of the youths, who is 15, wanted to settle a simmering dispute that had started at Judson High School. When the boys found Burns, they ganged up against him, witnesses told deputies. Burns lives nearby. As the group fought, a resident came out of his home holding a rifle, Officer Morin said. He fired two rounds into the air to try to frighten the boys, Officer Morin said, but the teens didn’t leave. Holstein put the rifle down, and the group went to beat him up, Morin said. Morin said Burns picked up the rifle and fired a shot, hitting Moore in the stomach. Moore died at Brooke Army Medical Center. “The 15-year-old brought his buddies with him, brought his backup,” Morin said. Moore “just happened to be the unfortunate person in front of that bullet.”

November 6, 2003, Washington, DC – A gunman fired several shots near Ballou Senior High School yesterday afternoon, causing no injuries but leaving students shaken as they ended their first day of classes at the Southeast Washington school since last month’s mercury spill. As the shots rang out soon after dismissal of classes at 3:15 p.m., frantic security guards yelled to students, “Run!” and “Get inside! Now! Come on!” Students who had not been dismissed were held in the building. Minutes later, police arrested an 18-year-old and charged him with assault with a deadly weapon. The shooter was standing about a half-block from the school when he fired a pistol at a car.  Until the shooting, students had been enjoying their first day back at Ballou, which was closed Oct. 2 when a student stole mercury from an unlocked science room and it got spread around. “Everything was fine until now,” said Tyneshia Cobb, 16. “It feels like we ain’t safe nowhere. We got all this security out here, and we’re still not safe.”

November 8, 2003, Sugar Land, TX Marsai Murry, 17 and a senior at Sugar Land Hightower was shot and killed in the parking lot of a football stadium as her school played Houston Willow Ridge. Police believe the bullet was not intended for her.

November 12, 2003, Mt. Vernon, NY A 14-year-old girl was signed out of school by an unrelated 18 year-old who took her to his home and had sex with her. The girl’s parents had signed documents that only they could sign her out. Her parents report that she is Learning Disabled and want to know why the school let this happen. On the same day at the same school, a teachers aide was arrested for propositioning sex from another 14 year old. Last month two football players were arrested at this same school for sexual assault.

November 14, 2003, SHELBYVILLE, Ind. — More than 850 students skipped classes Friday after some received an e-mail that warned a Columbine-style attack would happen that day at school. Of the students who stayed away, about 600 attend Shelbyville High School, and the rest attend Shelbyville Middle School, officials said. The high school students who missed classes represented more than half of the school’s student body. The e-mail “scared a lot of people and disrupted their daily routine, and that absolutely is terrorism,” Principal Adams said.

November 15, 2003, Atlanta, GA. – The atmosphere at two Clayton County schools has returned to normal a week after rumors of possible gang-related violence prompted increased police patrols. Jackie Hubbert, a Clayton assistant superintendent, reported no incidents at Forest Park High School and Babb Middle School since last Friday’s high alert. The alert included asking parents to avoid sending their children to school in red or blue shirts. Those colors are commonly associated with the Bloods and Crips street gangs, though authorities have no concrete evidence of any connection to those groups. Hubbert said officials were focused on protecting students’ safety, especially after school, when drive-by shootings were rumored to be possible, with anyone in those colors as targets.

November 25, 2003,  Orange, TX Police in Orange, Texas, were able to thwart a plan by two teenagers to shoot more than 20 students at Victor High School in southeastern Texas. The two 16-year-olds, a boy and a girl, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Three other students were expelled but have not been charged.

November 25, 2003, Toronto, Canada Gunfire erupted outside the Scarborough Centre for Alternative Studies sending one student to the hospital with wounds to the upper body. He is expected to recover.

December 5, 2003, San Antonio, TX A St. Francis Academy 16 year-old student saw a bullet tear through his jacket just missing his stomach. Two other shots slammed into a pickup truck with a parent and student inside but they were not injured. School had just dismissed when the drive by and three shots happened. Teachers chased the car and got the license number.

December 5, 2003, Oklahoma City, OK A senior at Douglas high school, Tenisha Griffin, suffered fractures in her nasal cavity and a shattered tooth after a bullet from a small handgun struck her on the lip, authorities said. Parents said their children knew the fight was planned but did not tell anyone at the school.

December 5, 2003, Carbondale, IL Brad DeDecker, a volunteer assistant football coach at Carbondale high school, was shot in the left thigh Friday night outside the school during the junior varsity basketball game. Trevis S. Thompson, 17, was taken into custody after school officials and an on-scene officer apprehended him outside the school as he allegedly tried to flee.

December 8, 2003, Porter, OK. – Daniel Dillingham, 15-years-old, is being held without bail in the stabbing death of a classmate, Andy Robinson, 16, aboard a school bus. Dillingham’s family report that he was being bullied daily and they had told him to stand up for himself. The victim’s family deny that he bullied anyone. Students have reported that the victim of today’s stabbing had bullied the suspect regularly.  Although, according to the Mother (Marie Hardin) of Andy, the OSBI and the school officials proved that Andy did not bully Daniel. (Editorial Note: We [schools, parents, friends] need to reach out to those being bullied, those bullying, those who think they are being bullied and those who do not know that they are bullying.)

