Posted on 04/17/2006 9:03:10 PM PDT by okstate
The tornadoes that shattered schools in Oologah and Catoosa were acts of nature. What happened Sunday morning at Sequoyah High School was different -- an act of wanton destruction so calculated and methodical that it left authorities, administrators, teachers and students in shock.
The first call to the Rogers County Sheriffs Office reported what sounded like an explosion followed by all the fire alarms going off.
But when Superintendent Terry Saul and Deputies Bryan Buchfink, and Mike Scott arrived, it was worse than they could have imagined.
Vandals armed with a bulldozer had laid waste to Richelle Helbigs family and consumer sciences classroom, destroying an outside wall, smashing everything inside and causing the ceiling to collapse.
Then they backed up, put the dozer on auto pilot, and sent it the entire width of the building. It ripped up floors and crushed several interior walls as it headed west through the commons area.
Then it smashed through the entry concourse ignoring the octagonal blue sign which said Locked for security. STOP. Please use main entrance.
The impact reduced the doors to a twisted mass of smashed glass and twisted metal. Part of the portico roof collapsed, and a huge section of guttering and downspouts wound up wrapped around the dozers cab. A masonry slab got lodged across the radiator.
(Excerpt) Read more at oologah.net ...
That's a lot of damage but I don't see how it continued the rampage unattended. I know it can go on it's on once in gear and the throttle set but a dozer has to have traction to do serious damage and once it got on wooden floors it wouldn't have much..I'm not disbelieving the story, just wondering.
Be true to your school!
The link only mentions that it is the birthplace of Will Rogers, so I assume it is Oklahoma.
The name "Oklahoma" appears in the text, but not as if it is the location of the school that got decimated.
I gotta admit that there's a certain satisfaction in seeing one's boyhood fantasies come true. Of course, sane people keep such things on the level of fantasy...
WE WILL ONLY BE SAFE FROM BULLDOZER VIOLENCE WHEN ALL BULLDOZERS ARE BANNED!!!
Well, somebody had to say it. /sarcasm
When I was in high school, we didn't fantasize about tearing the building down. We just wanted to ride our dirt bikes up onto the stage to get our diplomas. More just showing off than destructive.
Geez, all we did was put a big "1982" in fertilizer on the hill right behind where graduation is held.
Then it was followed a few weeks later by a heavy application of rock salt as a border around the numbering.
Oh yeah, and the 82 pumpkins in the school pool earlier that school year. And 82 mice in the headmasters secretary office.
You forgot to add "Ban them....for the sake of the children!"
D'oh! Sorry, my bad...
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