Interesting update on AR shooting near junior hi-school,12 y.o.boy SHOT COP,cop returned fire,hitting boy,who MAY have been heading BACK to his school with some type of intention of committing a shooting rampage,but that's only speculation,both survive
Joe1orbit
My Posting Spree for today continues. Remember folks, tomorrow is a SPECIAL
day, I will spend my ENTIRE posting day, except for the Mailing List real-time
Chat session, posting EXCLUSIVELY on cases that involve Mommies
killing/torturing their slaves, or vice-versa, in "honor" of the deranged
holiday of Mother's Day. This means VERY few if ANY LIST posts will be made,
since FEW of these cases are likely to involve MASS or serial murder. Hopefully
someone ELSE will pick up my SK/MM posting slack, tomorrow.
I posted yesterday that a MINOR school shooting had occured in Arkansas, just
outside a junior high school. A 12 year old boy and a COP, were both shot, but
NOT fatally. Details were VERY sketchy when I made my initial post, and I
assumed the gunman had FLED and was still at large, it was totally unclear
whether it was a student shooter some "outsider". Well, thanks to the miracle
of the news wires, we know have MANY more details, and a clear picture of what
occured.
It seems as though our 12 year old boy, the one SHOT three times, was JUST
ABOUT to try and UNDERTAKE a shooting rampage at this junior high school, which
he DID attend! He had a SHOTGUN in hand, and was WALKING TOWARDS his junior
high school, when he was CONFRONTED by a cop. They EXCHANGED gunfire, he SHOT
the cop, but the cop managed to shoot him THREE times, thus incapacitating our
youthfully enraged societal victim and rendering him UNABLE to even INITIATE an
attempt to commit a mass shooting of fellow students/teachers, which APPEARS to
have been his goal.
Here's how it all came down: A LOCAL resident, must have been a REAL busybody
and tattletale, called police to report his/her "concern that a boy walking
along a road might have been skipping school." A police SERGEANT responded to
the call, and spotted this 12 year old boy CROUCHED DOWN in a hayfield, about a
MILE away from the junior high school, so he wasn't even CLOSE to the school.
As soon as the boy spotted the COP, he stood up and OPENED FIRE with his
shotgun. The police sergeant returned fire, and BOTH parties were hit and
wounded.
You have to wonder whether this 12 year old boy was even HEADED to the junior
high school, but it's clear that he had SOME type of a HOMICIDAL intent, and
PLAN, in that he so readily opened fire on the cop. The cop only suffered MINOT
shotshell wounds, the unidentified 12 year old is in STABLE condition, shot in
the stomach.
A school official CONFIRMS that this boy had gotten into a FIGHT at school on
Monday, then SKIPPED school Tuesday & Wednesday, very possibly BUILDING UP his
rage & PLANNING out some type of an attack. His MOMMY physically DRAGGED him to
school on Thursday, but he CUT OUT & left soon after classes began. The
shooting incident occured just HOURS later, on Thursday. here we have a
TORTURED 12 year old boy-slave, literally CRYING OUT, as best he could: "Please
don't send me back to where I am being TORTURED. Please don't IMPRISON me
inside of a school building where I am being ABUSED and TORMENTED." But of
course your EVIL society decrees children to be subhuman slaves who must OBEY
their OWNERS & other elders and GO wherever they are sent. How OUTRAGEOUS it is
that this tortured child WILL likely be PROSECUTED in juvenile court, and
subjected to punitive punishment, simply for trying to AVOID the TORTURE that
he was being subjected to!
In terms of tactics, IF this 12 year old boy was HEADING back to school with
the intent to commit a mass shooting, he made the duel mistakes of CHOOSING to
draw attention to himself BOTH by being OUT in a field during regular school
hours, AND in SHOOTING upon the pig who confronted him. Even IF the cop had
FOUND this boy carrying a shotgun, this being a very RURAL area, the boy could
have explained that he was just looking for rabbits or other small animals to
shoot, and would CERTAINLY not have been PROSECUTED for simply POSSESSING the
FAMILY-owned shotgun, although I'm sure his PARENTS would have been notified,
would have had to pick up the shotgun themselves from the stationhouse, etc...