December 8, 2003, League City, TX Windows were shot out at Clear Lake High School and Bauerschlag Elementary School by two Clear Creek High School students. Police arrested two 18 year olds – John Thomas Frausto and Brandon Dwayne Kirkey – for the shootings. The teenagers had been suspended earlier in the day and went on a shooting spree, shattering windows in houses and vehicles in League City as a way to “relieve stress,” police said.

December 10, 2003, Bronx, NY A 13-year-old student fired a blank from a prop gun on the fourth floor of P.S. 220. The student was arrested and two others were questioned in connection with the incident.

December 17, 2003, Millersville, MD Old Mill High School in Millersville was on lockdown for almost three hours Wednesday after a reported gunshot in a hallway. Police found a bullet hole in the floor and handgun in a restroom. They suspect the shot was accidental but have no motive for the gun being on campus.

December 17, 2003, Columbus, OH Two school buses were struck by gun fire. One was on the morning route with no children on board while the second was on its afternoon route and had two children on board. Police suspect this is part of the serial shooting along Highway 270.

December 19, 2003, Denver, CO Mike Leighton, 24, was killed by multiple gunshots from a lone attacker as he washed his car. While the shooting did not happen at school, it has left the students and fellow teachers reeling from the lose. Leighton was a football coach and a teacher at the alternative school. The school Crisis Team was activated.

December 23, 2003, Colonia, NJ Over 20 shots were fired in the Colonia High School parking lot following a basketball game. A unidentified 18 year-old is in the hospital with gunshot wounds and two suspects are in custody. Police believe that the shooters were not students at the school.

December 23, 2003, Las Cruces, NM Victor Cardova was released from prison to the guardianship of an uncle. In November 1999 he admitted shooting and killing 13 year-old Araceli Tena, his classmate, on the school playground. He served 3 ½ years for that crime and will now live on his family’s ranch in Colorado.

December 30, 2003, Bangkok, Thailand A 16 year-old student was hospitalized after being slashed in a brawl at a bus stop. Two groups of students clashed using knives, axes and sticks against one another. This follows violent school incidents of last week that resulted in the death of man who was pushed from a moving bus. A university student was shot by a stray bullet when two lower school gangs exchanged gunfire.

January 12, 2004,  Dutchtown, Louisiana – Two Dutchtown High School students who reportedly hatched a plan to shoot students and teachers in an effort to emulate the 1999 Columbine High School killing spree in Colorado nearly five years ago. [ see – Assessing the Potentially Dangerous Student Training ]  During a search of the two students homes and school lockers Monday, deputies found drawings displaying the shooting of a Dutchtown teacher, a depiction of the Columbine High School shootings that occurred April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colo., and black military-style clothing such as combat boots, battle dress uniforms and black wool caps. Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley also said his department has evidence that the two had a specific plan to obtain shotguns and rifles for the crime. The two were reportedly going to wake up at 4:20 a.m. April 20 to commit the crime on the fifth anniversary of the Columbine massacre.  See… Development of the Risk Assessment Model

January 14, 2004,  Bellflower, CA – A 15 year-old student was standing among a group of about 20 teens near a bus stop where Woodruff Avenue and Woodruff Place meet behind Bellflower High School when he was shot at about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday.  His best friend since fifth grade who did not want to be identified for his safety said that he and his friend were standing with the rest of the kids when three males in a black Ford Explorer with tinted windows pulled up next to the 15- year-old and asked him if he had a problem with a member of their gang. Although he told them he didn’t want any trouble, his friend said the suspects opened fire anyway. He didn’t recognize the suspects, he said, and some neighbors said they thought the gang was from outside the Bellflower area. See… Development of the Risk Assessment Model

January 15, 2004,  Salinas, CA – A 16-year-old Everett Alvarez High School student died Friday (January 16), the day after he was shot in the head during a fistfight.  Mandujano was involved in a fistfight near Garner Avenue and Alamo Way in Salinas, police said. Mandujano had been standing near the street corner around 3:30 p.m. when two boys saw him and began fighting with him, police said. A friend of the teenager came to his aid shortly before a third boy pulled out a gun and shot Mandujano in the back of the head, police said.

