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  • More details from Roseburg

    More details from Roseburg

    Teen injured in Oregon high school shooting today:

    This is a follow-up to the school shooting out of Oregon that happened this morning that put one victim in the hospital…

    A teenager armed with a handgun shot and wounded a 16-year-old student at the high school here this morning and then walked to a restaurant, where customers watched in horror as he stood outside and put the gun to his head.

    The shooter then surrendered to police.

    Students milling around the courtyard at Roseburg High watched in shock as the teen — using what doctors said was a large-caliber handgun — shot a student in the chest and abdomen just before classes were to begin, hitting him four times.

    Police spokesman Sgt. Aaron Dunbar said the shooter appeared to be a student at the high school, and that he is also a 16-year-old.

    Police cars followed the teen to Charley’s BBQ restaurant, their sirens blaring, said Kenny Russell, the restaurant cook.

    The 35 customers in the restaurant “were all freaking out. Some of them were getting under the tables,” Russell said.

    The teen looked through the restaurant window and put the gun to his head, according to Russell.

    Police officers confronted the teen, their guns drawn, according to Russell. The teen was then led away in handcuffs.

    It was not clear what provoked the shooting, and whether the assailant knew his victim.

    Their identities were not released.

    Kathleen Nickel, the hospital spokeswoman, said the victim was shot twice in the abdomen and once in the chest, and a bullet grazed his left elbow. She said surgeons believe he was shot from behind.

    A surgeon talked to the victim, who was conscious when he got to the hospital, Nickel said. “He didn’t have any recollection of what occurred,” she said.

    More details as soon as they become available.

  • Henderson speaks out

    Henderson speaks at hearing:

    Richard Henderson Jr., the Florida 20-year-old accused of bludgeoning his family to death on Thanksgiving Day, spoke out in court yesterday against the advice of his attorney…

    “I have something to say,” Henderson blurted out, to the surprise of his public defender, Steven Schaefer, who advised him to keep quiet. Henderson insisted, and Schaefer let him speak.

    “I want to plead guilty and get this over with,” Henderson said. He was dressed in a jail-issued blue jump suit and shackled at the wrists and feet. A dozen bailiffs stood by.

    He faces the death penalty if convicted.

  • School Shooting in Oregon

    School Shooting in Oregon

    Teen Arrested After Roseburg School Shooting:

    An administrator inside Roseburg High School this morning is confirming that there was a shooting at the school and one person is down.
    Roseburg Police Sergeant Aaron Dunbar says it is unknown at this time if the person hurt is a student or staff member.

    Dunbar says the gunman appears to be a student.

    The administrator says the school is in lockdown. The shooting occurred at 7:45 a.m. at the school.

    One victim is being treated for an unknown injury at Mercy Medical Center.

    Dunbar says the gunman fled the scene but was cornered by police near the school.

    After a short standoff the suspect held a gun to his head but was taken into custody with no further incident.

    A nearby elementary school was also placed in lockdown as
    a precaution.

    More on this as it develops.

    TOF to L.

  • We now interrupt this blog for A SPECIAL REPORT

    We now interrupt this blog for A SPECIAL REPORT

    A SPECIAL REPORT: HAZING

    Dr. Scott of Polite Dissent was nice enough to send me this article. In the wake of the Sierra Vista High hazing incident, the Las Vegas Review-Journal decided to follow it up with A SPECIAL REPORT on hazing.

    They interviewed some former high school athletes for their SPECIAL REPORT and read what some of them had to say about hazing…

    “It’s humorous, and a little cruel, but you think, hey, you know what, they (the seniors) did the same thing to me a couple years ago,” said former Centennial wrestler Chris Fletcher, 20, who acknowledged throwing clothed, younger wrestlers into showers and duct-taping others to chairs.

    And the cycle of abuse perpetuates.

