I haven't found a news story on it, but one of our grandkids got a phone call before school yesterday morning. The caller was warning that due to a recent fight, there was going to be a shooting in retaliation for a fight at Abilene High. Our daughter sent the kids to school anyway.
Well, they did round up the kids involved. The police were involved. But the kids that were going to open fire on the cafeteria lunch crowd simply got a weeks suspension. They sent the rest of the students home.
Our grandkids feel pretty sure the gangsters were just given a week to come up with a more effective plan of attack.
Anyone with more info?
Shooting deferred at Abilene High?
Moderators: carlson1, Charles L. Cotton
Shooting deferred at Abilene High?
Ø resist
Take away the second first, and the first is gone in a second.
NRA Life Member, TSRA, chl instructor
Take away the second first, and the first is gone in a second.
NRA Life Member, TSRA, chl instructor
Re: Shooting deferred at Abilene High?
Here is a report in the Abilene paper. Our schools would probably be better off without cell phones. Rumors spread fast enough without them.
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/o ... lene-high/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Rumors of violence put Abilene High on alert
By Jared Fields
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Authorities at Abilene High School exercised caution Thursday after a scuffle Wednesday escalated to rumors of students using weapons, which led to some staying home.
"I feel confident that it is safe, extremely safe, yet we still follow up on everything," AHS Principal Terry Bull said Thursday.
The campus normally has one school resource officer, but police said five to eight were at the school Thursday to ensure safety.
"We're reassuring them that we've got plenty of officers there to make sure that nothing, no violent encounter, breaks out, and it is safe to go to school, and we're going to be there with your kids," Sgt. Tony Lassetter said.
Of the school's 2,161 students, 611 were reported as absent after the second period count Thursday, according to school secretary Sandy Drake. Drake said the school averages 120 absences a day.
After fifth period, the school reported 754 students absent. Bull said the absences count the same as any other unexcused absence.
Bull said safety was the main reason parents kept students out of school Thursday. Bull said he appreciated the parents who kept their children in school but understood the ones who kept them out.
"People say, 'Can you guarantee that my kid will be OK?' I can't guarantee you that if they drive here, that they won't have a wreck," Bull said. "I'm not going to be naive enough to say that."
Bull said the absence of so many students put a strain on the teachers who tried to teach what remained of their classes.
"It's tough. A lot of what teachers do is just improvise and do the best they can," Bull said. "Some of them might have work they need to make up and give them that opportunity."
The anxiety around campus stemmed from an altercation Wednesday afternoon between two students, Bull said. He said that the origin of the rumors has not been confirmed and that rumors reached the point Thursday that a shooting had occurred at school.
Students, as usual, wore their identification badges, and teachers more strictly enforced student movement between and during classes.
Bull said this enforcement of regular policy was not because of concern for AHS students.
"What I'm worried about is keeping outside individuals who aren't supposed to be on campus, off campus," Bull said.
After-school activities, such as athletic practices, took place as scheduled, Bull said.
Bull said he is trying to track down the spread of rumors that began Wednesday through text messages and Internet postings.
"We've got a lot of third, fourth, fifth and sixthhand information. It's just that we'd like to get some more firsthand information, which -- after it goes text to text -- you start losing validity on what really was actually said or happened," Bull said. "We followed all the leads we had, and they all just kind of dead-ended to the fact that, yeah, there was a confrontation."
"Who knows how true it is -- we don't know," Lassetter said. "Any time we get this many people text-messaging each other and this many parents calling us, concerned, of course we're going to take it serious, and so that's what we've done this morning."
Other principals in Abilene were aware of the heightened security at the AHS campus Thursday.
Cooper High School Principal Gail Gregg said Cooper is on alert and taking precautions in case such rumors and anxiety spread to his campus.
"It's amazing how stuff gets started and spreads and gets twisted," he said. "But we're dealing with a little of that fallout, too, because some of that's spilled over here."
Wylie High School Principal Mitch Davis said he has not heard any rumors or talk similar to Abilene High.
Davis said he has noticed that cell phones have led to rumors spreading quicker and wider.
"It's just one other avenue that they've got to pass the information along," Davis said. "And one more for us to try to track down. It is such a fast-moving way of communication."
One AHS student said that although the rumors spread quickly Wednesday evening, the sort of rumors she heard are not uncommon.
"It happens on a somewhat daily basis here," Keri Hollon said.
The senior said she believed this rumor spread so much more rapidly because police and news media were informed.
Another AHS senior said she decided to come to school although her parents gave her a choice.
"If they've been telling everybody and the cops already know, I really didn't think it was going to happen," Jordyn McPherson said. "I didn't feel like I was in any more danger than I do any other day."
McPherson, a senior at AHS who is also the student council treasurer, said other rumors were surfacing because nothing happened Thursday.
But like most rumors she's heard in her high school career, McPherson said, "it's never going to happen."
Bull said that tracking the rumor mill has turned into "the text-message mill."