January 16, 2004,  Chelmsford, MA – A 17-year-old Chelmsford High School student was arrested yesterday for allegedly writing threats of violence on the school’s bathroom walls last week.  Written in black ink, the two threats said “everybody dies” and referred to the April 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado. The messages warned that similar violence would take place in Chelmsford this past Monday. About a third of Chelmsford High’s 1,800 students were absent Monday.  The police and members of a  School Threat Assessment Response System team [ See… Development of the Risk Assessment Model ] patrolled school grounds, and students were checked with metal detectors and a portable X-ray machine.  The student allegedly confessed to the crime and said he  had learned from his mistake.  The student said, “It was just a stupid prank,” and a school official said. “The consequences go well beyond what (McHugh) would ever imagine.” But because McHugh has had prior problems with the law, and was on probation for an drunken driving arrest, [ see – Assessing the Potentially Dangerous Student Training ] the judge chose to keep him in custody. According to police, the Chelmsford School Department was instrumental in tracking down McHugh. Superintendent of Schools Richard Moser said high-school officials obtained information from other students that led to the arrest. See… Kids are the Keys training

January 16, 2004,  Anchorage, AK – Anchorage Police Department is investigating a  Thursday night’s shooting in a parking lot on Muldoon. It happened around 8:45pm. Witnesses tell police the trouble started when two groups of teens got into a fight, police say that fight led to gunfire. APD says the argument was apparently over a girl. A 16-year-old high school student sitting in an SUV got shot in the backside.

January 16, 2004,  Salinas, CA – In another violent day in Salinas, a teenager was shot in the head during a street brawl Thursday and a man was wounded in the leg while dining in a restaurant, police said. The teenager, a 16 year old, was in critical condition and another person was shot in the leg. The teenage victim was shot after arguing with three other males, who drove away in a brand-new pickup, according to police. According to a witness one of the three attackers pulled a gun, concealed it with the sleeve, and shot the victim in the head. This is the fifth incident in 11 days in east Salinas in which victims have been shot in the head. Two people have died.

* The city’s first fatal shooting in 2004 was on Jan. 4 .  It was a 15, who died at the scene. A 17-year-old was also injured.
* A 15-year-old boy remains in critical condition after being shot in the head on Jan. 8.
* A 19 year-old, died Jan. 9 after a confrontation ended in a shooting.
* A 21-year-old was shot in the head Tuesday.  He’s in stable condition, according to police.

January 16, 2004,  Pomona, CA –  A 16 year-old girl was shot yesterday by a small-caliber handgun during her class at Pomona High School.  A 17-year-old boy who allegedly had the gun in his pocket when it went off was arrested, as was the 17-year-old boy to whom he allegedly passed the gun after it discharged, said Pomona police.  According  to Emet Terrell, a Pomona Unified School District deputy superintendent the accident happened around 8:30am.   It happened at the end of class and students thought it was someone setting off a firecracker.  The girl did not realize she had be hit and started to complain of pain and eventually went to the school nurse.  The school telephoned the girl’s father, asking him to pick up his daughter.  “When I get there, I notice a bullet hole in her chest and the school was saying it was a firecracker,” the father said. “No way was it a firecracker.”   At his request, the school called for an ambulance and notified police.  When she arrived at the hospital a X-ray showed a .22-caliber bullet lodged in her back, two inches from her heart.  The father was unhappy with the school’s response to the shooting and he planned to meet today with school officials.  “They kept denying the fact that this was more than a firecracker,” the father said. See … Emergency Response & Crisis Preparedness Training

January 17, 2004,  Raymond, VA – A Huguenot High School student has moved out of the area after being shot at twice this week.  A school security report said Freeman (student) was targeted at his residence on Wednesday.  Shots were fired into his house with people inside, the security report says.  Suspects include a George Wythe High School student and “other non-students.” The incident stemmed from “an ongoing feud between ‘Midlothian and Broad Rock’ gangs,” according to the report. “In order to protect all the children in this city and create an atmosphere in which kids can learn, citizens need to get outraged and let City Council and the School Board know that they’ve had enough,” School Board member Carol A.O. Wolf said yesterday. “Enough talk. Enough tears. Give the [police] chief the means and the manpower to get rid of these gangs.”  See… Development of the Risk Assessment Model  “The investigation has unanswered questions,” she said. “All we know is that the student who was the object of this [incident] is not in the classroom, and that is to ensure the safety of the student and the other students in school.”  “Even though some of these incidents don’t happen on school property, they still involve our students and community,” he said. “Lots of times you will know, by the talk around schools, of an event that’s going to happen. We have got to help the city and police department address these incidents before they happen.” See… Kids are the Keys training

Here are three other incidents that took place yesterday:

* A male in a vehicle pointed a gun at a male student as the student was walking on First Street to the Adult Career Development Center.
* Several people entered John Marshall High School, and assaulted a male student in the cafeteria. This led to several fights between Marshall students and the alleged trespassers. The trespassers ran from the building before they could be caught, and the school was placed on “Code Red,” or lockdown, status. The targeted student sustained bruising to the face and was taken home. Police responded to the school to help restore order. See … Emergency Response & Crisis Preparedness Training
* A female Mosby Middle School pupil was charged with aggravated assault after stabbing another pupil in the shoulder with a pencil. The victim was treated by the school nurse. Police released the girl to her parents.  See… Bullying Stops when Respect Begins.

Board Chairman Larry A. Olanrewaju said the school system has been dealing with student violence for the past several years, but now it is getting more public attention.

