Posted on 04/07/2011 9:36:43 AM PDT by Daffynition
Palm Harbor, Florida - Students at Carwise Middle School are planning a prayer vigil, after investigators say a 7th grader stabbed the school resource officer.
"It's just sad," Kimberly Frazier said while dropping off her son Wednesday morning.
"I mean, something's not right in that child's life. It's really sad."
See Also: Parents sound off about school stabbing
Ofr. Kenneth Fridlund is recovering from surgery and is in good condition. Investigators went to St. Joseph's Hospital Wednesday to question him.
According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Fridlund was questioning the boy about 11 bottles of gasoline in a duffle bag, when the teenager stabbed him in the stomach Tuesday.
The 13-year-old later told detectives that he'd brought the bottles to school to scare some kids who bullied him.
10 News is not disclosing the suspect's identity until he is officially charged with a felony, but in the photograph on his Facebook page, he is wearing a Boy Scout uniform.
Classmates say he was teased about wearing the uniform to school almost every day.
"They were just bullying him, because he was wearing the outfit to school and stuff," says Nicole Carver.
Loren Jackson says, "I'm guessing this led from bullying and this is his way of taking it out."
A spokesman for the Pinellas Boy Scout Council says the teen was a member of Troop 64.
Bill Davis says, "We are concerned about the boy and the victim... the Boy Scouts certainly don't condone this type of violence."
Troop leaders also tell 10 News that the teen was well-liked in the troop and that he was a role model for the other kids.
"He wore his uniform to school [and was] very proud of it," said scout master John Ruckart.
"And he was actually teased by the boys at school for being a scout and being in uniform."
The suspect remains at a local hospital undergoing a psych evaluation.
When that's complete, he'll be taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center. It's expected he'll be charged with attempted murder and possession of fire bombs.
Thursday morning, a school spokesperson told 10 News that the student prayer vigil is in the planning stages. It's expected to be held in the next several days at the school flag pole one morning before school.
Kenny had a rough start in life.
Until he was about 6, he lived with his abusive, alcoholic and drug addicted father in Oregon, Mathews said. His mother, who had moved to Florida, got custody of him after his father beat his girlfriend and sent her to the hospital, his family said.
Three months after Kenny left, his dad died from complications of severe alcohol abuse, according to his death certificate.
His mother, who is bipolar and self-medicated with drugs, wasn't much better, according to court documents and family members. With arrest warrants in Florida, Kenny's mother eventually fled the state.
"When she left the kids on my doorstep, the kids told her they wouldn't run with her because she was running from the police," Mathews said.
A judge awarded custody to Mathews, Kenny's maternal grandmother, in August 2007.
And, also mentioned later in the article, Mom is living with her "domestic partner".
He's lucky he went to school in a Boy Scout uniform rather than a pink tutu.
Weird.
He could not have been bullied, at school anyway, the school system has an anti bullying policy.
What a sad story. I don’t supposed it’s occurred to anyone that he wore his uniform a lot because he had few clothes and the uniform gave him a sense of belonging and purpose.
I am so tired of school admins and teachers looking the other way regarding bullying.
Ultimately the kid is responsible for his actions. I am positive there are things that could have been done that may have prevented this and I suspect they will be investigated as well. Sad day for all involved.
It is very sad and evil... and evil explains all of these perverse behaviors.
LLS
I dunno but you can bet that they will look for any.
LLS
I think this is the article yo are referring to:
OLDSMAR — Kenny Stoltman told his family he never meant to hurt anyone.
Surrounded by family in his hospital room Tuesday night, the 13-year-old sobbed and admitted he took gasoline to school but said he merely meant to scare the boys he believed were bullying him.
He claimed he didn't mean to stab school resource officer Kenneth Fridlund, who confronted him near the boys bathroom at Carwise Middle School Tuesday morning. He had an open knife in his hand but says he didn't intend to use it on the officer.
"He said the officer basically got stabbed when the officer grabbed him and pulled him to him," said his grandmother, Chris Mathews, 60, who has custody of the boy.
As the officer and another school staffer wrestled him to the ground, Kenny was sprayed in the face with Mace, he told his grandmother. Somehow, Fridlund was stabbed twice more.
But his family says Kenny told them that as he lay on the hallway floor, his main concern was not what would happen to him but the condition of the officer.
"He said, 'Please make sure he's okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry,' " Mathews said Kenny told her.
• • •
Tuesday's violence was more than uncharacteristic for Kenny, shocked friends and family said. The boy is known for helping his neighbors and rose quickly through the ranks of the Boy Scouts.
"If you ask me, he's a role model for my kid and others. All these kids look up to him," said his Troop 64 Scoutmaster John Ruckart of Oldsmar.
Certificates detailing Kenny's Scouting accomplishments dot the wall over the sofa in the tidy mobile home in Oldsmar he shares with Mathews, her domestic partner, Carol Kolish, and his 18-year-old sister, Katrina Mathews.
Kenny wore his Boy Scout uniform to school on picture days and special occasions. He had 21 merit badges and had climbed to Life Scout, a top rank in Scouting, his family said.
But wearing the uniform to school apparently had a price. Kids picked on him for it, Mathews said. They derided him for being overweight.
On Tuesday, he quickly conceived a plan to make it stop.
"He said 'It just came in my head that morning that it was going to stop that day,' " Mathews said. "But he had no intention of doing anything else except scaring them."
Some could doubt that was his only intention.
He filled 11 12-ounce glass bottles with gasoline, stuffed them in a duffel bag and took them to school on the bus. He carried a lighter. He also brought a foldable pocket knife — one he purchased during a Boy Scout camping trip.
The plan went awry when a teacher noticed Kenny smelled like gasoline and alerted school staff. Fridlund, 55, a Pinellas County Schools police officer, came upon Kenny as he emerged from the bathroom where he had stashed the gasoline.
Fridlund suffered three stab wounds: to the shoulder, abdomen and arm. He had emergency surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa and was reported to be in stable condition Wednesday.
Kenny was hospitalized for a mental health evaluation. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said he would be charged when he's released with one count of attempted murder and 11 counts of possession/manufacturing of firebombs.
A 13-year-old Life Scout is very unusual, unless he’s LDS (which seems unlikely from other information). My 17-year-old and 14-year-old are both Life Scouts, and the younger one is ahead of most non-Mormon Scouts his age. (He wants to make Eagle Scout before his older brother, and it’s possible he will!)
This gives an idea of how important Scouting is to this boy. Did I mention I hate schools?
Dude screwed up his life - big time.
Linked from the articles:
‘Joan Reubens, the district’s bullying prevention specialist, said through district spokeswoman Andrea Zahn that Carwise Middle “has always addressed any reported incident of bullying and intervened appropriately.”’
Boy Scouts is a great program. All our boys get into it as soon as they’re old enough.
I'm curious about why the young man wore his uniform EVERY day. Did he not have anything else to wear? That opens up a whole host of issues about his home life. Or was he so insecure that he needed that uniform because he thought it might give him some sort of 'purpose' or 'stature'? Only he can answer that question.
Only gays can be bullied, don’cha know?
Raucous round of applause!!!
Our two oldest boys will be Eagle Scouts pretty soon, a year or so, and then the oldest of the second batch (”the byos”) is 9. I’m leading Tiger Cubs this year with son #4.
Even if he was wearing his uniform to meet a psychological need, he should have been left alone about it. He wasn’t hurting anyone.
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