D.A. wants accused school shooting suspect tried as an adult:
Campbell County District Attorney Paul Phillips wants to have Kenneth Bartley Jr. tried as an adult. At present, Bartley is being charged with first-degree murder, among other charges. Also…
Authorities have identified the source of the gun, although no charges will be filed against the owner.
More on: Kenneth Bartley- Accused school shooter:
This is an article about the family history of Campbell County High School shooter Kenneth Bartley. Here are the things that stood out in this article for me…
Misty turner worked in Kenny’s Deli and says she witnessed family difficulties, which she says began when the boy’s parents divorced.
“He was in juvenile up in Scott County. They put him there for being an unruly child. This is his first year in public schools, I know for a long time,” Turner said.
Which goes along with one of the blog entries that Steve Huff found from another CCHS student.
But this was most disturbing…
“They just said all day today he was asking his friends to feel his pocket. To feel his gun, and showing it off to everyone,” Turner said.
“One of the students did report it to one of the principals, and when they called him into the office, that’s when he done it,” Turner said.
I wonder how many kids he showed the gun to before one of them finally said something?
According to this article, Principal Gary Seale and Asst. Principal Jim Pierce were injured while trying to subdue Bartley. Was Ken Bruce the intended target then, and Seale and Pierce are just fallout?
Still no word on the motive.
Again, a huge thanks to Tina.
Update: Suspect in Campbell County High School shooting taken into custody
The suspect is 15-year-old Kenneth Bartley, a freshman at Campbell County High School. According to the article, he was treated at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Lafollette for a gunshot wound to the hand. A .22 caliber handgun has been recovered by authorities.
They also have updates on the conditions of the two surviving victims…
Assistant Principal Jim Pierce was released from surgery at UT Medical Center around 5:45 p.m. and has been upgraded from critical to stable condition.
A spokesman for UT Medical Center says a bullet remains lodged behind Pierce’s heart. Doctors are examining x-rays to determine the best way to remove the bullet.
Principal Gary Seale, also wounded in the shooting, has just been taken into surgery at UT Medical Center; he is listed in serious condition.
Something I forgot to mention is that my prayers and condolences go out to the friends and family of Ken Bruce.
A huge thanks to Tina.
One dead in Tennessee school shooting:
According to CNN, the suspect is 15-years-old and allegedly slipped a gun under a napkin and fired at administrators. Still no name of the suspect or motive.
UPDATE: The AP is reporting that students identified the shooter as a 14-year-old freshman.
Student Kills Asst. Principal in School Shooting:
The Associated Press is reporting that Assistant Principal Ken Bruce was killed in the Campbell County High School shooting.
Still no name on the suspect and still no motive.
Faculty members shot at Campbell County High School:
A school shooting has happened at Campbell County High School in Jacksboro, Tennessee.
3 faculty members, Principal Gary Seale, Assistant Principal Ken Bruce, and Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Jim Pierce, have been shot. No word on their conditions yet. No students were injured. A male student is in custody. More on this as it becomes available.
TOF to Magnolia.
Report: Orange County gunman was social outcast, even on the Internet: (Log in info)
This is basically an article about how the Aliso Viejo shooter William Freund found as little social acceptance on the web as he did in real life…
Freund only opened up on the Internet, which he accessed from his computer-filled bedroom at his parents house. The Times said he played online games, discussed movies and TV shows such as “The Outer Limits,” posted reviews of online businesses, bought and sold video games and paintball supplies on eBay.
He left pleas for friendship on some Web sites.
“I’ve never really had a friend,” Freund wrote in one profile. “I’ve never had someone I can share more intimate conversation with, or just have a good time with.”
In more troubling messages, he discussed guns and, in the weeks before his death, talked about his thoughts of suicide.
“I think the only thing to do is go admit myself to a hospital I feel like I need to kill myself,” he wrote in an Oct. 19 post on wrongplanet.com, a Web site for those with Asperger’s syndrome.
In one message, Freund said he planned to “Start a Terror Campaign To hurt those that have hurt me,” and added: “My future ended some time ago.”
Actually, it’s wrongplanet.net, but anyway, I find it hard to believe he couldn’t even find one friend. Granted he had a disorder that limited his social skills, I find it hard to believe there wasn’t one person out there that he couldn’t find a connection with.
I previously wrote about how some of the moderators at wrongplanet.net tried to contact Freund’s family after posting on their forum. If no one on that forum cared for him, then why did they try to help him?
According to the article, Freund was ridiculed on the Something Awful forums…
In a firearms forum on the Web site somethingawful.com, Freund talked about staging a “Halloween shootout” to get even with pranksters who vandalized his pumpkin last Halloween.
