TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

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  • No Guarantees

    Parents seek assurances:

    I’m surprised at the level of honesty school officials are using towards parents regarding the fallout of the Pine Middle School shooting…

    Washoe County school officials told hundreds of anxious Pine Middle School parents Wednesday they didn’t know how to prevent shooting incidents such as the one that wounded two eighth-graders the previous morning.

    “We cannot guarantee we can make this school 100 percent safe, just as you cannot guarantee your child’s safety when he or she gets in a car,” Superintendant Paul Dugan told more than 500 students, parents and teachers. “Metal detectors are not a guarantee for safety.”

    He’s right. Red Lake High School had metal detectors, and that didn’t stop Jeff Weise. I would also say that liability lies more with the parents than it would with the schools. Most school shooting plots are planned in the home rather than at school. So, in this case, whoever owned the gun that James Newman used should have been responsible for keeping the gun secure and keeping it out of the hands of a 14-year-old.

    Also, according to the article, Newman had been planning this for a while…

    “You can see he had been thinking about this and considering it,” Lt. Ron Donnelly said after detectives interviewed the suspect, found drawings and writings in his locker and talked with his family and friends.

    “Students who heard him talk about bringing the gun to school thought it was just talk,” Rusk said. “Now they feel very guilty and wonder what they should have done. They felt (his comments) were just middle school bravado and that he wasn’t serious.”

    When will kids learn that when someone talks about bringing a gun to school that it might not be a joke? Luckily, no one was killed this time.

  • Gun used at Pine Middle School shooting belonged to family

    Gun used in Reno school shooting belonged to suspect’s family:

    The .38-caliber pistol used in the Pine Middle School shooting by James Scott Newman belonged to an unidentified family member and was obtained without permission. The owner of the gun may also face charges. It hasn’t been determined yet whether or not Newman will be charged as an adult or not…

    That’s because the Nevada Supreme Court recently required that the state must prove a juvenile had a specific intent to kill in order to bring an attempted murder charge, he said.

    Yeah, I’m sure he brought the gun to school to use as a party favor.

  • Bonelli pleads guilty

    Bonelli pleads guilty

    Bonelli pleads guilty to all counts in mall rampage:
    Bonelli pleads guilty in mall shooting spree:

    I haven’t talked about Robert Bonelli in a really long time. He was the 24-year-old gunman in the Hudson Valley Mall shooting in Ulster, New York that wounded two people. When his home was searched, police found what they called “Columbine Memorabilia”. Bonelli pleaded guilty today to all charges against him…

    In entering his plea, Bonelli said that he had gone to the mall with the intention of committing “suicide by cop,” hoping to get killed by police officers.

    Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams said Bonelli’s handwritten notes showed that he’d planned for months to conduct an armed rampage no later than April 20 of last year.

    Williams also maintained Bonelli had a lurid fascination with the shootings in Columbine.

    Personally, I don’t buy the “suicide by cop” theory. I think he luckily lost his nerve by the time he got to the mall, but I think his original intention was to kill.

    Between his fascination with Columbine and the fact that he planned for months to conduct some kind of assault with an April 20th deadline lead me to believe that his original intention was to kill as many people as possible.

    Anyway, he’s looking at a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 40.

    Sentencing is set for May 19th.

  • Mr. A Reports

    mra

    Mr. A comes through again and in a huge way as he has brought us a plethora of information.

    First, he brings is the story of 13 men who were arrested in a sting operation conducted by the Orange County California D.A.’s office back in February…

    NEWPORT BEACH Thirteen men, ages ranging from 19 to 51, were charged after an internet sexual predator operation was conducted in cooperation with the Laguna Beach Police Department, Orange County Probation and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. A citizen group called Perverted-justice.com helped gather the internet chats from the accused sexual predators. All of these men were charged with attempted lewd acts upon a child under the age of fourteen. In addition, one was charged with possession of methamphetamine and a pipe. Another was charged with sending an explicit image over the internet. The child molestation charge carries a maximum penalty of four years in state prison.