"It just spreads like wildfire," Bull said. "It's what somebody heard somebody else say, and that makes it extremely difficult."
E.W. Scripps Co.
© Abilene Reporter-News
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/o ... lene-high/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Rumors of violence put Abilene High on alert
By Jared Fields
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Authorities at Abilene High School exercised caution Thursday after a scuffle Wednesday escalated to rumors of students using weapons, which led to some staying home.
"I feel confident that it is safe, extremely safe, yet we still follow up on everything," AHS Principal Terry Bull said Thursday.
The campus normally has one school resource officer, but police said five to eight were at the school Thursday to ensure safety.
"We're reassuring them that we've got plenty of officers there to make sure that nothing, no violent encounter, breaks out, and it is safe to go to school, and we're going to be there with your kids," Sgt. Tony Lassetter said.
Of the school's 2,161 students, 611 were reported as absent after the second period count Thursday, according to school secretary Sandy Drake. Drake said the school averages 120 absences a day.
After fifth period, the school reported 754 students absent. Bull said the absences count the same as any other unexcused absence.
Bull said safety was the main reason parents kept students out of school Thursday. Bull said he appreciated the parents who kept their children in school but understood the ones who kept them out.
"People say, 'Can you guarantee that my kid will be OK?' I can't guarantee you that if they drive here, that they won't have a wreck," Bull said. "I'm not going to be naive enough to say that."
Bull said the absence of so many students put a strain on the teachers who tried to teach what remained of their classes.
"It's tough. A lot of what teachers do is just improvise and do the best they can," Bull said. "Some of them might have work they need to make up and give them that opportunity."
The anxiety around campus stemmed from an altercation Wednesday afternoon between two students, Bull said. He said that the origin of the rumors has not been confirmed and that rumors reached the point Thursday that a shooting had occurred at school.
Students, as usual, wore their identification badges, and teachers more strictly enforced student movement between and during classes.
Bull said this enforcement of regular policy was not because of concern for AHS students.
"What I'm worried about is keeping outside individuals who aren't supposed to be on campus, off campus," Bull said.
After-school activities, such as athletic practices, took place as scheduled, Bull said.
Bull said he is trying to track down the spread of rumors that began Wednesday through text messages and Internet postings.
"We've got a lot of third, fourth, fifth and sixthhand information. It's just that we'd like to get some more firsthand information, which -- after it goes text to text -- you start losing validity on what really was actually said or happened," Bull said. "We followed all the leads we had, and they all just kind of dead-ended to the fact that, yeah, there was a confrontation."
"Who knows how true it is -- we don't know," Lassetter said. "Any time we get this many people text-messaging each other and this many parents calling us, concerned, of course we're going to take it serious, and so that's what we've done this morning."
Other principals in Abilene were aware of the heightened security at the AHS campus Thursday.
Cooper High School Principal Gail Gregg said Cooper is on alert and taking precautions in case such rumors and anxiety spread to his campus.
"It's amazing how stuff gets started and spreads and gets twisted," he said. "But we're dealing with a little of that fallout, too, because some of that's spilled over here."
Wylie High School Principal Mitch Davis said he has not heard any rumors or talk similar to Abilene High.
Davis said he has noticed that cell phones have led to rumors spreading quicker and wider.
"It's just one other avenue that they've got to pass the information along," Davis said. "And one more for us to try to track down. It is such a fast-moving way of communication."
One AHS student said that although the rumors spread quickly Wednesday evening, the sort of rumors she heard are not uncommon.
"It happens on a somewhat daily basis here," Keri Hollon said.
The senior said she believed this rumor spread so much more rapidly because police and news media were informed.
Another AHS senior said she decided to come to school although her parents gave her a choice.
"If they've been telling everybody and the cops already know, I really didn't think it was going to happen," Jordyn McPherson said. "I didn't feel like I was in any more danger than I do any other day."
McPherson, a senior at AHS who is also the student council treasurer, said other rumors were surfacing because nothing happened Thursday.
But like most rumors she's heard in her high school career, McPherson said, "it's never going to happen."
Bull said that tracking the rumor mill has turned into "the text-message mill."
"It just spreads like wildfire," Bull said. "It's what somebody heard somebody else say, and that makes it extremely difficult."
E.W. Scripps Co.
© Abilene Reporter-News
"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." G.K. Chesterton
Re: Shooting deferred at Abilene High?
Thank you. I looked at the Reporter News, but I guess I was looking at today's paper instead of yesterday's.
Kind of odd that they did not mention calling parents to pick up their kids early. Our daughter and daughter-in-law were both called.
Kind of odd that they did not mention calling parents to pick up their kids early. Our daughter and daughter-in-law were both called.
Ø resist
Take away the second first, and the first is gone in a second.
NRA Life Member, TSRA, chl instructor
Take away the second first, and the first is gone in a second.
NRA Life Member, TSRA, chl instructor