Category: School Violence

  • Last day of Kerns trial

    Last day of Kerns trial

    Teen says friend was mastermind of Columbine-style:

    More testimony from the trial of Tobin Kerns on the trial’s final day.

    Here’s an item I didn’t know until today…

    Kerns testified that he and Nee had gotten into a scuffle over Kerns’ girlfriend four days before Nee went to police and blamed Kerns for devising the plot.

    To me, that shows me just one more reason as to why Joe Nee would try to implicate Tobin. Besides deflecting blame from himself, Tobin’s arrest and possible incarceration would be Joe Nee’s revenge.

    And it sounds like there will be more delays as far as the verdict is concerned…

    Coffin said he does not know when he will issue a verdict in the case. Coffin is waiting for a ruling from the state Supreme Judicial Court on whether the law on threats requires that a defendant communicate the threat directly to an intended victim or whether the threat can also be communicated indirectly.

    State prosecutors have asked the high court for clarification on the law.

    Keep your fingers crossed that Judge Coffin makes the right decision.

  • Books are not bulletproof

    Books are not bulletproof

    Candidate: Use Textbooks As Shields From School Shooters:

    Ok, I’m officially convinced that the Republican Party has gone batshit crazy. Not that the Democrats are any better. This was sent to me by Joker

    MINCO, Okla. — One of Oklahoma’s nominees for state superintendent of education has proposed a unique idea for protecting students from outbreaks of violence.

    Bill Crozier, a Union City Republican going against incumbent Democrat Sandy Garrett, said he believes old textbooks could be used to stop bullets shot from weapons wielded by school intruders.

    Yes, you read that right…

    If elected, he said he would put thick used textbooks under every desk for students to use in self-defense.

    He had a videotape showing him and others shooting weapons, such as an AK-47 and a 9 mm pistol, at books in a field. They conducted the experiment to see how far bullets would penetrate the books.

    Crozier’s experiment began with shots fired at a calculus textbook from an AK-47 Russian-style assault rifle. The shot penetrated two textbooks at once.

    “We need to look at protection of young people that sometimes people may think you are a little smarter than everybody else or a higher IQ or whatever. They need to look at what the end result would be,” Crozier said.

    However, when the shooters took aim at textbooks with handguns, the books stopped bullets. Crozier said he acknowledges his idea might seem a bit unusual, but he’s sticking with it.

    “This would be to protect the children in an immediate situation. This is something that any student, any classroom in the country could do immediately,” he said.

    Crozier acknowledged his test was not scientific. Instead, he said, he wanted to demonstrate what might happen if a student used a textbook as protection in the event of a school shooting.

    “Not everybody would be saved in that situation, of course. But many of them would, and instead of running away or being lined up … this is a way for the children to fight back,” he said.

    Here’s a thought, Bill. How about trying to stop the school shootings before they happen? Did you ever think of that? Dumbass.

  • Tobin Kerns testifies

    Tobin Kerns testifies

    Teen says he had no part in Marshfield HS plot:

    Tobin Kerns testified in his own defense today, but I don’t like where they’re going with it…

    One of the two teenagers accused of plotting a Columbine-style attack at Marshfield High School in the fall of 2004 took the stand in his own defense today, telling a judge he had no part in the plan.

    Instead, Tobin Kerns, 18, laid the blame on Joseph Nee, 20, who is being tried separately, saying he never took Nee’s scheme seriously. In Brockton District Court this afternoon, Kerns admitting egging Nee on in front of other teens, but only because he through it was a joke.

    “I did not assist him in anything,” Kerns said in a confident voice.

    I don’t like it when guilty parties use the “joke” defense. I like it even less when an innocent party uses it. It’s obvious that if Tobin was involved in the plan that he definitely had a change of heart. I think they should have focused on that rather than saying that Tobin had no involvement. Then again, I didn’t go to any fancy lawyerin’ school.

    Tobin is supposed to testify again tomorrow.

  • Anarchy charge dropped against Kerns

    Anarchy charge dropped against Kerns

    BULLETIN – Anarchy charge dropped in massacre plot trial:

    The charge of promotion of anarchy has been dropped against Tobin Kerns…

    The judge’s decision came after defense attorney William McElligott moved to have all the charges against Kerns dismissed.

    In dismissing the anarchy charge, Coffin said the case does not appear to be one where those accused were attempting to recruit others to overthrow the government, even though school officials were allegedly targeted.

    Prosecutor John McLaughlin asked for a stay of the decision so the matter could be brought before the Supreme Judicial Court.

    Coffin denied the request.

    “No. We’re at trial and the matter has been pending for a long time.”

    As he left the courtroom for a short break, McLaughlin said to a colleague quietly but loud enough to be heard by others in the courtroom, “He just totally screwed us.”

    The charges of threats to use deadly weapons at school and conspiracy to commit murder were not dismissed.

    It sounds like that McLaughlin was basing his whole case on the anarchy charge. Let’s hope that’s correct.

  • Kerns admits to list

    Kerns admits to list

    Teen admits writing supply list for assault:

    Yesterday, Tobin Kerns admitted through his attorney, William McElligott, that he wrote out the list that contained the items one would possibly need to carry out a school assault…

    The list was the final – and potentially most crucial – piece of evidence in a case prosecutors built largely upon teenage witnesses recollecting conversations they had two and sometimes three years ago with the defendant.

