TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: school shooting

  • Johnson trial starts

    Johnson trial starts

    Weapons trial begins for Jonesboro school shooter Johnson:

    The federal weapons trial for Jonesboro shooter Mitchell Johnson started earlier today.

    In opening statements, the prosecution stated that Johnson is a heavy marijuana user and had a nickel-plated 9mm in his possession at the time of the traffic stop on New Year’s Day 2007.

    The defense says that Johnson was pulled over on a bogus tip that Johnson was in possession of 100 pounds of marijuana, and that police were looking for any reason to pull him over.

    The article also contained this little gem of information…

    Johnson left prison with an “adjudicated” record _ meaning he could own firearms.

    I really hope the state of Arkansas closed that loophole too when they fixed the law that allowed Johnson and his cohort Andrew Golden to be released.

    The cop that pulled Johnson over testified that he saw Johnson driving erratically but admitted that he was looking for a legal reason to pull Johnson over.

    I’ll admit the evidence against him seems pretty flimsy, but Johnson should have never set foot out of jail in my opinion.

    Thanks to everyone who sent in tips.

  • Going to California

    Going to California

    New Trial to Begin for School Shooter:

    It seems that Jonesboro shooter Mitchell Johnson was on his way to California to make a new life for himself. Too bad he got caught traveling with another convicted murderer, and marijuana, and a gun.

    “Honest to God, I’m just trying to get to Cali, man,” Johnson told deputies as they searched the loaded-down, 1980s Ford van at a Fayetteville convenience store. The incident was recorded on video.

    Awwww…isn’t that cute?

    And it seems that he had just received the gun prior to his arrest on New Year’s Day 2007.

    Johnson lived in North Carolina and California for a while. He even returned to Jonesboro over Christmas 2006, where Craighead County Sheriff Jack McCann had warned that deputies “couldn’t guarantee” the safety of either him or Golden.

    He received a silver 9 mm Lorein pistol as a present and practiced “target shooting” near the city.

    Who in the blue hell thought it was a good idea to give a convicted school shooter and murderer another gun?

    Since he had already lived in California and returned to Arkansas, it proves the old adage. You can’t go home again. Or maybe that should be, you shouldn’t go home again.

  • Chanthabouly ruled mentally incompetent

    Chanthabouly ruled mentally incompetent

    Teen charged with fatal Tacoma school shooting found mentally ill:

    Douglas S. Chanthabouly is the gunman from Foss High School in Tacoma who fatally shot Samnang Kok last year. The last we heard he was found mentally fit to stand trial. Apparently, something happened between August and now because he’s declared mentally incompetent.

    His trial was set to start on February 4th, but that has been pushed back pending the results of a 90-day judge ordered stay at a mental facility.

  • So it’s not about the bullying in Joplin

    So it’s not about the bullying in Joplin

    Middle-school shooting suspect claimed he wasn’t targeting anyone:

    Ever since Thomas White fired a round from a MAC-90 into the ceiling of Memorial Middle School in Joplin, Missouri, his defenders have declared that it was because he was bullied, and the school wouldn’t do anything about it. Yet in recently released documents, White himself claims it was because he was failing in school and saw no other option.

    The 13-year-old boy believed he was failing four out of his six classes at Memorial Middle School. He felt it had got him “into trouble at home,” and he didn’t see anyway to improve his grades.

    How about studying and doing your work. Did you ever think of that? Look, I was no Valedictorian, but the only person who was responsible for my bad grades was me.

    Anyway, the fact that he claims that his failure would get him into “trouble at home” makes me think that we should be looking once again at the White family and not the school.

    As I’ve previously posted, Thomas White’s father is a former drug dealer who was in illegal possession of a firearm. The same firearm that Thomas White used at his school.

    Also, White said that he had no target in mind except to scare the teachers.

    Thomas White told them “he just wanted to scare people,” according to a statement of facts drawn up by public defender James Egan and submitted as part of a brief filed this past week with the state’s high court. When asked specifically whom he was trying to scare, he’d told them “all the teachers,” according to the brief.

    According to police, White tried firing the gun at his principal, but the gun had already jammed. White even admits to trying to fire the gun.

    White eventually “admitted,” during a second interrogation, that he’d tried to fire the gun more than once, although the brief claims this “admission” was elicited by his interrogators with the assistance of his own attorney at the time,

    His new attorneys say that his previous defense was inadequate. It sounds like to me, he was trying to get him the best deal possible. Now the case is tied up while attorneys argue that White should not be tried as an adult.