January 17, 2004, Wilton, Conn. –  Wilton High School officials discovered in a faculty bathroom a threatening note.  The note, found Wednesday, reads: “Jan. 21st. Everyone dies. There will be a bomb at 12:30 p.m. sharp.”  State police squads will check the grounds this weekend following the bomb threat, police said.  Principal Deborah Low said before the school shootings at Columbine and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks “the threat might be treated as a prank to get everyone out of the building to enjoy (nice) weather or get out of a test.”   “None of us can ever treat any of these things as a hoax,” Vance said.  Authorities had not found any other evidence of a bomb other than the note. [ See – Emergency Response/Crisis Readiness training & Drill Training ]  

January 18, 2004, Bellmore, N.J. – The Mepham High School assailants — two 16 and one 17 — have admitted sodomizing three players with broomsticks, pine cones and golf balls during a weeklong training camp last August in Preston Park, Pa.  They were charged with numerous felonies and last week received sentences ranging from probation to military-style boot camp, according to attendees of the hearing. Attorney David Woycik, who represents one of the victims, said the youths’ ordeal was especially difficult because the attackers were not immediately disciplined by the school [ see – Assessing the Potentially Dangerous Student Training ] after the accusations surfaced, and they allegedly tried to intimidate the victims [ See – Anti Bullying Campaign for schools ] for several weeks. “People in the school rebelled against them,” Woycik said. “The victims were looked upon as the bad guys — that’s a tremendous burden.” But he added, “these kids are the heroes in my book.” They told their stories. The school district, administrators and coaches face civil lawsuits. Depositions are expected to begin Monday, Woycik said. Woycik said the coaches and administrators should be held responsible. Rullo, who said he has received death threats and threatening telephone calls since speaking out on behalf of the victims, said the ordeal should be a “wake-up call for parents who thought, ‘I can send my kid out the door and that’s it.’ “There are no more freebies, no more guarantees. Talk to your child, get involved and know who his friends are.” [ See – Emergency Response/Crisis Readiness training & Drill Training ].

January 19, 2004, Winona, Minn. –  A  17-year-old Goodview boy was arrested Sunday in a BB shooting on a school bus that wounded a student in the leg, authorities said.  The boy is accused of firing the BB gun and striking a boy with a pellet on Friday, said Jeff Mueller, investigator with the Winona County Sheriff’s Department.  The shooting was reported Saturday, and the boy was arrested on possession of a weapon on school property, Mueller said.  The victim was not seriously injured.

January 19, 2004, Sacramento, CA – A young man with a shotgun took an administrator hostage atRio Cazadero High School Wednesday and was shot by police who found the two struggling over the weapon.  The 19, was in serious condition after being shot in the shoulder, authorities said.  The Rio Cazadero High administrator was in good condition with a leg injury. Though police initially said he was shot, either by police or the gunman, sheriff’s Sgt. Lou Fatur said the administrator may have injured his leg in a struggle with Rodriguez.  The shooter was armed with a loaded 12-gauge shotgun and a realistic-looking replica handgun when he came onto the campus just before 9 a.m., Fatur said. He said it was unclear if Rodriguez was a student at the school.  “We do know that the young man had a recent breakup with a girlfriend … and we believe he was going there to make a statement, possibly to commit suicide,” Fatur said.  The deputy and two police officers who responded to school employees’ 911 calls “absolutely prevented what could have been just mayhem,” Fatur said.  The two officers opened fire, and both the shooter and the administrator fell to the floor, Fatur said. He said shooter reached for the shotgun and rose, and was shot at again by the officers and by the deputy.  He was hit twice in the upper body, Fatur said.  Police had posted extra patrols at area high schools Tuesday, after a 15-year-old was shot to death near C.K. McClatchy High in front of dozens of other students who had just finished classes. The suspect is believed to be a suspended student associated with a street gang, police said.

January 21, 2004, Lorain, OH – Lorain police say elementary and middle school students on their way to a public library saw a man fatally shoot his wife in the parking lot.  Students who saw the shooting cried as the library assistant was placed in an ambulance.

January 21, 2004, LOS ANGELES, CA – Police are searching for two gunmen Wednesday following a shooting involving Los Angeles police at 3:00 a.m. Wednesday morning.  A pursuit lead to a shoot out.  Someone jumped out of a car in front of a patrol car and started firing at police.  The officers did not fire back but continued pursuing the vehicle. The car stopped and three men got out. There was an exchange of gunfire at the location, but no one was hit. One of the suspects was caught and a weapon was recovered but police are still searching for two more alleged gunmen.  Two elementary schools in the Watts district were closed Wednesday morning during the police search, school officials said. Flournoy Elementary School and 112th Street Elementary School were closed until around 8:30 a.m.when they felt it was safe to start school.  However, Verbum Dei High School Principal Scott Santarosa said the private school, along with its Corporate Work Study program, would remain closed for the day.

January 21, 2004, Henderson, NV – As students were exiting Galloway School a gunman ran through the halls in an attempt to kill the female partner in a love triangle. The gunman had just killed the other male member of the lover’s dispute. SWAT teams responded quickly and determined that deadly force was the only option open with safety of the children in mind. Police praised adults who took control of the children and kept them out of harm’s way. 

