Teen Holds Classmates Hostage in Arroyo Grande -- But is Tackled by Other Students !

Teen Holds Classmates Hostage in Arroyo Grande -- But is Tackled by Other Students !

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. -- A suicidal sophomore student was arrested Friday after he briefly held about 25 classmates and two teachers hostage at gunpoint, police said.

The unidentified boy was tackled by two classmates, who took a loaded 9 mm semiautomatic gun from him, police Sgt. John Allen said.

Police were called to Arroyo Grande High School at 9:11 a.m. after they received a report of a student with a gun, Allen said.

The unidentified 15-year-old pulled out the loaded weapon and pointed it at two teachers in his sophomore English class, ordering them to sit down, Allen said.

"His intent was to end his life," Allen said. "He wanted an audience. He had a lot of personal issues that he wasn't dealing with very well."

The teen was arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon, bringing a weapon on school grounds and false imprisonment.

The high school was placed under lockdown for about an hour while authorities determined that no other students were involved.

SLO Tribune

Posted on Sat, Jan. 18, 2003
Tribune exclusive report
In moment of terror, two heroes emerge
Pair overpowers teen gunman, frees Arroyo High classmates
from hostage situation
Jeff Ballinger
The Tribune
ARROYO GRANDE - Without warning, the 15-year-old boy walked to the
front of his sophomore English class at Arroyo Grande High School and
said, "Everybody shut up. I have an announcement to make."
He next held up a handgun, cocked it and pointed it at teacher Carolyn
Swanson. Ordering her and the 30 students to sit down, the teen ordered
that the blinds at the side of the room be closed.
"I just figured he was going to kill kids," said Clay Gheza, a 15-year-old
in the class. "He had three clips (of bullets)."
Unlike the nightmare that unfolded at Columbine High School, however,
this horrific scene Friday morning ultimately ended without anyone being
hurt, thanks in large part to the quick thinking shown by Clay and
Jonathan Griswold, 16.
They were able to pin the boy against a table and keep him there until
Floyd Weber, a school administrator, rushed in and yanked the gun from
the teen's grasp.
Terrified classmates ran crying and screaming from Room 207, and
school officials put the campus into an hourlong "lockdown" following the
9:11 a.m. incident to ensure that all was secure.
The boy was taken into custody by Arroyo Grande police, who did not
identify him. On Friday night he was being kept at the county Juvenile
Services Center. Mental health officials were interviewing the youth,
authorities said.
Police took the student into custody on suspicion of assault with a deadly
weapon because he allegedly pointed the gun at his teacher; possession
of a weapon on campus; and restricting the freedom of others, all
felonies.
Carrying the weapon onto the campus also violated the state Education
Code and district policy.
Authorities were unsure of how the teen got the gun.
School administrators offered immediate counseling to the students who
had been in Swanson's class, and most went home with their parents.
None of the students had any inkling that this day would be anything but
routine.
Standing in front the class, the teen pulled the gun out from either his
pants or jacket, Jonathan said - he wasn't sure exactly. Students said he
then asked classmates to close the window blinds.
Moments later, another teacher who happened to be in the class at the
back of the room ran out the open door.
Unaffected, the youth began complaining about his family life and told
the class he had been working "on a plan" all week, but did not say what
he was going to do.
"When he was talking, he was tossing it (the gun) back and forth
between hands, like he was nervous," Jonathan said. "It was pointing at
all of us."
Swanson tried to reason with the teen, as did several students, including
a close friend, according to several of the teens in the class.
Jonathan, who was in the last seat on the right side of the room nearest
the door, said he stood up and closed the blinds when the boy asked that
to be done - but only partway. The 15-year-old noticed and walked
toward the back of the room to check on the blinds.
At the same time, Jonathan said he walked between desks to the front of
class and circled back to move in behind the teen.
"I sort of snuck up behind him," Jonathan said. "I pushed his arm and
pinned him to the table. Clay helped hold the gun down till administrators
came in and helped."
Jonathan said the student's finger was on the trigger of the gun during
the struggle, and that he held it with both hands as Jonathan and then
Clay pushed him up against a table and wall in the corner of the room.
While they had the youth immobilized, Jonathan said, the rest of the
students ran out of the room to safety.
"It was all God's doing," Jonathan said. "I don't know how he didn't
notice me coming from behind."
Principal Robin Kisinger said counseling was available for the students in
Room 207 and for all students who asked for it. She said counseling
would also be available when school resumes Tuesday after the holiday
weekend.
Hundreds of students contacted their parents by cell phone to pick them
up and take them home. Yet school was not canceled, and student
events and athletics were held as scheduled.
Swanson could not be reached, but Kisinger said she was calm and
initially wanted to teach the remainder of the day. Kisinger told her to
take the rest of the day off.
Swanson is an English and drama teacher who is also a longtime
organizer of the annual summer Central Coast Shakespeare Festival.
Her colleagues said she commonly tests the limits of her high school
drama students by choosing challenging plays to perform, such as "Bye
Bye Birdie" and "Romeo and Juliet."
After being taken into custody, the youth was interviewed by a county
crisis worker and counseling sessions with him will likely continue, said
Arroyo Grande police Cmdr. Steve Andrews.
Police had no past encounters with the youth, said Andrews, and as far
as he knows there were no contacts with the county Mental Health
Department. "But I hope those people can help him," he said.
Andrews' department, like others all over the county, received special
"active shooter" training from the Sheriff's Department after the
Columbine shootings in 1999. Its purpose is to shoot to disable or kill
when classrooms are taken over by armed suspects.
A four-officer team arrived, moments after school officials called, and
was ready to deal with the suspect, Andrews said. The incident was
resolved before they got to campus, said Andrews, "because of those
kids who took him to the ground."

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