The tactical rule is to try and BLEND in, not STAND OUT & draw attention to
yourself, in a situation like this.
Take care, JOE
The following two news articles both appear courtesy of yesterday's
Associated Press news wire:
Student, Officer Wounded in Shooting
By DAVID A. LIEB
PRAIRIE GROVE, Ark. (AP) - A 12-year-old boy armed with a shotgun and headed
toward his junior high school was shot after he opened fire on a police
officer, authorities said.
Both were wounded but survived the exchange of gunfire Thursday.
``I think the good Lord was on our side,'' Police Chief Robin Casey said. ``I
think he helped us out and prevented any kids from getting hurt and hopefully
prevented this kid from dying.''
Sgt. Greg Lovett was responding to a call from a resident who was concerned
that a boy walking along a road might have been skipping school.
When the officer found the 12-year-old crouched in a hayfield about a mile from
Prairie Grove Junior High School, the boy stood up and began firing from a
20-gauge shotgun, police said. Lovett returned fire.
Lovett, who was assigned part time to the school, was treated and released at a
hospital after being hit by birdshot in the face, chest, back and buttocks. He
was wearing a bulletproof vest.
The 12-year-old, whose name was not released, was in stable condition after
being shot in the abdomen.
Prairie Grove Superintendent Tom Louks said the boy had skipped school Tuesday
and Wednesday after being involved in a dispute Monday. The boy was brought to
school by his mother Thursday but left shortly after classes began, Louks said.
Louks said the boy had not been suspended because of Monday's incident and had
not been a discipline problem before.
``I know the boy from church. A nice young man,'' Louks said.
The superintendent would not say what happened to the boy Monday, but a
classmate said she heard that he had been punched.
``He wasn't violent. We talked about school and stuff,'' said John Gladwin, 13.
``He was a smart guy.''
Prairie Grove is 200 miles west of Jonesboro, where boys age 13 and 11 shot and
killed four classmates and a teacher two years ago.
The Prairie Grove school system, which has about 1,300 students in grades
kindergarten through 12, serves the town of 1,800 and a rural, mountainous area
on the western fringe of the Ozark Mountains.
Washington County Prosecutor Terry Jones said he will not make a decision on
any possible charges against the boy until after he gets the investigator's
report, which likely will be next week.
AP-NY-05-12-00
-----------------------------------------------------------
Police defend shootout
Child, officer injured after call chief says may have prevented school violence
By DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press Writer
Friday, May 12, 2000
PRAIRIE GROVE -- A call to police about a 6- or 7-year-old child walking along
a rural road during school hours may have prevented a schoolground shooting, a
police chief says.
A police officer responded Thursday to find a child crouched in a hay field in
which cattle were feeding, barely a mile from his school and, in an ensuing gun
battle, both the officer and child were wounded.
The child, whom the tipster thought was an elementary student was actually a
12-year-old seventh-grader, whom his classmates say is short for his age and
pudgy. He was armed with a 20-gauge shotgun.
"There's stuff that indicates he was heading back to school," said Police Chief
Robin Casey. "I think the good Lord was on our side today. I think he helped us
out and prevented any kids from getting hurt and hopefully prevented this kid
from dying."
The 12-year-old was in guarded but stable condition Thursday after being shot
in the abdomen. Sgt. Greg Lovett was treated and released at a hospital after
being hit by birdshot in the face, chest, back and buttocks.
Prairie Grove Superintendent Tom Louks said the boy had skipped school for two
days after being involved in an incident earlier this week. The boy's parents
were called and he was driven to school with his two sisters by their mother
Thursday. He apparently left shortly after classes began but Louks said he did
not know precisely when or why.
Washington County Prosecutor Terry Jones said that, if charged, the boy will be
tried as a juvenile. State law prohibits the filing of adult charges against
juveniles younger than 14 unless a murder is involved.
"He can't be charged as an adult. Attempted murder doesn't work as an adult
charge for a 12-year-old," Jones said.
The chief recommended an attempted murder charge.
Jones said he won't make a decision on charges until after he gets the
investigator's report, which likely will be completed next week.