January 23, 2004, Kingston, Jamaica An 11th grader at Calabar High School was stabbed in his arm, side and leg when he was attacked by a group of teenagers and was taken to hospital for treatment. A student reported that the attackers were students who had been expelled but who had put on their school uniforms and returned to school for the attack.

January 27, 2004, San Francisco, CA A 15-year-old student was stabbed and killed on the way to school in San Jose today, police are looking for a man about 28 years-old as the suspect.

February 2, 2004, Washington, DC James Richardson, 17, a student at Ballou High School, died after being shot several times in the chest. Another student with a wound to his leg was treated and released.

February 2, 2004, Dunedin, New Zealand Children arriving at Ocean View School were ushered into a back room by teachers while police cordoned off the area and the armed offenders squad moved in. At least four bullets had just slammed into the school, breaking several windows. The culprit turned out to be an 8 year-old boy who was shooting at a Magpie with his father’s unsecured gun and ammunition. The boy cannot be charged but the parents likely will be.

February 3, 2004, Miami, Florida – A 14 year old boy (Jaime Gough) had his throat cut allegedly by his 14 year old friend (Michael Hernandez). He was found in the Southwood Middle school (Miami-Dade County Schools) bathroom by another student around 8:30am. It was not immediately know who had killed the student so the school went into a lock-down. Hernandez was found with, according to Investigators, the murder weapon — a serrated folding knife — plastic gloves and blood-covered jacket were found in his backpack. At that time he confessed and informed police that he had planned on killing another student who did not attend school that day.  A Forensic Psychologist brought in to evaluated the case stated that, ”I would be very surprised if this kid wasn’t sending out lots of signals,”. “But it also wouldn’t be surprising if people around him didn’t pick up on them.”

March 16, 2004, Malcolm, Neb. – School officials say they “got lucky” when authorities arrested a teenager with 20 homemade bombs and a rifle in the parking lot of his.  A 17 year old student was also found with a note saying he wanted to injure everyone at the school except for three friends. The student was arrested Tuesday in the parking lot of Malcolm High School after a staff member saw him swigging liquor from a flask and putting on a black overcoat. He was charged Wednesday with attempted murder. Police who searched the student car found a bolt-action rifle, several rounds of ammunition, small bottles of propane and rigged containers of a petroleum-based propellant.  “It had the potential of going badly,” said Superintendent Gene Neddenriep. “With this student, at this school, on this particular day, we were successful. We got lucky.”

March 16, 2004, FORSYTH, Mont. – Two 8-year-old boys and an 11-year-old schoolmate were arrested after they buried a loaded handgun in a playground sandbox and plotted to shoot and stab a third-grade girl during recess.  The Sheriff said the boys told investigators they intended to harm the young girl because she had teased two of them.  The plot was uncovered late Wednesday morning, about a half-hour before recess, when another student alerted school officials.  The gun, a .22-caliber revolver, had two bullets in it, Hayworth said. School Superintendent Dave Shreeve said a box of bullets also was found nearby. They three were charged Thursday in juvenile court with conspiracy to commit assault with a weapon. Shreeve said the classmate approached the principal in the lunchroom and told her about the plot. School officials found the gun, then pulled the three suspects and the intended victim out of class for questioning.  The school has about 200 students in kindergarten through the sixth-grade. Many of the parents arriving to pick up their children Thursday said they were not even aware of the incident until they heard news reports.  

March 19, 2004, Washington DC – Police officers were dispatched Friday to all 147 District public schools and 15+ private schools  in response to an Internet bomb threat that said five devices had been planted at five schools.  The message – which was received shortly before 6 a.m – did not specify which schools may be involved.  “As a precautionary measure, we have directed each district commander to send officers to every school within their district to work with school security and maintenance and search the schools,” said Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Joe Gentile.  “It’s being handled as a local, one-time prank, and students are being kept inside under the shelter in place policy,” DCPS spokeswoman Prenell Neeley  “We’re following the lead of police. According to Neeley, police were conducting walk throughs of the buildings to determine whether anything looked suspicious or out of place.”  Gentile said it wasn’t clear whether evacuations would be necessary. He said bomb-sniffing dogs would be used if needed, and that other agencies – including the U.S. Park Police and U.S. Capitol Police – were ready to assist.

March 30, 2004, San Diego, CA – A  masked gunman was reported in the area  which prompted administrators at an Oceanside primary school to go into a lockdown Tuesday, while police carried out a search that turned up nothing amiss. All staffers and students remained locked inside for about 90 minutes, until patrol officers finished searching the neighborhood and gave them an all-clear.

April 4, 2004, Morristown, N.J. — A student at Fairleigh Dickinson University was wounded during a fight at the school dance and is charged with weapons offenses. Robert Brock-Murray, 21, of Atlantic City brought a knife to the dance at the school’s Florham Park campus and used it in a threatening way, authorities said. He was shot once in the abdomen during the fight, which left six others injured. Brock-Murray’s behavior added to the turmoil of that evening, Joseph A. Devine, chief of investigations for the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office. The dance, attended by about 400 people, was held as an after-party for attendees of a fashion show sponsored by a student group.