    The facts on each of these cases are similar in nature. All of them engaged in internet chats with fictitious 12 or 13-year-old girls. Some of these chats stretched for hours and hours and multiple days. The chats detailed explicit, graphic sex talks including oral sex, masturbation, and intercourse. One man sent pornographic pictures. Others exchanged regular photographs. One brought a pornographic DVD. Many of them worried about being detected by law enforcement and parents. Many of them brought sexual paraphernalia, cameras, food, flower, and alcohol. One of the men left his own 13-year-old daughter to have sex with a fictitious 13-year-old girl. These men came from all over Southern California and held many jobs, including a law enforcement officer.

    And of course, Mr. A brings us the MySpace profiles of some of those arrested. Like Jimmy Miguel Varela. How prophetic that the song playing on his MySpace is “American Idiot”. Then there’s Robert Carlos Alarcia. And lastly Deep Arora.

    Welcome to the Rogues Gallery boys.

    ***

    Then Mr. A brings us the Google cache of the deleted MySpace profile of one “dragon7025”. Here’s what he had to say on his profile…

    i am mainly attracted to boys ages 12 and under-yes i do have a small sexual attraction towards them, but i am against sex in an actual relationship with a boy-boys just need true love from the heart and thats what im here to give them-pure love like almost all parents should give their children

    It is unknown if he deleted the profile himself or if it was deleted by MySpace. Either way, he is just one of many pedophiles that inhabit MySpace.

    ***

    Mr. A is almost 100% positive that these are the internet habits of Bruce Chute who I told you about here.

    ***

    This next gem from Mr. A would almost be funny if it wasn’t for the crimes the suspect is being accused of. His name is Keith and here is his profile. And below that is a comment from his ex-fiance…

    hi some of you might know me as Keith’s fiance well that is no longer the case he has been convicted of crimes that have to do with ellicting sex from a minor. Currently we are trying to find if Keith has bothered anyone else online in similar cases in order to press charges. Currently he is serving time in the navy’s jail. Anything you say to me will not be seen directly by him so if you have any information please send me a message.
    thanks
    Patti

    I feel really bad for Patti honestly. Imagine finding out that your fiance or spouse is a pedophile.

    Again we salute you Mr. A for all your hard work.

  • Pine Middle Shooter named

    Pine Middle Shooter named

    Reno teacher hailed as hero after shooting:

    This article is basically about how a gym teacher who wishes to remain anonymous was able to stop the Pine Middle School shooter from doing any more harm. However, in the article, the shooter is named, and he is one James Scott Newman, an eighth-grader.

    Here’s how it went down…

    The teacher at Pine Middle School heard three shots just before 9 a.m. and rushed out of a room to find the alleged shooter, James Scott Newman, standing outside the school cafeteria.

    “She empathized with him, tried to be understanding and de-escalated the situation. She was successful in having him place his gun on the ground which is pretty amazing,” Reno police Lt. Ron Donnelly told KKOH Radio.

    After he dropped the gun, the teacher “bear hugged” Newman until additional staff arrived on scene, Donnelly said. “It was an heroic job done by the school teacher,” he said.

    Still no word on how the gun was obtained.

  • More from Pine Middle School

    More from Pine Middle School

    USATODAY.com – Police: Boy opens fire with handgun, injures 2 students:

    The shooter was an eighth-grade student who has no known connection with the two victims…

    “It appears he decided to engage in school violence,” the officer said. “He brought a gun to school today and randomly targeted these two students.”

    The shooter is being charged as an adult and is being held on $150,000 bail on attempted murder charges.

  • School Shooting in Reno

    School Shooting in Reno

    Reno School Shooting Update:

    There was a school shooting at Pine Middle School in Reno, Nevada today. Two students were injured when a seventh or eighth grader opened fire in a hallway with a .38-caliber pistol…

    Reno Police Lieutenant Ron Donnelly says a boy was wounded in the upper arm and taken to Washoe Medical Center for treatment. A girl received a superficial wound to the leg from shrapnel and was treated at the scene.

    No word on a motive or how the gun was obtained.

    More on this as information becomes available.