    “They didn’t enjoy it while it was happening, but they enjoyed it when they were varsity players and got to do it,” said Ronald Tekpho, 20, who played football and ran track for Valley before graduating in 2003.

    Many of the former athletes expressed disgust with allegations surrounding a Feb. 3 incident at Sierra Vista that has left six basketball players facing expulsion and felony charges.

    The players are accused of pinning down a younger teammate while at least one of them penetrated his rectum with fingers.

    “Hazing is supposed to be fun,” Tekpho said, “not a violation of somebody.”

    Asked to elaborate on “fun” types of hazing, Tekpho described spraying a locker with a water hose while a junior varsity player was trapped inside.

    “He was screaming, ‘It’s cold, it’s cold! Let me out of here!’ ” said a chuckling Tekpho, a Community College of Southern Nevada student who aspires to be a police officer. “We let him out. We weren’t going to let him die in there.”

    While I’m glad that he is disgusted about sexual assault, the fact that he’s giddy over false imprisonment doesn’t make me feel any better. And the fact that he’s trying to be a cop makes me fearful.

    Playing varsity football for Chaparral in the late 1990s, Steve Puterski and his teammates had one rule after randomly choosing a younger athlete to haze.

    “There was no hitting in the face or the groin,” said Puterski, now a 25-year-old journalist in Greeley, Colo. “We just basically beat them in the arms and legs, so they’d be sore but not seriously hurt.”

    Puterski says he was similarly hazed years earlier as a junior varsity player.

    “They all just kind of took a turn. It was like a senior’s privilege,” he said. “Maybe 10 or 15 guys would come and give you three or four licks each, then they’d help you up, and one of them would give you a ride home. It was just a tradition.”

    So how long will it be before forced sodomy among high school athletes becomes “tradition”?

    We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

  • 2/20/06 From The Mail Sack

    2/20/06 From The Mail Sack

    It’s been over 2 months since we dipped into the old mail sack. Don’t worry, this one is mutant free. It’s just a nice little e-mail I got from someone named Fynn. The subject read “My Apologies”.

    I have been reading comments left on your brilliant website, but I’d like to apologise on behalf of other readers. They dont know how to spell, they use abusive language and I think it brings down the tone of the good writing that you create.

    Thank you for the compliment, Fynn, but no apologies are necessary. The abusive language just shows that they lack the intelligence for a legitimate argument. Thanks again for your e-mail.

  • Dyleski to stand trial

    Dyleski to stand trial

    Judge orders Dyleski to stand trial in Vitale murder:

    A judge has ruled that there is a sufficient amount of evidence to reasonably try Scott Dyleski for the murder of Pam Vitale, and he will be tried as an adult…

    During the first three days of testimony Contra Costa County prosecutor Harold Jewett presented evidence painting Dyleski as a disturbed young man.

    He showed Dyleski’s drawings, that included a figure holding a bloody knife who was wearing a ski mask and a trench coat. Jewett pointed out that some of the clothes found by detectives during their investigation included a bloody ski mask and a trench coat that he believes Dyleski wore during the killing.

    Jewett also presented drawings and printed examples of symbols found in Dyleski’s bedroom that were similar, but not identical, to the mark found on Vitale’s back. Defense attorney Ellen Leonida of the public defender’s office argued against allowing Dyleski’s artwork in, saying a lot of artwork is disturbing and is not evidence of murder. But the judge disagreed, and will allow certain of Dyleski’s drawings to be used by prosecutors in a trial.

    Witnesses who lived with Dyleski at his home about a mile down Hunsaker Canyon Road from Vitale and Horowitz testified that on the morning of Oct. 15, Dyleski came home with scratches or “gouge-like” marks on his face.

    Witnesses also testified that Dyleski became paranoid on the day before his arrest on Oct. 19, and began talking about his fear that his DNA might be found on Vitale’s body. He told a story of a woman who pulled over in a car and grabbed his arm while he was on a walk in the neighborhood as the reason for his concern.