April 14, 2004, Zanesville, OH – Police were called to the school around noon after the 14-year-old allegedly threatened another student with a gun.  School officials had taken possession of the loaded .380-caliber, semi-automatic handgun prior to the police’ arrival. An investigation revealed a second boy was involved. The 15-year-old student was charged with illegal conveyance or possession of deadly weapon in a school safety zone.  An arrest warrant was executed.  While some members of the West Muskingum community have expressed concerns about the district not telling families more about the incident, officials said it was handled to avoid inducing panic. The situation was managed without the school having to go on a lockdown, where students are kept in classrooms. Wourms said staff members were able to handle the situation in a way in which a lockdown wasn’t necessary. This is the second time a student at West Muskingum High School has brought a gun to school while Gary Ankrim has been principal. In January 1999, a freshman was expelled after officials found a .25-caliber gun in his locker. The gun was not loaded, but a magazine with six bullets was found in a gym bag.

April 15, 2004, Camden, N.J. – The 16-year-old boy, who attends the Camden County Vocational Technical High School in Gloucester Township, is charged with making terroristic threats. He was arrested after students reported the threats to school officials.

April 15, 2004, Topeka, KS – The coordinator of school psychology for Topeka Public Schools, said district staff members have provided counseling for several students related to the victim of a fatal shooting Sunday of an 18-year-old or involved in the police investigation into five recent drive-by shooting incidents that occurred over four days. Topeka Police and Topeka Public Schools USD 501 said in a news release that they were aware of rumors circulating through the community about gang activity and weapons violations around the schools, particularly Topeka High.  Parents are advised that the Topeka Police Department and USD 501 are doing everything possible to maintain a safe learning environment for the students at all schools in the area.

April 16, 2004, Topeka, KS – The shooting spree the week of the 5th of April involving some Topeka gang members have the community concerned  One community person stated, the shootings last week were scary because, even though it appears to be gang members shooting at each other, stray bullets can also hit innocent bystanders.  The recent gang activity isn’t just a police problem; it’s a community problem.  The police need to do something.  Maybe restoring the special anti-gang unit to its former strength would help. That unit was very successful in the mid-1990s in getting the gang problem under control. 

April 16, 2004, Victorville, CA – Community Leaders and Educators have little doubt that gang activities and hate-motivated behaviors are on the rise throughout this county.  Gang-related homicides in San Bernardino County increased 69 percent over the past 2 years, according to county stats.  But getting a bead on how significant the gang and hate-related problems are, and their impacts on local schools and communities, has been difficult.  County and local school administrators are joining law enforcement officials and community groups to assess school safety as it relates to gangs and hate activities at a public summit in Apple Valley today.

April 19, 2004, Shreveport, LA –  Shreveport student questioned over alleged school threat  Police questioned an 18-year old high school student about possible threats to shoot people at his school on Monday, a day before the fifth anniversary of the deadly Columbine school shootings in Colorado.  The student was taken into custody shortly after classes began, and police and sheriff’s deputies converged on Byrd High School. Comments considered by some students to be threats were apparently made at a Sunday night church play about the Columbine shootings, Caddo Parish schools superintendent Ollie Tyler said. Officers searched the school but found no firearms.  The 1999 Columbine shootings left 12 students and one teacher dead.

April 20, 2004, San Bernardino, CA –  Arrested to was a 17-year-old boy after bringing a loaded handgun and two knives to Pacific High School of the San Bernardino City Unified School District, which was the fifth anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings.  Campus police arrested the boy.  It was later learned that he wasn’t a student at Pacific High School.  He was arrested shortly after he walked onto the campus.  He had a loaded .380-caliber Lorain handgun and two knives.  It did not appear that he planned a Columbine-style attack, although his intentions were unclear.  A student at the school saw the armed youth and reported it to campus officials. School police arrested him and booked him for possessing weapons on campus.

April 21, 2004, Lowell, MI – The Lowell School District Officials, are considering whether to expel four 11-year-old middle-school students.  The students apparently talked about blowing up the building and brought a pop bottle filled with gasoline and oatmeal, which was discovered in a school locker.  The students had a plan to place the ingredients near a building generator, causing an explosion and chain reaction that would blow up the building, according to Lowell Police Chief Jim Valentine. A classmate told a parent about the plot and the parent notified the Principal. School employees seized the bottle and contacted police and the students’ parents.

April 21, 2004, Lanark, IL – Lanark Police were informed anonymously that a student of Eastland High School allegedly had a “hit list” of students, school officials or members of the public whom he wished to harm. The list was never located and no arrests have been made.   This is the second such school investigation reported in this area this week.  The previous one was on Tuesday when police were called to the Freeport High School after school officials responded to what was perceived as threatening behavior by two alternative high school students. In that case, it turned out the threat was nonexistent.