  • Another Hawaii Arrest

    Another Hawaii Arrest

    Another Suspected Internet Predator Nabbed:

    A third sexual predator has been arrested in Hawaii while using MySpace to select his prey…

    (KHNL) — It’s another frightening reminder of the dangers lurking on the internet. A Waikiki man is in police custody, accused of sexually assaulting a girl he met on-line.

    It’s at least the third time in one month that Honolulu police have made this type of arrest. That’s three different men who are suspected of turning their on-line relationships, with minors, into sexual ones.

    “The fact that we have three now so far this year gives us reason to be very concerned about it,” Capt. Frank Fujii, Honolulu Police Department, said.

    Officers arrested Matthew Cargill Sunday. Police say the 29-year-old posed as a 16-year-old boy on MYSPACE.COM, and arranged to meet with a 15-year-old girl.

    The victim told investigators the suspect sexually assaulted her in his car, near the U.H. Manoa campus. Police recovered the suspect’s car in Waikiki.

    Officers arrested Cargill for investigation of two counts of first-degree sex assault, five counts of third-degree sex assault, and one count of electronic enticement of a child.

    Court records indicate Cargill has prior convictions for indecent exposure, open lewdness, and harassment by stalking.

    Since he was using a fake profile, I was unable to find his MySpace profile.

    This should serve as a warning to that the person that they’re chatting with on MySpace may not be who they seem, and as a warning to parents about what their children may be up to online.

  • News from Roseburg

    News from Roseburg

    RHS school shoot motive, details remain under wraps:

    Roseburg police investigating the shooting at Roseburg High state they have narrowed down a motive for the shooting of Joseph Monti by Vincent Leodoro. However, they’re remaining tight-lipped for now…

    Roseburg police Lt. Pat Moore said this morning details of the motive cannot be released until the prosecuting entities — including the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office and the Douglas County Juvenile Department — agree to do so.

    He provided a vague description of a tense relationship between the two Roseburg High School students and their social circle which is believed to have led to the early morning campus shooting.

    “There haven’t been any real variations from that,” he said, adding that most rumors police have checked into have been found to be unsubstantiated.

    School shooting victim in fair condition after Thursday surgery:

    Meanwhile, Joseph Monti underwent surgery to remove bullet fragments near his spine and is said to be in fair condition. He has also lost some feeling and control of his left foot.

  • Dunblane

    Dunblane

    254 children killed in schools since Dunblane:

    Today is the 10th anniversary of the school shooting with the highest child death toll, the Dunblane massacre. For those of you not familiar with Dunblane here is a summary of the massacre from Crime Library…

    On March 13, 1996, Thomas Hamilton, 43, left his home at 7 Kent Road in Dunblane, Scotland, with only one thing in mind — murder. At about 9:30 a.m., he drove to the Dunblane Primary School with a pair of pliers, four handguns and more than 700 rounds of ammunition. Once there, he cut the telephone wires on a nearby pole and then proceeded with weapons in hand to a side entrance of the school.

    Hamilton burst into the assembly hall, where a class of 5- and 6-year-old children was having gym lessons and opened fire. He first shot at several of the teachers. Hamilton then turned his guns on the frightened children and shot at them as they tried to scramble to safety under chairs and inside closets. Screams echoed through the gymnasium as tiny bodies sunk to the floor in pools of blood.

    Hamilton momentarily stepped outside the gym into a hallway where there were other classrooms and open fired again. Several more people were struck down before Hamilton returned to the gym and began shooting again. He then put the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger. He died instantaneously, leaving behind a ghastly trail of death and devastation.

    The brutal rampage left 17 people murdered, including one teacher and 16 children. Another 17 would survive the horrifying incident but be haunted with nightmares for the rest of their lives. The sleepy, rural town was forever changed by the horrors of that day. It was considered one of the deadliest massacres in recent history.

    According to the article, no service or memorial is being held as the people of Dunblane would like to forget this tragedy. Also, according to the article, 254 children have been shot in schools worldwide, including the terrorist attack in Beslan in 2004.