Posted on 03/20/2002 5:45:58 AM PST by Fred Mertz
By GREG BARTLETT
Staff Writer
Two male students at J.T. Alton Middle School in Vine Grove have been arrested after allegedly planning to kill numerous people at the school on or near the last day of the school year.
"Two male juveniles were actually planning to take the school under siege," said Dale Riggs, chief of Vine Grove Police Department, which arrested the boys Friday.
He said the department waited until Tuesday to announce the arrests because, "We wanted to make sure that everyone that was involved has been accounted for."
Riggs said the two boys, both 14-year-old and in the eighth grade, were the only children involved in the plot, which was "in the planning stages."
"About the last day of school, (they) were planning to take the assistant principal at gunpoint," he said, referring to Assistant Principal Greg Sutton.
The boys planned to force Sutton into the principal's office and make him use the intercom to call everyone to the gymnasium for an assembly. Once everyone was inside the gym, the boys planned to chain the doors shut and, "at that point, actually shoot the assistant principal in front of the assembly," Riggs said.
"After shooting (Sutton), they had some students that we believe they had targeted," he said.
Riggs said it's unknown how many students might have been targets.
"We still don't have all the facts in on that," he said.
Riggs said Vine Grove Police Department learned of the plan Friday morning after school employees notified police of a rumor circulating among the students. Some students had told school authorities of the rumored plot, Riggs said.
"We did find probable cause that this was going to take place," he said.
Police spent Friday following leads and arrested the boys that afternoon, one at school and one at home. Riggs said no weapons were found on school property, but he declined to discuss if any were found elsewhere. He said he could not discuss the boys' behavioral history.
Riggs said the department wants people to feel at ease.
"It has been addressed and taken care of," he said. "I would like to publicize that you're not in danger."
Jama Bennett, principal of J.T. Alton Middle School, declined to comment on the incident.
The boys were in Hardin County Detention Center Tuesday afternoon. One of them is charged with a count of terroristic threatening. The other is charged with four counts of terroristic threatening and a drug charge stemming from items found in a search at the school.
Greg Bartlett can be reached at (270) 769-1200, Ext. 238, or e-mail him at gregbartlett1@hotmail.com.
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Yeah, right!
Unless Sutton has no balls at all that is where the boys plan would have fallen apart. He would have never knowingly called an assembly where his students could have been harmed.
If you are going to comment on the superiority of homeschooling over publik skooling, you should be more careful of your spelling and correct word usage (unless you are making an obvious point with deliberate sarcastic misspellings). You seem to be suggesting that prisons have more writing exercises than public schools do, while I assume your intent was to posit that students have fewer rights than prisoners.
LMAO, I was thinking the same thing. I'm glad they are not homeschooling my kids. Ban all public schools, ban all public schools. Wait a minute, I sound like the anti-gun crowd.
For what crime? As far as I can read in the article, no crime was committed.
-bc
Chalk up another victory for the zero-tolerance-for-steak-knives-in-student's-cars policy.
Now, what has changed when it comes to child psychos? Could it be, that these kids' parents aren't doing their jobs? COuld it be that these parents are too involved with their own lives that they can't be there for their own kids??? Gee... All you have to do is look at where a kid comes from and you find your answers.
What about conspiracy to commit murder?
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