Louks said the boy had no history of violence and had not been a discipline
problem. Police said they were not involved in the earlier incident and were
looking into it as part of their investigation of Thursday's shooting.
Authorities did not release the boy's name.
Classmate Emily Leonard said she had heard that the boy had been punched
earlier in the week. She said the boy was sometimes teased about his size but
was active in school, played football, enjoyed chess and had a contagious
laugh.
"He's real funny. He mostly just goes along with what everybody else is talking
about. He laughs at everything. He's got a funny laugh. Whenever he laughs, it
makes everyone else laugh," she said.
John Gladwin, 13, said after school he had known the alleged shooter since
kindergarten.
"He wasn't violent. We talked about school and stuff," Gladwin said. "He was a
smart guy."
Reached in the evening, Gladwin said he did not want to comment further without
first talking to the boy.
"I don't want to say anything more out of respect for my friend," Gladwin said.
Lacey Rompel, 16, said she saw the boy's mother drive him and his two sisters
to school Thursday morning and that she couldn't believe he could be involved
in a shootout with police.
"He's really nice. I was totally shocked when they said it was (him)," she
said. "I was like, there was no way, because they are a real down-to-earth
Christian family. I mean really. They go to church. They attend everything.
He's a sweetheart."
Classes Thursday were interrupted by an intercom announcement alerting teachers
by an innocuous sounding code to lock the classroom and keep students away from
the windows. Students were not told of the shooting by teachers or
administrators. Classes continued Thursday and were scheduled to go on today.
A single Prairie Grove police officer stood guard by the junior high school
today, beginning about an hour before classes resumed. Parents and school buses
dropped off students in the school's circle drive.
The officer left his post long enough to question a reporter parked across the
street.
Louks said he wanted to keep the atmosphere as normal as possible. Youth
baseball and a choir concert went on as scheduled Thursday evening. Louks was
to meet with staff members this morning and the district's four counselors were
to be available to students.
"You don't want to fantasize these things, you try to keep things as normal as
possible," Louks said.
Louks said he did not consider Thursday's shooting school-related.
"I get this real ill feeling because it didn't happen on school grounds. It is
not a school shooting," Louks said. He also said it was not related to a gang
known as the "Prep Killers" that threatened violence at the junior high last
year.
Thursday was Teacher Appreciation Day at the school and Lovett was on campus
when he got the call to look for the child.
In his search, he ran across Louks and a principal who said they had seen the
boy near a hay field. When Lovett called to the boy, the child stood up in the
tall grass and fired three or four blasts from what Casey described as "a
family gun."
Lovett returned fire with his .40 caliber Smith & Wesson, getting off about
five rounds, striking the boy once in the abdomen, police said.
Casey said shells collected at the scene indicated the boy fired at least four
rounds from a 20-gauge shotgun.
Louks said he didn't realize the boy was armed until the first shot was fired.
Lovett was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Prairie Grove is 200 miles west of Jonesboro, where boys age 13 and 11 shot and
killed four classmates and a teacher two years ago.
Last year, two students in Littleton, Colo., killed 12 students and a teacher
before committing suicide inside Columbine High School. Other campus shootings
have occurred since 1997 in Pennsylvania, Oregon and Mississippi.
The Prairie Grove school system, which has about 1,300 students in grades K-12,
serves the town of 1,800 and a rural, mountainous area on the western fringe of
the Ozark Mountains.
While working as an undercover narcotics officer in 1993, Lovett was in a gun
battle with a suspect who tried to drag him from a parked car. Lovett shot the
suspect in the arm. The prosecutor said the 1993 shooting left Lovett a bit
shaken, but didn't influence his decision to return to patrol duty in 1996.
--------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of today's Associated Press news wire:
Student, police officer hurt in exchange of gunfire
Associated Press
PRAIRIE GROVE, Ark., May 13 - A police officer exchanged gunshots with a
seventh-grader Thursday as the boy headed toward his junior high school with a
shotgun, authorities said. Both were wounded.
The officer, who was assigned part-time to the school, was treated
and released from a hospital. The 12-year-old was in stable condition after
being shot in the abdomen.
