I remember how it was -- JR
Michigan school gunman Ethan Crumbley, 15, 'wanted to murder as many as he could
Crumbley, 15, killed four students at Oxford High School on Tuesday in a shooting described as 'absolutely cold-hearted' and 'premeditated' by law enforcement.
Police said that on the eve of the killings, the teen recorded a video saying he was planning to launch an attack at the school the next day. Crumbley is said to have echoed similar sentiments in a journal found in his backpack.
The video was not posted online and there was no advance warning, according to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. It was discovered after the shooting.
His motive remains unclear. Initially, other students at the school said he was being bullied but the police, his older brother and prosecutors say there is no evidence of that.
Crumbley, according to prosecutor Karen McDonald, wanted to murder 'as many students as he could'.
He shot his victims at close range, wounding them in the cheeks, jaws, shoulders and necks, after opening fire in the hallways of the school.
Keast said the video of the attack showed Crumbley enter a bathroom at the school with a backpack before he emerged with a gun.
'At that point, he deliberately aimed the gun at students and began firing at students. After students started running he continued down the hallway pointing the gun and firing (at them) and firing in classrooms and at students who were unable to escape.
'He methodically and deliberately walked down a hallway, aiming the firearm at students and firing. After children started running away from the defendant, he continued down the hallway again at a deliberate and methodical pace, pointing and aiming inside classrooms and at students who hadn't had the opportunity to escape,' Crumbley has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of terrorism. He is being held as an adult.
Crumbley was summoned to a meeting with school teachers and his parents over his 'behavior' on Tuesday morning before returning to class.
Three hours later, he went into a bathroom and exited with a 9mm Sig Sauer pistol, opening fire in the hallways and shooting off at least 30 rounds, reloading with a fresh magazine as students fled.
Four teens were killed, including Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin. Justin Shilling, 17, died in the hospital on Wednesday morning.
At an arraignment in Pontiac, Michigan, on Wednesday Crumbley sat mute, masked and suited in a heavy suicide-prevention vest, while attorneys and his parents joined in by video conference.
The teen was charged as an adult because the crimes are 'serious' and the attack was premeditated.
The shooting spree was the deadliest on U.S. school property this year, according to Education Week. It was the latest in a decades-long string of deadly American school shootings.
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Teacher arrested for notes pasted over school pretending to be bullied child plotting massacre
The day after a student killed four classmates in Oxford, Michigan, a teacher in Iowa was arrested for allegedly pretending to be a troubled student who planned to shoot up the high school where she worked.
Katrina Phelan, 37, was arrested on Wednesday and has been charged with three counts of making "threats of terrorism," according to the Council Bluffs Police Department.
Ms Phelan taught at Abraham Lincoln High School and allegedly tried to start rumours at the school that a violent student was planning an attack.
“[D]etectives conducted an investigation into a series of anonymous handwritten notes found inside the school, all making reference to committing gun violence upon school property,” police said in a press statement. “Each of the notes were reportedly either found in Phelan’s classroom or found by Phelan herself, in various locations within the school.”
Once police became aware of what was happening, an arrest warrant was issued, which prompted Ms Phelan to turn herself in to the authorities.
After she was interrogated police determined that the threats were empty, and that there was no evidence the teacher had the means or will to carry out a mass violent act.
“When interviewed, Phelan admitted to writing the notes,” police wrote in the press statement. “It was determined that she had no intentions or means of carrying out these threats. In at least one of the notes, Phelan, posing as an unnamed student, wrote that she was tired of being made fun of.”
Ms Phelan's motivations remain murky despite her arrest. KETV, a broadcaster in Omaha, Nebraska, reviewed a probable cause affidavit and found that the teacher claimed she had no memory of writing any of the notes.
When pressed why she might have written the notes, she allegedly said it was rooted in "concern, worry and frustration over the lack of control of her classroom."
Ms Phelan allegedly said she wanted to show parents that the high school where she worked was "not a safe place."
The incident prompted the school's principal to send a letter to parents.
"The Council Bluffs Police Department has concluded its investigation into the threatening notes found at school a few weeks ago. They have determined the source of the notes to be a school employee," Principal Bridgette Bellows wrote.
"Investigators concluded there was no intent or means to carry out the threats. However, the employee has been charged with a crime, has voluntarily surrendered to the police, and will no longer be employed by the Council Bluffs Schools. We appreciate the detectives and their diligence in solving this crime."
Ms Bellows suggested that students from the school assisted the investigation. "During that investigation, students provided us with information that was helpful. This is what we expect from students at ALHS," she said. It was not clear exactly how the students assisted.
Ms Phelan was detained at the Pottawatamie County Jail. Each of her charges carry a potential five-year prison sentence.
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Huge changes to school start and finish times could come to Australia
Radical changes could be made to the average school day in New South Wales as part of an effort from the state government to support working parents and reduce traffic congestion.
The overhaul would mean principals can offer options to parents other than the standard 9am-3pm school day.
During a speech at the annual Bradfield Oration, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet suggested school times should be changed to better suit the lives of working families.
'Despite the progress we have made, so many public services are still designed around government, not around the people we are here to serve,' he said on Thursday.
'Education should be designed around our children, not simply around the schools themselves.'
He used the speech to declare his plans to bring NSW into the '21st Century' by leading a modern government that 'doesn't accept the status quo'.
At one point the Premier directly challenged Education Minister Sarah Mitchell, asking if the existing school day was fit for working parents. 'Why does the school day run from 9am to 3pm — and does it still suit the lives of busy working families?' asked Mr Perrottet.
His speech has reignited debate over whether the traditional 9am-3pm school day should be overhauled to provide flexibility for families.
In June, the government staggered the start and finish times of public schools as part of a push to modernise the traditional school day and reduce traffic congestion.
The bold plan allowed schools to participate in trials where principals could offer parents options that differed from the standard 9am to 3pm school day.
Alternatives include a 7am to 1pm day, or extended after-school care.
NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos previously claimed most schools across the state already offered varied school hours.
'The majority of schools do not operate between nine and three [o'clock], there's all sorts of variations,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
'There are schools with nine-day fortnights, or four-day weeks. But these matters are not straightforward and require significant consultation to achieve a consensus across a broad parent body and staff body, all of whom are impacted.'
Merrylands East Public in the city's west already operates an 8am to 1.15pm school day.
The scheme could also see an ease of pressure on Sydney's heavily-congested roads by staggering when students are picked up and dropped off from school.
The cost of Sydney's traffic congestion to the state economy is estimated to reach $13.1billion by 2031, according to the NSW Productivity Commission.
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My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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