Shooting inside Portsmouth High School

2a4all · Apr 28, 2010

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So much for the safeGun Free School Zone.

School officials (per TV Newscast) don't know howhe could have entered through a door that was "locked".

http://www.dailypress.com/news/southside/dp-now-portsmouth-school-gun.a28,0,7755510.story

BY MIKE HOLTZCLAW 757-928-6479
8:56 p.m. EDT, April 28, 2010

PORTSMOUTH

Authorities say, a 15-year-old student at Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth was charged for firing shots at the school today.

Police say the student fired three shots from a handgun inside the school.

The student, identified as a juvenile male, had been suspended earlier in the week for disorderly conduct, said Joseph Wiggins, director of communications for Portsmouth Public Schools.

No one was injured. Students were evacuated to an athletic field and then released.

Det. John Doyle said that the student entered the building through a rear door around 12:15 p.m. He then fired one shot into a wall of the classroom that houses in-school suspensions and two shots into the ceiling of the school cafeteria. There were approximately 150 students in the cafeteria at the time.

The student left the gun and fled the school. He was apprehended by a security officer and a school administrator, and the gun was recovered.

According to police, the student is charged with discharging a firearm within or at an occupied school, brandishing a firearm on school property or with-in 1000 feet of school property and possession of a handgun under 18 years of age. He is being held at the Tidewater Detention Home.

The investigation is ongoing and more charges may be pending, police said.

ProShooter · Apr 28, 2010

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.....guess he never got the memo....

frenchdl · Apr 28, 2010

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I don't see how the "Gun free zone" argument helps at all here. Its not like the other kids can carry handguns for personal protection anyhow...this is a great example of why kids don't need guns in the first place. I mean think about it; how stupid is it to go and try and shoot up your school for some lame suspension? This immaturity amazes me.

MarlboroLts5150 · Apr 29, 2010

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frenchdl wrote:

I don't see how the "Gun free zone" argument helps at all here. Its not like the other kids can carry handguns for personal protection anyhow...this is a great example of why kids don't need guns in the first place. I mean think about it; how stupid is it to go and try and shoot up your school for some lame suspension? This immaturity amazes me.

NO....this is a great example of PARENTS not being more involved in their kids life.

And you're right, the other kids can't carry, but the "gun-free" zone stops the facualty, and security from carrying.

At least the kid didn't kill anyone.

45acpForMe · Apr 29, 2010

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frenchdl wrote:

I don't see how the "Gun free zone" argument helps at all here. <snip>

Your kidding right? Assuming GFSZ was non-existent and common sense ruled the day, Teachers, Administrators, Staff, Security could be armed to save the day. Imagine if this kid, instead of firing into the ceiling, unloaded a few mags into the student body?

While my kids were in Elementary school I visited them for lunch a couple time a week whenever I worked out of my house. I was/am forced to disarm before going onsite and could offer little resistance to anyone that decides to shoot up the place.

There was a recent case out west where a teacher, on parking lot duty, charged and subdued a disgruntled former student shooting a rifle, wounding two kids. My thought is that we shouldn't force people to defend our kids unarmed.

Remember that even police have changed their tactics where before they would wait for backup and negotiate, they now have first-responders engage the shooter because it saves lives!

CRF250rider1000 · Apr 29, 2010

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In my high school there was only one LEGAL gun that I knew of and that was the school resource officer(FCPD officer). Scary to think what could happen if something like the police station incident occurred at the high school.:what:

I went to Westfield HS by the way.

peter nap · Apr 29, 2010

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MarlboroLts5150 wrote:

frenchdl wrote:

I don't see how the "Gun free zone" argument helps at all here. Its not like the other kids can carry handguns for personal protection anyhow...this is a great example of why kids don't need guns in the first place. I mean think about it; how stupid is it to go and try and shoot up your school for some lame suspension? This immaturity amazes me.

Click to expand...

NO....this is a great example of PARENTS not being more involved in their kids life.

And you're right, the other kids can't carry, but the "gun-free" zone stops the facualty, and security from carrying.

At least the kid didn't kill anyone.

+1

Your kidding right? Assuming GFSZ was non-existent and common sense ruled the day, Teachers, Administrators, Staff, Security could be armed to save the day. Imagine if this kid, instead of firing into the ceiling, unloaded a few mags into the student body? While my kids were in Elementary school I visited them for lunch a couple time a week whenever I worked out of my house. I was/am forced to disarm before going onsite and could offer little resistance to anyone that decides to shoot up the place. There was a recent case out west where a teacher, on parking lot duty, charged and subdued a disgruntled former student shooting a rifle, wounding two kids. My thought is that we shouldn't force people to defend our kids unarmed. Remember that even police have changed their tactics where before they would wait for backup and negotiate, they now have first-responders engage the shooter because it saves lives!

+2

peter nap · Apr 29, 2010

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CRF250rider1000 wrote:

In my high school there was only one LEGAL gun that I knew of and that was the school resource officer(FCPD officer). Scary to think what could happen if something like the police station incident occurred at the high school.:what:

I went to Westfield HS by the way.