April 22, 2004, Grant, LA –  Investigators were told that a 16-year-old student had said that a shooting would take place at Fairview High School of the Allen Parish School District similar to the massacre five years ago at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.  That student has been arrested on those allegations.  He was arrested and booked with terrorizing.  There were no weapons  found and there was nothing to indicate that a shooting would actually be carried out.   “It appears as though the only purpose the student had in making the statements was to invoke fear within the school and community,” Chuck Hurst, chief investigator for the Allen Parish sheriff said.

April 22, 2004, West Palm Beach, FL –  A 13-year-old Bear Lakes Middle School student accused of shooting his 13-year-old neighbor is being held in juvenile detention.   The pair were at the home of the boy when the incident occurred. The boy is temporarily charged with attempted murder with a firearm.

* This marked the third shooting involving a juvenile this year in Palm Beach County. In February, Bear Lakes eighth-grader 14 year-old, was shot and killed by his schoolmate and friend, age 13, outside a Riviera Beach apartment complex, authorities say. Also that month, a 42-year-old man in suburban West Palm Beach was shot and killed — by three teenagers, according to authorities.

April 22, 2004, North Greenbush, NY – Students at a private boys school (La Salle Institute) were put into a lockdown after an Internet email threat was received.  The lockdown lasted several hours and, according to one student, two high school seniors at the school were arrested.

April 25, 2004, Washington, DC. –  Another Ballou High School student is dead (see previous shooting).  A 15 year-old Ballou High Student was killed while riding in a stolen car.  Police believe it might be gang related and about a possible turf battle. His uncle did admit, his nephew spent time with people he probably should have avoided.  His uncle also tells us that Timothy was extremely scared about living on his southeast block since the death of James Richardson in February 2004.  Hamilton literally lived across from Richardson.

April 26, 2004, Rockport, TX – Two  employees  of Aransas County school district were shot by a school bus driver after he was fired Monday.  A 43-year-old bus driver was taken into custody after the shooting and an hour-long standoff at the district’s bus shop behind Rockport-Fulton High School.  The, transportation supervisor for the district, and the transportation coordinator, were shot with a .22-caliber handgun.  The Transportation Coordinator was shot in the head and had an exit wound in her face but both were listed in stable condition at a Corpus Christi hospital Monday night.  Classes in the district were expected to be canceled Tuesday.

April 26, 2004, Kansas City, MO – Three bodies found, they were Bruce Slonecker, 25; Natosha Flaskerud, 25, and her 6-year-old daughter, Mariah Flaskerud.  The killings are believed to be a murder-suicide with Slonecker possibly the gunman.  Neighbors said the family was standoffish, reclusive and quiet. Mariah was a kindergarten student at Hazel Grove Elementary School, said Lee’s Summit School District spokeswoman.  District officials arranged for additional counselors to be at the school Monday.

April 29, 2004, Jamaica – Schools in the volatile Jones Town communities  and Arnett Gardens, which were forced to close down because of gang warfare and heavy gunfire, are expected to re-open their gates the first week in May 2004 under heavy police cover. The police will not only patrol the school grounds but they will patrol along the routes that the children use to travel to and from school. Acting Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas said, “There will be a special deployment of police in the area to ensure that students reach school safely.”

May 7, 2004, Randallstown, MD Five people were critically injured after a shooting at Randallstown High School at about 4:30 pm. All injuries appeared to be life threatening. The shooting occurred in the parking lot where students and others were gathering for a charity basketball game. Witnesses saw someone leave the scene in a black BMW with tinted windows.

May 12, 2004,Merced, CA Julio Najar, a 19-year-old from Merced, was reported to be in stable condition after being airlifted to a Modesto hospital. He was wounded about 5:20 pm at Merced’s East Campus Educational Center. A 17-year-old girl also was injured, but less seriously. Police arrested 3 males with an illegal sawed-off shotgun within minutes.

May 15, 2004, Spokane, WA Sean Fitzpatrick was rushed to Sacred Heart Medical Center after swallowing a handful of Ibuprofen pills. Fitzpatrick was 16 when he brought a 9 mm pistol to Lewis and Clark High School last Sept. 22. As students and teachers were evacuated, Fitzpatrick briefly talked with officers before raising the gun in their direction. Officers opened fire, hitting him three times. Fitzpatrick also swallowed 30 over-the-counter painkillers the day he was shot. At his home, investigators found a two-page note indicating the depressed teen planned to commit “suicide by cop.” The shooting left him disfigured, partially blind and unable to speak clearly. Testimony was presented that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and had heard voices in his head for the two years prior to the shootings. The Juvenile Court sentenced him to 45 days of electronic home monitoring and 400 hours of community service.

May 21, 2004, New South Wales, Australia A 17 year-old student bought a crossbow over the internet which he took to school and shot his former girl friend. The bolt passed through her chest and pinned together the legs of another girl. The shooter then attempted to set the girls and the school on fire with gasoline bombs but another student stopped him before the bombs went off. At his sentencing on June 4, the Judge noted that the boy had been the victim of constant bullying for years and was not able to handle the pressure. He then sentenced the youth to 9 years in prison.