    All that even after Dyleski’s mom destroyed evidence

    After Dyleski’s Oct. 19 arrest, authorities arrested Fielding as an accessory to murder after the fact for destroying a red writing journal of her son’s, a box of disposable gloves and a written list of the names and credit card information for a number of her and her son’s neighbors. The charges were dropped after Fielding agreed to testify for prosecutors against Dyleski.

    Not only that but Pam Vitale’s DNA was found on Scott Dyleski’s belongings

    Prosecutors concluded the hearings Friday with testimony from David Stockwell, a DNA expert who said Vitale’s DNA was found on the boy’s duffel bag, with a statistical probability that 1 in 13 quadrillion other Caucasians would share the same profile.

    Detectives discovered the duffel, which was affixed with Dyleski’s nametag, during a search of the property where the teen lived with 11 other individuals.

    The bag contained bloody clothes that prosecutors believe Dyleski wore when he allegedly killed Vitale, and a mixture of both their DNA was found on a ski mask, shoes, and the bag itself.

    Dyleski is ineligible for the death penalty because he was under 18 at the time of the murder.

  • Ken Bartley’s dad indicted

    Ken Bartley’s dad indicted

    LaFollette mayor charged with gambling:

    How’s this for an interesting story? Kenny Michael Bartley, the father of Campbell County High School shooter Kenneth Bartley Jr., was indicted in an illegal gambling scheme along with the mayor of LaFollette, Tenn. I guess the criminal apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

  • Scott Dyleski’s Checklist

    Scott Dyleski’s Checklist

    Dyleskis ex-roommate finds disturbing checklist:

    I get a lot of comments from people who say that Scott Dyleski is a great kid and couldn’t possibly be capable of killing Pam Vitale. Oh yeah? Well, what do you have to say about this?

    It was in late January that David Curiel — who lived with Dyleski and two other families in a Hunsaker Canyon home about a mile down the road from Vitales — found a number of index cards that included detailed personal and financial information about other Hunsaker Canyon residents who were victims of credit card fraud. The handwritten cards included the dates of birth, frequent flier numbers and passwords to eBay and Amazon.com accounts.

    And prosecutors say one of the cards included this checklist:

    – Knock out/kidnap

    – Question

    – Keep captive to confirm PINS (personal identification numbers)

    – Dirty work

    – Dispose of evidence

    – Cut up and bury

    Things that make you go hmmm?

  • Eric Schorling sentenced for escape attempt

    Eric Schorling sentenced for escape attempt

    Romeo school stabber’s sentence increased after escape:

    Eric Schorling, the 17-year-old who was convicted and sentenced to 10 years for stabbing Nicole Lambert in the middle of Romeo High School in Michigan, was sentenced yesterday for his attempt to escape. He was sentenced for one year for the escape. Unfortunately, he will serve this sentence concurrently with his 10-year sentence for the stabbing.

  • 23-year-old charged in Hilton Head threat

    23-year-old charged in Hilton Head threat

    Man arrested in school-threat case:

    Submitted for your approval, one 23-year-old man from Hilton Head, South Carolina by the name of Michael Hatcher Cochrane.

    Mr. Cochrane was arrested for a month-long of phone calls threatening violence against Hilton Head Middle School. Authorities have charged him with five counts of threatening the use of a destructive device and three counts each of threatening the life of a teacher or principal and disturbing schools, even though it appears that Mr. Cochrane never intended to carry out the threats.

    Authorities allege that Mr. Cochrane made the threatening phone calls to foster a better relationship with one of his family members.

    Is Mr. Cochrane just one of those people who can’t find their own friends and must try to impress the friends of younger relatives in order to appear cool? Or is he just trailer trash with nothing better to do? Or is it some third possibility incomprehensible to the rational mind. The answers lie ahead, as the signpost up ahead reads…

    The Dumbass Zone

    Apologies to the late Rod Serling.