That was met with ridicule.
“I can imagine this mongoloid, sitting on his creaky porch, one strap on his overalls, leaping up and running to the defense of his precious 24-ounce pumpkin,” read one response.
Freund’s comments got him banned from the Web site three days before his rampage.
There are two problems with the internet. There are a lot of idiots who post ridiculous messages on forums just to get attention, and there are people who feel the need to belittle others to make themselves feel good.
So it was hard to tell that this was a credible threat or not. And if Freund was planning on sitting out on his porch with a shotgun, then again it goes to show that the attack was premeditated.
However, the questions still remain why did he target the Smiths, and where did he obtain the shotgun?
The article seems to almost excuse Freund’s killing spree because of the harassment he received combined with his disorder. Asperger’s does not limit your ability to determine what is right and wrong. Freund must have had some other issues. I wouldn’t be surprised if they dug a little deeper and found that he was researching school shootings or other killing sprees.
Jourdain Red Lake shootings trial to be delayed:
The trial of Louis Jourdain, who was arrested in conjunction with the Red Lake shooting, has had his trial postponed…
Originally scheduled to begin Nov. 14 in federal court in Minneapolis, the trial is now targeted to start sometime in mid-December, the source said.
Jourdain is facing charges for his alleged role in the March 21 fatal shootings at Red Lake High School in which his cousin, 16-year-old Jeffrey Weise, killed nine people and then took his own life.
Prosecutors have not said what Jourdain is accused of doing. Sources with knowledge of the investigation have said he is charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
One of my readers left a comment yesterday letting me know that someone who is believed to be William Freund posted the following message on the Something Awful Forums…
I have a problem. I live in orange county and am trying to buy hevi-shot buckshot, or just winchester if they dont have it. Im 19 Year old And Every shop I go to That has it (grants guns, Saddleback gun store,Yeti gunsmith) Claims its a waste of money and birdshot is better for personal defence.They always ask me why I want to buy hevi shot for my remington 870 home defense,Like im buying some Armour piercing bullets or something.
Shesh!
Is there something against buckshot in the shotgun world, To me bird shot is like less than lethal, you use it if you want your attacked to run around after you shot him, If i have people like last halloween, Bringing out a rifle and shotting my garage and my dads leg (broke the bone and everything) I dont think birdshot will cut it.
Basically IM asking
1. Is birdshot ok for defence
2. Any orange county shop that you know doesnt give you a mouth if you try to buy hevi shot buckshot.
3.Why is buckshot like the new ak-47 barrel, its taboo.
Im currently at work atm, And dont think I could get my dad to show his legs on the internet…So no pics,sorry.
If William Freund, in fact, posted this, it goes to show that the attack was premeditated and not something brought on by his mental illness.
I’m still curious as to why he picked the Smith’s as his victims. Was it random, or was there some sort of connection?
TOF to reader Hugo.
Gunman posted plan: (Log in info)
More information is coming out about William Freund the 19-year-old kid who went on a shooting spree in his California neighborhood, killing two before turning his shotgun on himself.
Another disturbing post he made on the Asperger syndrome support forum…
“I’m going cause a lot of damage with my Remington 870,” he said in an Oct. 15 posting. “And is super heavy to whack people with. … Not I have never whacked anyone but I’m guessing that’s why its so heavy.” He went on to say in the message, “I look forward for the 870, a gun made since the 1950s In blowing some parts of me out of 2006 style with some of the latest ammo.”
And a familiar theme is starting to emerge…
Lonnie Pestano, a longtime Freund family friend, painted a picture of Freund as a “painfully shy” boy she met about 16 years ago. He was quick to smile and hug those nearby, and “wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Pestano said Freund’s mother spoke often of school bullying, saying that Freund was spit on and had his head put in the toilet.
And…
“There has been some discussion about whether Asperger’s has anything to do with what he did,” said Grover. “It sounds like he was picked on a lot and those of us with Asperger’s have symptoms that cause us to be picked on. We don’t speak in the right tone, don’t look people in the eye, we don’t read body language. Some people pick on us for that.”
I don’t doubt that William Freund was picked on because of his condition. Yesterday I was a little more forgiving because of his condition, but not anymore.
Asperger’s doesn’t affect your ability to tell the difference between right and wrong. Not only that, why did he choose Vernon and Christina Smith, a father, and daughter, as his victims?
What I’m also afraid of is that if, God forbid, there should be any future shootings like this where the shooter claims to be bullied, that they may all of a sudden contract Asperger’s.