“There’s stuff that indicates he was heading back to school,” said Police
Chief Robin Casey. “I think the good Lord was on our side today. I think he
helped us out and prevented any kids from getting hurt and hopefully prevented
this kid from dying.”
Prairie Grove Superintendent Tom Louks said the boy had skipped school
Tuesday and Wednesday after being involved in a dispute Monday. The boy was
brought to school by at least one of his parents Thursday but left shortly
after classes began, Louks said.
Louks said the boy had not been suspended because of Monday’s incident and
had not been a discipline problem before.
“I know the boy from church. A nice young man,” Louks said.
The superintendent would not say what happened to the boy Monday, but a
classmate said she heard that he had been punched. Students said the boy, whose
name was not released, was friendly.
“He wasn’t violent. We talked about school and stuff,” said John Gladwin,
13, who said he has known the boy since kindergarten. “He was a smart guy.”
Police said a resident called Thursday morning, concerned that a
boy seen walking down a road might have been skipping school. Sgt. Greg Lovett
was dispatched from his office at the Prairie Grove Junior High School.
In his search, he ran across Louks and a principal who said they had seen
the boy near a hay field. When Lovett called to the boy, the child stood up in
the tall grass and fired three or four blasts from what Casey described as “a
family gun.”
Lovett was hit in the face and the chest, then in the back and buttocks as
he turned away. Lovett returned fire, getting off about five rounds, striking
the boy once in the stomach, police said.
Louks said he didn’t realize the boy was armed until the first shot was
fired. Lovett was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Prairie Grove is 200 miles west of Jonesboro, where boys age 13 and 11
shot and killed four classmates and a teacher two years ago.
Last year, two students in Littleton, Colo., killed 12 students and a
teacher before committing suicide inside Columbine High School. Other campus
shootings have occurred since 1997 in Pennsylvania, Oregon and Mississippi.
The Prairie Grove school system, which has about 1,300 students in grades
K-12, serves the town of 1,800 and a rural, mountainous area on the western
fringe of the Ozark Mountains.
Police didn’t say what charges they would consider against the boy.
---------------------------------------------------------
The following two news articles both appear courtesy of the 5/13/00 online
edition of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper:
1 day after, town finds old routine
ROSE ANN PEARCE
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
PRAIRIE GROVE -- Less than 24 hours after a police officer and a 12-year-old
boy were wounded in an exchange of gunfire, this quiet town of 2,500 residents
was healing quickly.
As youngsters played baseball on the Prairie Grove School District's
baseball diamonds, the high school choir presented its spring concert Thursday
night.
By Friday morning, grazing cattle had replaced police cars and yellow crime
scene tape in the hayfield where a school resource officer and a seventh-grade
student were wounded in an exchange of gunfire.
Only one question seemed to linger on everyone's mind: Why?
The student, who classmates and others identified as Michael Nichols, was
listed in stable condition Friday at Washington Regional Medical Center in
Fayetteville. The police officer, Sgt. Greg Lovett, was recuperating at home.
Lovett, who was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, was hit by shotgun pellets in
the face, chest back and buttocks.
Michael was shot in the abdomen when Lovett returned fire with his
.40-caliber semiautomatic pistol.
Around town, it seemed business as usual, and very little open discussion
took place about the events of the preceding day that focused the world's eyes
on this community. Even Mayor Andrew T. Bain's dental office was closed, as it
usually is on Fridays.
Townspeople gathered at Carol's Diner, where they exchanged greetings over
coffee or plates of scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy.
Only when asked by reporters did residents discuss the shooting.
"We never will know why, I imagine," said Wanda Anderson, a former school
bus driver.
The tree-lined streets leading to Prairie Grove Junior High School were
quiet, in stark contrast to Thursday's activities when a large group of
reporters and television satellite trucks, from as far away as Little Rock and
Oklahoma City, stationed themselves across the street from the school.
At J&B Auto Service, Murphy Pair checked a computer for car parts for a
customer on the telephone.
"I usually don't talk to the media," said Pair, who has been a member of
the Prairie Grove City Council for 20 years.
"I don't think the whole world will perceive Prairie Grove as an evil
place," Pair said. "The response was as good as it could be."
