Tag: Campbell County High School

Campbell County school shooting survivor shares story:

One of the surviving victims of the Campbell County High School shooting, Assistant Principal Jim Pierce, decided to share his story with the local media. I’ll just quote the highlights…

“After a little discussion, bang, bang, bang,” Pierce describes what happened. “It was quick.”

Pierce, now recovering at home, says he tackled Bartley after a few shots had been fired.

The next thing he remembers is seeing Bartley tied up.

A teacher peeling Pierce off the floor told him to hang on and keep breathing.

“I know if someone didn’t do something, we were all doomed,” Pierce explained. “I just jumped to grab him, and I think that’s when he shot me.”

The bullet that grazed Pierce’s hand came close to killing him.

“It came through the back of my arm, through my side and it collapsed both my lungs,” he pointed to the scars. “I’ve never experienced that kind of pain before.”

This is the first time in 36 years of teaching Pierce has used his sick days for illness.

Pierce is left wondering why a student whose father was a boyhood friend would want to hurt him.

“We ran around together,” Pierce said of Kenneth, Sr. “I really hadn’t met Kenny Junior until he enrolled him at the high school. He introduced him because we were friends growing up.”

Other than that introduction, Pierce said the two had waved at each other in the hallway.

Both Pierce and Seale will carry bullets forever. Pierce isn’t sure how he feels about having it lodged behind his aorta.

He says he doesn’t have any hard feelings towards the alleged shooter but thinks he does need help.

He’s definitely a bigger man than me.

Mental exam ordered for school shooter:

Ken Bartley Jr. has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation before a judge will decide if he is to be tried as an adult. According to the article, this is standard procedure in trying to decide if a minor should be tried as an adult.

The article had some other interesting information…

Sheriff Ron McClellan said the investigation is continuing, more interviews were being conducted and evidence collected, including Bartley’s home computer.

Asked if a motive has been determined, the sheriff said, “We are getting more details as we go, but we couldn’t release anything on that because of the pending case.”

So still no official motive.

Nod to commenter Jack.

Campbell County school resumes, teen’s hearing delayed:

Suspect Ken Bartley Jr., 14, remained held without bond in a detention center in Knoxville, some 34 miles south, as court officials searched for a judge to hear a prosecutor’s petition to move Bartley’s case into adult court.

Judges Joseph Ayers of Campbell County and Patricia Hess of Anderson County recused themselves because they know the victims. Judge Michael Davis of Morgan County agreed late Monday to preside over the juvenile court hearing.

And according to the article authorities are still not discussing a motive even though I’ve had several people who claim to be from the Campbell County area say that Ken Bartley allegedly brought the gun to school to sell for drugs. Why he would bring a loaded gun is beyond me if he was just going to sell it.

Anyway, the article also states that Bartley is ineligible for the death penalty under Tennessee state law because he is under 16. I’m on the fence on whether or not he would deserve the death penalty. I’m leaning towards no since conventional wisdom is leaning towards the fact that this wasn’t premeditated. However, it remains to be seen if the “gun for drugs” motive is the actual motive or not.

While I’ve been doing entries about Ken Bartley Jr. and the Campbell County High shooting some people have been saying that Ken Bartley did not intend to shoot Ken Bruce and that they can’t prove intent. These people are either confused or unclear on the word “intent”. Their main argument is that Ken Bartley did not take the loaded gun to school with the intent of killing Ken Bruce or shooting Gary Seale and Jim Pierce. That may, in fact, be true. However if when Ken Bartley was approached about the gun, then he decided to raise the gun, aim it at Ken Bruce, and pull the trigger killing Ken Bruce then he did, in fact, intend to kill Ken Bruce. What you’re thinking of is premeditation. If Ken Bartley did not take the gun to school with the intent of killing Ken Bruce then it wasn’t a premeditated killing. However, that doesn’t mean there was no intent. If rather than going to jail Ken Bartley decided to shoot his way out of the situation then that shows intent, In my opinion, the only way to show there was no intent was if the gun discharged accidentally. Since the gun fired repeatedly striking four different people I doubt that can be called an accident. Hopefully, I’ve cleared this up for you because that was my intent.

Parents of alleged Campbell County shooter sought help:

This is an article I briefly touched on Friday. It’s about the school for troubled kids that Ken Bartley’s parents placed him in when he was 12. It’s called the Kingswood School and it’s a private Christian home that is funded purely on donations. Ken Bartley was there for a year and a half. The article doesn’t say why he was there but it states that counselors were teaching him how to handle problems like drugs and alcohol. But administrators said that Bartley was not doing well enough to go home when his parents removed him from the school…

Helton says parents initially agree that therapists will decide when a child is ready to go home.

“They thought he was ready to leave and we did not,” Helton said. “So he did leave against our recommendations because we felt he had not completed our program.”

Prosecutor: Boy should be tried as adult:

This is just another article about how Campbell County prosecutors want to try Ken Bartley as an adult. However, I found this piece of the article interesting…

Pam Cannon, a parent who has two sons at the high school, and several students said the boy stabbed Seale in the hand with a pencil when Seale was his middle school principal.

That would be Principal Gary Seale who was shot in the lower abdomen but survived. So it sounds like not only did Bartley have possibly a prior history of violence but a history of violence with one of his victims.

School Shooting: Could it have been prevented?:

The Campbell County sheriff’s department tells us 14-year old Kenneth Bartley brought the .22 caliber handgun into school from home.

This leaves many wondering if the gun was locked up, could the shooting have been prevented.

Um….YEAH!!!

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.