May 21, 2004, Bakersfield, CA The Kern County Sheriff arrested one student and 3 others have been suspended at Centennial High School for plotting to kill a School Resource Officer and seven students. The investigation continues.

May 28, 2004, Lufkin,TX – A Lufkin High School assistant basketball coach was found dead early Friday morning next to a pickup truck in an apartment complex in Spring.  Andrew Eisenman, 28, who was employed as a teacher at Westfield High School in Spring, had been shot several times in the chest by a small-caliber handgun.  He had worked for two years as an assistant coach with the varsity basketball team at LHS.  Eisenman’s estranged wife, an elementary school teacher, was arrested Friday in connection with the shooting death. She told investigators she shot Eisenman “sometime before the television show ‘ER’ started” Thursday night.   Friday was the last day of school for Spring students. A spokeswoman said counselors were being made available to students.

May 28, 2004, Jamaica – 4 individuals, including a district constable were shot, one fatally, this afternoon in separate incidents as members of rival gun gangs continue to unleash terror on the Arnett Gardens/Jones Town community of South St. Andrew.  In the meantime, only a handful of students turned out for classes yesterday, despite the presence of heavily armed police personnel at most schools in the South St. Andrew community. “Under 100 students came to school today ,” said Dennis Kelly, principal of Charlie Smith High, where over 400-students are enrolled.  According to Mr. Kelly, because of Thursday’s flare-up of violence which left one man dead, a number of parents were still afraid to send their children out to school.  There are reports that the Trench Town High,  Jones Town and Iris Gelly primary schools were also affected, along with Jackson’s Basic School. “About 20 students came out today and we have 690 enrolled. I believe the parents kept them away because of what happened on Thursday,” said Majorie Hutchinson, principal of Jones Town Primary. She said a number of the young children had turned up at school crying, telling teachers that they were afraid. She said some of the students were severely traumatized, likewise some teachers.

June 2, 2004, St. Croix, Virgin Islands Jahmalie Henry, a 19-year old student at St. Croix Educational Complex was gunned down by a 17-year old student shortly after classes let out for the day. A total of four boys have been arrested and two guns seized. Witnesses believe the shooting sprang from a fight the day before. Henry was pronounced dead at a hospital around 6 pm. School has been canceled the next day to allow grief counselors to be in place for the students.

June 2, 2004, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa A 17 year-old in grade 12 died today as she stepped off her bus and was struck in the neck by a bullet. Police and hijackers were in a car chase and shooting at each other as they went past the school. She was the third student to die there this week. Another 17 year-old student collapsed and died after being “caned” by the principal for being late to class. The third committed suicide after learning he was HIV positive.

June 3, 2004, Belfast, Northern Ireland A parent was gunned down by two armed men in the driveway of an integrated (Catholic and Protestant) school after dropping off his child. A number of children witnesses the brutal attack and murder. The school was closed until Monday.

June 4, 2004 – Phiadelphia, PA In the city of Brotherly Love, estranged parents both showed up at school for birthday party. The students Dad choked Mom’s new boy friend who pulled a gun and shot Dad. The fight and shooting happened with all the students at People for People Charter School looking on.

June 9, 2004, Oakland, CA Two 15-year-old students were shot in front of Castlemont High School. The shots were fired from n a passing car just before classes were let out for the day. Unofficial reports indicate gang activity may be involved.

June 16, 2004, Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada A 12 year-old girl was shot in the thigh on her way home from school. A 15 year-old boy has been arrested in what RCMP are calling a random act of violence. They believe that the girl was not specifically targeted for the shooting although several shots were fired at her.

June 16, 2004, Kamas, UT The Summit County Sheriff’s Office reported that two 15-year-old sophomores were taken into custody after a locker search at South Summit High School found drawings that glorified “violent overthrow of the government, murder, suicide, sodomy, war, gun use and vigilante justice.”

June 16, 2004, Parowan, UT A Parowan High School student, age and grade unknown, was suspended and arrested for making death threats against more than a dozen classmates. Scott Doubek, principal, reported that other students had reported that the suspect had written a “hit list.”

June 18, 2004, Sydney, Australia Police are investigating the shooting of 17 year-old 12^th grade girl. A small “starter” pistol was recovered at the scene. Rumors suggest the wound may have been self inflicted. The victim is in a hospital with no report of her condition available.

June 18, 2004, Arlington, VA A 12 year-old boy, in full camouflage dress, managed to smuggle a .30/06 deer rifle, a .22 rifle and .410 shotgun into Bull Run Middle School in Gainesville. An Assistant Principal making his early morning rounds found the boy in a restroom and alerted police before he was able to use the guns against other students. The boy was apparently planning retaliation for having been bullied by other students for a long time.

Note: This list is not complete. There is a tendency to under-reported school violence, so it you know of an incident that is not reported here, please send in by email.

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