Pair said he doesn't expect "a lasting bad legacy from this if the media
reports it correctly."
Graham Nations, an attorney and president of the Prairie Grove Chamber of
Commerce, said residents are "a pretty resilient bunch" and doubted that the
shootout will have any long term effects on the city.
He said people everywhere should be thinking, " 'if it can happen in
Prairie Grove, it can happen in my town.' "
Prairie Grove is "about as standard a small town as there is. It's what
everyone pictures when they think of a small town," Nations said.
Real estate agent Larry Nelson said he doubted that the shooting would have
a lasting, adverse impact on the community.
The fact that the shooting here did not occur on the school grounds is
"different from other school shootings and makes us look more attentive,"
Nelson said.
The shootout between Michael and Lovett occurred in a field about a mile
from the school campus.
He described Sgt. Greg Lovett as "a genuine fellow who did the best he
could do in the situation."
Prairie Grove School Board President Larry Crawley said, "Things like this
bring people in Prairie Grove closer. The community will heal."
This article was published on Saturday, May 13, 2000
----------------------------------------------------
Day-after puzzles: What was boy up to, why open fire?
ANDY DAVIS AND ROSE ANN PEARCE
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
PRAIRIE GROVE -- Police searched Friday for a second gun that may be linked to
a 12-year-old boy shot Thursday after he fired a shotgun at a Prairie Grove
police officer.
Prairie Grove Police Chief Robin Casey said the boy carried a handful of
bullets that would not work in the 20-gauge shotgun used in Thursday's shooting
of Sgt. Greg Lovett.
Lovett shot the boy in a gunfight Thursday morning.
Police still did not name the boy Friday, but family and friends have
identified him as Michael Nichols, a seventh-grader at Prairie Grove High
School.
They suspect Michael was walking to Prairie Grove Junior High School with
at least the shotgun. Casey said the boy was heading to school to shoot "a
person," but the police chief would not say whom.
Casey would not say what type of bullets police found or how many, but he
said there were more than 10.
Investigators in this town of 2,500 on Friday were still trying to find the
answer to the question that lingered on everyone's mind: Why?
Their investigation has focused on why Michael left school Thursday
morning, walked three miles to his home on a dirt road north of town, picked up
a shotgun from home and headed back toward the school.
Casey said Michael was mad about an "altercation" Monday and had skipped
classes Tuesday and Wednesday.
Washington County Prosecuting Attorney Terry Jones said Monday's
altercation was minor and probably not the only reason Nichols had planned to
shoot someone at school.
"If I were to guess, I'd say something dramatic happened in this kid's
life, and that could be anything, from sexual abuse to breaking up with a
girlfriend," Jones said. "I'm not convinced that anything that happened at
school was enough to have provoked this type of behavior in what by all
accounts was a very good student. You just don't go from A to Z unless there's
something else going on."
STUDENTS PERPLEXED
Schoolmates at the junior high said students talked about the shooting
among themselves, but there were no formal discussions.
"Everyone already knew who it was," said Kaitlyn Rush, 12, who had several
classes with Michael. She said the mood at the junior high, where Michael was
in the seventh grade, was "still tense but a lot better" than Thursday, the day
of the shooting.
Another classmate, Larry McFatrich, said students "just tried to keep going
like nothing had happened."
Larry said he spent last Saturday night with Michael. The two boys played
with a pellet gun and PlayStation games at Michael's home and went to Northwest
Arkansas Mall, where they played arcade games.
Michael "acted normal," Larry said, adding that the two talked about "the
usual stuff" but nothing that would reveal a reason for Michael's actions.
Larry said Michael played on the football team this year and was teased
because of his size.
"I don't think the guys meant to hurt him like that," Larry said.
Kaitlyn also said Michael was teased by other students, "but he teased
right back."
The two students said they were not aware of anything that would have
prompted their classmate to want to bring a shotgun to school.
"Why would someone do something like this?" Larry asked. "I can't picture
him doing it."
The shooting took place midmorning Thursday.
A motorist who saw Nichols acting strangely and walking along Viney Grove
Road about 10 a.m. Thursday morning called police, and Lovett was dispatched.
