Posted on 11/24/2004 8:28:03 AM PST by RepCath
BREAKING NEWS The Associated Press Updated: 11:17 a.m. ET Nov. 24, 2004VALPARAISO, Ind. - A Valparaiso High School student used a knife to cut eight students at the start of school on Wednesday, police said. None of the injuries was believed to be life-threatening.
The student who committed the attack was in custody and the school about 20 miles southeast of Gary had been placed on lockdown, Valparaiso police spokesman Michael Grennes said.
"At this time, we've got a number of students who have been injured," Grennes told The Times of Munster. "They've all been transported to the hospital and all the parents have been notified."
Jeni Bell, a spokeswoman for Porter hospital in Valparaiso, said the students suffered severe cuts and one suffered a hip injury.
© 2004 The Associated Press.
Well said. Anything can kill, even your own fist.
Yes, I am feeling a combination of all those emotions right now, horror, grief, rage and terror. I really feel the pain that the parents and families of the victims are going through right now, because it very well COULD have been David. I have no difficulty understanding this.
Just got through watching a news conference with the mayor of Valparaiso, the Superintendant and police chief. Lots of questions to be answered and really too soon, in spite of the badgering of the local media, to get any concrete answers. I fully understand that, and am willing to wait a reasonable time for accurate answers.
They are very proud of the security, or emergency preparedness plan they have in place. No metal detectors, but at the only two entrances to the school the kids, and visitors to the school, are allowed to enter by there is sign in supervision for visitors. That's all well and good for VISITORS. But this kid brought in two VERY LARGE knives, one described by Chief Brickner as a machete. These were concealed in his back pack. I can see no procedures currently in place to guard against the terror of a kid whose gone nuts. For whatever reason this 15 year old boy determined in his mind to go to school today and hurt someone. There were no procedures I can determine in place to stop him.
VHS is a fine school. I have first hand experience with how hands are they are with the kids. I have no complaints in that department. But I think, in spite of Columbine and the other school tragedies of the past few years, they have been more focused on an outsider coming into the school to harm the kids, and NOT on what a deranged student could potentially do.
I want to understand what happened to the kid who did this, who spred terror today. I, of course want him punished. But I also want him helped. I, also, can imagine the horror and confusion HIS parents must be feeling right now as well. He is 15. My son is 15. He is described as an A and B student. My son is an A and B student.
I keep thinking, there but for the grace of God go I.
pattyjo
Anybody who brings a machete to school and starts indiscriminately swinging away at whoever passes by in the hallway is seriously disturbed for some reason.
The root reason (in order of likelihood) I would guess is; a) illegal drug use, b) prescribed psychotropic drug use, c) sociopathic conscience, d) outright demon possession. Of course, there is always the possibility his girlfriend had just broken up with him for being the abusive nut he already is.
Machetes worked just fine in Rwanda. They obviously work pretty well in Valparaiso for somebody with the mind to use them and with no conscience to stop him.
Just for general interest, Fairbanks, Alaska is the 4th most dangerous metropolitan area in the country. Ahead of Las Vegas. Ahead of Miami.
PattyJo,
I'm sorry that you have and continue to go through this...you and all the parents, teachers especially the students are in my prayers. Will you update me on what steps the school will take to make it more secure?
My disabled daughter goes to school in Long Island. Some guys in a van have been abducting children close to her school. When you can't teach values you get the opposite. They have the ACLU on their side. Stay strong
You know you're right. Give these delinquents a gun and a post, send them to Iraq so they can see what courage looks like. But what do you expect from a society who believes children are disposable?
You never spoke a truer word.
If the student tried this at the highschool I went to, they'd be picking his/her teeth out of a 2x4 while the rugby team was using he/she as a practice dummy...
Hey RepCath, I'll drop you a freep mail when I see how this whole episode falls into place. There are many, many parents in and around Valparaiso tonight just as upset as I have been today. As I said earlier on this thread, the school has taken quite a few precautions they feel are adequate to protect the kids against threats coming into the school from OUTSIDERS, but not from threats coming from the kids themselves.
The faculty and staff at VHS are top notch and they do a fine job with the kids...but......this whole tragic episode tells me that we need to find a way to screen these kids for weapons coming into the school. It only takes one disturbed kid to awaken the realization, in me at least, of the need to be a tad more intrusive. These are our children, and they can't be replaced. I hope community pressure will push the possibility of installing metal detectors. We have to wake up to the reality of the times we are living in. Quiet Valparaiso is now officially a part of a bigger, more scary world than the one I grew up in.
pattyjo
"If this happened at the mall, parents would demand their kids stay home. But they will send them back to school next Monday."
The solution is to get our children out of public schools. Public schools are mere indoctrination centers intent on poisoning the minds and spirits of our christian children. Get our children out of there and say NO to the income redistribution scheme known as educational vouches!
"My disabled daughter goes to school in Long Island. Some guys in a van have been abducting children close to her school."
Wow, what a thing to have to worry about each day as your child leaves for school. We want to be with our kids every minute to keep the bad people away, and we just can't. You didn't say how old your daughter is, but I hope she is old enough to understand the things she needs to do to help keep herself safe. I will pray hard that the swines in the van get caught. The problem is, though, you catch this particular set of low life, and there are others just waiting to take their place. We life in awful times.
YOU stay strong.
pattyjo
I met some of the students from there a couple of years ago at Concert Band State Finals and was impressed by them.
They have continually set high standards that everyone else is judged by for this contest. I am sure their actions during this will reflect those high standards.
Does this mean that tomorrow I'm going to cut my turkey with a weapon? Is there time to register my electric knife?
Parenting and DISCIPLINE is all that was needed.....or should I say lacking.
Rap Sheet
(Rhetorical question of the day: Why do our athletes behave like criminals?)
The American Prowler ^ | 11/23/2004 | George Neumayr
Posted on 11/22/2004 9:41:15 PM PST by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1286455/posts
Today Show: Delusional Artest Fails to Apologize, Says "It's Time to Move On"
The Today Show | governsleast governsbest
Posted on 11/23/2004 4:59:48 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbeshttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1286580/posts
You have a point. The problem is that these young ones would put our Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Coasties in more danger than they already are. The Best of the Best are not disposable. The difference between these people in uniform and back during the draft is that they volunteered. Ninety-nine percent of them feel they did the RIGHT thing by enlisting. During the draft we had the Best of the Best and the lunkheads. We do not need another Draft. Lets get the ACLU out of here and let some old Sergeants be the principles of schools. Forget all the college degrees, they have what it takes.
Thank you for speaking up here on the forum. As a mother, I have NO doubts about how shook up you have been. I agree with you about concerns about how to deal with security within the schools themselves. Most high schools have absolutely NO security screening for the kids coming into the school. I have two high schoolers myself, and can put myself right into your shoes. Please give your son a special hug from all of us here on the forum.
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