Things like this are fairly recent.

When I was in school, everyone (Who was anyone) Deer hunted and guns were not only allowed in the parking lot, you could also bring them in and leave them in the Office.
We also had a smoking area.

There were never any shootings or anything beyond an occasional fist fight....which were usually more of a wrestling match.

We didn't have resource officers and problems were handled in house unless they were really bad...then the parents were called in and you were in trouble.

I only knew of two people who were suspended from grades 1-12.
One person was suspended in Jr. High for stealing and one was suspended while I was at AMA for sniffing glue.

There's a lot of blame to go around but it falls squarely on two shoulders. The School System and the Parents.

hunter45 · Apr 29, 2010

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CRF250rider1000 wrote:

In my high school there was only one LEGAL gun that I knew of and that was the school resource officer(FCPD officer). Scary to think what could happen if something like the police station incident occurred at the high school.:what:

I went to Westfield HS by the way.

And that one teacher had a gun in his car. I don't really remember any details about that though, but I think it was on the news.

Edit: Found an article about it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/26/AR2005042601357.html

frenchdl · Apr 29, 2010

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ProShooter wrote:

.....guess he never got the memo....

I guess I was not clear when I made my point. I was referencing this post which assumes that the shooter "never got the memo that he was in gun-free zone".

Don't get me wrong, I DO agree that teachers, faculty, staff, and administrators, should be allowed to carry at school. However if this was allowed it would get tricky because some students are over age 18, should they be allowed to carry also? <<<< That seems like it could be a very bad idea.

TFred · Apr 29, 2010

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frenchdl wrote:

[...] I mean think about it; how stupid is it to go and try and shoot up your school for some lame suspension? This immaturity amazes me.

I've worked with students from 6th grade-College for about 20 years as a volunteer for my church, and if there is one lesson I've learned in that time it is that nearly always when there is bizarre behavior, it is caused by even more bizarre circumstances that you probably don't know about.

Students today live in a world that most of us could not even begin to imagine, with broken homes, incredibly high expectations to excel, cyber-bullying, all in addition to the age-old problems of developing social skills, interest in, and rejection by the opposite gender, sports, etc, etc, etc.

This incident tells me that this kid had problems, and while by definition, a certain amount of immaturity comes with the job of being a student, I'd bet there were other things going on quite out of the ordinary.

None of this is to defend his actions, of course not, but the one thing I've learned is that with students, there is almost always more to the story than what is first seen.

TFred

lil_freak_66 · Apr 29, 2010

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frenchdl wrote:

ProShooter wrote:

.....guess he never got the memo....

Click to expand...

I guess I was not clear when I made my point. I was referencing this post which assumes that the shooter "never got the memo that he was in gun-free zone".

Don't get me wrong, I DO agree that teachers, faculty, staff, and administrators, should be allowed to carry at school. However if this was allowed it would get tricky because some students are over age 18, should they be allowed to carry also? <<<< That seems like it could be a very bad idea.

Most districts already have a no carry policy anyways,without it they would not be able to expel or suspend students carrying. we as US citizens just need to make it so that the teachers and faculty can carry.

Imo...

we should also require the security guards to take shooting courses(i think front sight gives free courses to school employees that are given authorization to carry in school)
also give them teaching in weapon retention,disarming and less than lethal weapons systems

Thundar · Apr 30, 2010

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frenchdl wrote:

I don't see how the "Gun free zone" argument helps at all here. Its not like the other kids can carry handguns for personal protection anyhow...this is a great example of why kids don't need guns in the first place. I mean think about it; how stupid is it to go and try and shoot up your school for some lame suspension? This immaturity amazes me.

Well, 15 year olds, especially boys, sometimes act immature. This is the same argument used to deny college students RKBA on campus. Too immature, etc.

btw 15 year olds can carry firearms, just not handguns or assault weapons in some cities.

I thinkmany of our school age children are more responsible and mature than their parents.

frenchdl · May 1, 2010

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Thundar wrote:

Well, 15 year olds, especially boys, sometimes act immature. This is the same argument used to deny college students RKBA on campus. Too immature, etc.

I see what your saying in that just saying someone is too immature based on age alone is a little arbitrary. But realistically I do not think age restrictions will ever be abolished in todays society, I believe this is partially because we are just becoming more and more of a nanny nation, people want someone else to make choices for them, or protect them or take care of them, etc.

And, the problem if someone tries to use the immature argument with college age "kids" is that they are in fact no longer kids but are actually legally adults (although they may not always act the part), and can go and purchase and carry these very same weapons they are too immature to carry or possess "on campus", and that is just pure hypocrisy and unnecessary judgement on part of the college administration.

Shooting inside Portsmouth High School

2a4all

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ProShooter

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frenchdl

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MarlboroLts5150

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45acpForMe

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CRF250rider1000

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peter nap

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peter nap

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hunter45

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frenchdl

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TFred

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lil_freak_66

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Thundar

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frenchdl

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