Another motorist who saw the boy called the school, and Superintendent Tom
Louks and elementary school Principal Pete Bennett went looking for a truant
student.
The administrators flagged down Lovett at the edge of a cow pasture about a
mile northwest of the school, and the three searched the field together.
When they reached a wire fence, about 200 yards east of the road, Lovett
spotted Michael lying in the grass about 25 feet away and called for him to get
up. Michael popped up and fired four shots at Lovett before the officer could
get his gun out. Lovett fired five times, shooting Michael once in the stomach,
ending the gunfight.
Lovett was at home recuperating Friday and declined to comment. He was
wounded in the face, chest, back and buttocks.
Michael remained in Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville
Friday. He was listed in stable condition.
Casey has described the shotgun as a "family gun" but would not say who it
belonged to. The gun was "plugged," meaning it was capable of holding only
three shells, he said.
CHASING LEADS
Police spent much of Friday chasing leads and rumors about the shooting.
Someone told police Michael was seen with another boy Friday morning, Casey
said, but that report turned out to be unfounded. Reports that Michael had been
suspended or disciplined before the shooting were also false, he said.
"We're just gathering statements from different folks, trying to run down
rumors and make sure that's what they are -- rumors," Casey said.
Police have not yet spoken with Michael. His parents, Thomas and Susan
Nichols, have declined to comment to reporters. Michael has not yet been
arrested or charged with a crime.
He can be charged only in juvenile court, prosecutor Jones said. Even if
the boy is convicted and given the maximum sentence, he would be released from
state custody when he was 18, he said.
Laws passed in the wake of a school shooting in Jonesboro allow prosecutors
to charge minors as adults for certain crimes and for judges to give them
stiffer sentences, but the laws apply only to children 14 and older, he said.
Jones said he isn't considering charges against the family. State
Department of Human Services spokesman Joe Quinn said the family had no history
with the department.
AT THE SCHOOL
In contrast to Thursday, when teachers were posted at outside doors at the
junior high and high schools, teachers were not visible on the grounds before
students were released.
As students boarded school buses and climbed into waiting cars, Principal
Frank Dalmut lowered the flags from the pole in front of the junior high.
Superintendent Louks was not available for comment Friday.
Prairie Grove School Board President Larry Crawley praised the
superintendent, principals and police for quickly resolving a situation that
could have been worse. It was a sentiment expressed across town Friday.
"As bad as it was, it was good compared to what could have happened," said
Crawley, owner of Prairie Grove Auto, an auto supply store in the downtown
area. "There are no books written on how to handle these situations."
In between fielding telephone calls at his store, Crawley talked with Louks
and the principals several times Thursday night and Friday. He said the
superintendent planned to meet Friday with teachers and administrators to
discuss safety and security procedures.
A plan to secure the school buildings, which includes locking the building
and individual classrooms, has been in place for the past three to five years,
Crawley said, largely because of school violence in other parts of the country.
"The plan we had in place worked outstanding," Crawley said.
Thursday's intercom announcement that the volleyball ball team would not
have practice alerted teachers to lock classroom doors and move students away
from the windows. The school has no volleyball team.
PRAISE FOR OFFICIALS
Several parents voiced support of the school's handling of the situation.
Parents on Friday said they were mostly unworried Thursday when they heard
news of the shooting because they knew the schools were locked and their
children were safe.
Kat Moore said her two children, who are in second grade and kindergarten,
did not know what occurred about a mile from their school.
"There was no reason to alarm the kids if they had it under control," Moore
said. "Neither one of my children were alarmed or scared" when they arrived at
home Thursday.
Dyanna Gage, the mother of an eighth-grader, also said she thought the
police and the school handled the situation well.
There was no indication that the absentee rate was higher than usual or
that parents kept their children at home today, Crawley said.
"School went on as normally as possible," he said.
This article was published on Saturday, May 13, 2000
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Toby
<joe1...@aol.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> My Posting Spree for today continues. Remember folks, tomorrow is a SPECIAL
> day, I will spend my ENTIRE posting day, except for the Mailing List real-time
> Chat session,
There he goes again, confusing a mailing list with real-time chat!
More signs he's losing it.
Toby