    Police retrieved the list from Kerns’ home on Main Street in Marshfield after his arrest in September 2004. They found it in a bedroom that had been occupied by Joseph Nee, 20, Kerns’ former friend and the alleged mastermind of the plot. Nee lived temporarily with the Kerns the previous spring.

    The list found in the Kerns home includes automatic guns, gas masks, a computer-hacking system, acid, bullet-proof vests, propane tanks, galvanized steel and an assortment of ammunition.

    First of all, where would two teens be able to get all those items without raising suspicion? Secondly, if that’s the only thing Tobin did, I would be shocked if he even sniffed the inside of a cell. Thirdly, Tobin was arrested on the word of someone who was also arrested on the exact same charges, Joe Nee…

    Throughout the trial, McElligott has focused on Nee, portraying him as a manipulative, vengeful young man who tried to blame Kerns for the plot out of fear that Kerns no longer wanted to carry it out and was about to tell police.

    As far as I’m concerned, the charges against Tobin Kerns should have been dropped once Joe Nee was arrested.

  • More on Kerns trial

    More on Kerns trial

    Kerns trial begins:

    This is a much more detailed article that yesterday’s about the trial of Tobin Kerns. I’ll just recap the highlights.

    Daniel Farley and Joseph Sullivan both testified that Joe Nee destroyed evidence about the plot and tried deflecting guilt on to Toby Kerns. Like I’ve been theorizing, Farley stated that Nee was worried that Tobin Kerns would report Nee. Farley said that Kerns never talked about Columbine unless Nee was present.

    Marshfield High School 2006 graduate Tim Courchene testified that Nee, Kerns, Farley, and Sullivan tried to recruit him as a shooter, but he declined. Courchene also testified that after Kerns received psychological help at a mental health facility, that Tobin no longer wanted any part of the plot.

    Assistant District Attorney John McLaughlin in his opening argument that Sullivan and Farley’s testimony would prove that Kerns and Nee conspired to recruit others in their plan. The only thing that I’ve seen the testimony prove so far is that Tobin Kerns got help and tried to get out of the plot.

  • Kerns trial finally gets underway

    Kerns trial finally gets underway

    Students Testify In Marshfield School Plot Trial:

    The trial of Tobin Kerns is finally underway. Read the article and watch the video. Does the media make Toby out to be a monster, or am I just imagining things? However, from the brief media report about today’s proceedings, it looks like things are going the right way. Except for the police, it looks like the prosecution’s witnesses all point the finger at Joe Nee. On Wednesday, the defense will present. For the sake of Toby and his family, I pray to God he’s found not guilty.

  • Petition for no plea in Campbell County shooting

    Petition for no plea in Campbell County shooting

    Petitioners ask prosecutor for no plea deal:

    There were rumors swirling in Tennessee that Campbell County High shooter Kenny Bartley was going to receive a plea bargain from prosecutors. Bartley is accused of bringing a gun to school and shooting and killing Assistant Principal Ken Bruce, and shooting and injuring Principal Gary Seale and Assistant Principal Jim Pierce. Apparently, the rumors of a plea bargain gained so much ground that a petition drive was started asking the state not to enter into any plea bargains with Bartley. According to attorneys on both sides, no plea agreement has been reached.

  • Robin Kittrell out on bond

    Student who brought guns to school out on bail:

    Robin Kittrell is the 17-year-old who brought an arsenal of weapons to the first day of school at Whitewater High School in Georgia. He claimed that the weapons were for preventing a Columbine-type attack.

    Well, he got out of jail this past weekend on a $150K bond.

    After his arrest Aug. 7 at Whitewater High School, Kittrell told authorities he was trying to defend himself in case a “Columbine kind of thing” took place at school. Police found at least six weapons, including a carbine rifle, a switchblade and a sword, in his car.

    Authorities said they found no evidence he was planning an attack on the school.

    School officials said Kittrell was a good student with no history of disciplinary problems. He will finish his senior year by homeschooling.

    Requests for bond had been denied because District Attorney Scott Ballard said he was concerned about Kittrell’s mental health. Defense attorney Lee Sexton said the teenager has received “much-needed” counseling while in jail.

    WHS student now out on house arrest in gun case:

    And according to this article, Kittrell is under house arrest and may only leave the house for medical or psychological treatment. He has also been barred from school grounds.

  • Castillo took advantage of loophole in NC gun law

    Castillo took advantage of loophole in NC gun law

    N.C. law protecting mental health records allowed gun buys:

    This is an interesting article that states since Alvaro Castillo voluntarily admitted himself to a mental hospital that he was still allowed to purchase firearms…

    HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. – A teen jailed on charges he fatally shot his father before opening fire at his former high school was able to buy two guns even though he was nearly involuntarily committed to a mental hospital just months earlier because of his suicide threats.

    Instead, Alvaro Castillo agreed after the involuntary commitment process had started to admit himself to the hospital. That allowed him to retain his right to buy a gun.

    For nearly 40 years, federal law has made it illegal to knowingly sell guns to a person who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution or otherwise been found by a judge to be mentally ill.

    The difference between those who get involuntary and voluntary treatment often is small, but it can have potentially huge consequences, said Mark Botts, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government.

    North Carolina law encourages authorities to persuade a person to consent to treatment even when the person is considered dangerous and eligible for involuntary treatment.

    But when consent is given, the state no longer has control over the duration of the person’s treatment because willing patients are allowed to voluntarily discharge themselves, Botts said.

    In case you forgot, Alvaro Castillo shot and killed his father before opening fire on his former high school.