  • Johnson attorney tries to get statements squashed

    Johnson attorney tries to get statements squashed

    Jonesboro Shooter Wants Statements Suppressed:

    The attorney for Jonesboro gunman Mitchell Johnson wants statements Johnson made to police to be thrown out.

    Jack Schisler, assistant federal public defender, made the motion Monday in U.S. District Court. Schisler argued that Johnson was not read his Miranda rights before police began questioning him following a traffic stop. Schisler said Johnson made incriminating statements about his use of marijuana during the questioning.

    So, police have to read everybody Miranda rights when they get pulled over for a traffic violation? Spare me.

    Schisler contends Johnson was actually placed in custody, handcuffed and locked in the back seat of a patrol car, and questioned by police numerous times during a search of the vehicle. The exchanges were recorded by cameras in the police cars and on officers’ microphones.

    Being held in custody and being under arrest are two different things, but I’ll give him points for trying.

    If you’ll remember, Johnson was arrested on New Year’s Day 2007 for being in possession of drugs and a weapon. The city turned over the case to the feds, who are trying him on federal weapons charges.

    No word yet on when the trial is due to start.

  • White’s request for house arrest denied

    White’s request for house arrest denied

    White’s request to await trial on house arrest rejected:

    Thomas White’s request to await his trial under house arrest has been denied.

    As you know, Thomas White was the 13-year-old who brought an assault rifle to Memorial Middle School in Joplin, MO. He fired a round into the ceiling and is accused of pointing the gun at his principal and pulling the trigger, but the gun jammed after the first shot.

    His attorneys had requested that he await trial on house arrest to meet his educational needs that could not be met in prison.

    White has been charged as an adult, but the State Supreme Court will hold a hearing in late February to determine if White should be sent back to juvenile court.

    White’s Lawyers are also trying to get his bond lowered, which is currently at $250K.

    If all the people who think White should be tried as a juvenile got together, I’m sure they could scrape up his bond but for some reason, they’re just not doing that.

  • Thomas White’s attorney seeks house arrest

    Thomas White’s attorney seeks house arrest

    House arrest sought for teen accused in school-gun incident:

    The public defender for Thomas White is seeking to have his client put under house arrest while he awaits trial. White is the 14-year-old gunman who fired a round from an assault rifle into the ceiling of Memorial Middle School in Joplin, Missouri and allegedly tried to shoot his principal but the gun jammed. Let’s hear from White’s attorney, James Egan…

    “Under our system, the purpose of bail is to ensure the defendant show up for trial,” Egan wrote in his motion. “Here, (defendant) is a 14-year-old boy with no means of transportation. Further, any inappropriate actions of (defendant) during the period he is on house arrest will certainly be used against him if this court grants the requested relief and there is another certification hearing. Moreover, (defendant) risks having the preliminary writ quashed if he flees the jurisdiction.”

    The motion also says the boy is entitled under state law to educational services that “cannot be adequately provided” while he is in jail.

    A 14-year-old may not have any means of transportation, but I’m sure his parents do. And as we’ve seen, at least one of his parents isn’t above breaking the law. If you remember, White’s father, Gregory White, was an ex-felon who was in possession of a firearm. Not only that, but we’ve already seen what Thomas White thinks of educational services. He fires bullets into them.

    It’s his attorney’s fault that he hasn’t gone to trial yet, anyway. His attorneys filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court back in September, trying to get the case sent back to juvenile court. The state Supreme Court won’t even hear the appeal until February 28, 2008.

    Besides, it’s not like he’s been charged with jaywalking. He’s being charged with first-degree assault, among other charges. House arrest would be a joke.

  • Cleveland cop suspended over death picture

    Cleveland cop suspended over death picture

    Officer who took Coon photo suspended:

    The Cleveland police officer who took the cellphone picture of Asa Coon after he committed suicide has been suspended for 8 days as of Monday.

    Patrolman Walter Emerick, a 12-year veteran, admitted shooting the photo of Asa Coon, 14, in a hearing with Police Chief Michael McGrath, said Safety Director Martin Flask. Coon committed suicide after shooting four others in SuccessTech Academy Oct. 10.

    No word if that was without pay or not.

  • Mitchell Johnson Wal-Mart threat just a rumor

    Mitchell Johnson Wal-Mart threat just a rumor

    Wal-Mart says holiday crowds, not threats, reason for police:

    I received an e-mail the other day from a nice reader from Fayetteville, Arkansas who said she received an e-mail stating that Wal-Mart was increasing its security because Jonesboro gunman Mitchell Johnson was planning an attack on the store. It was alleged in the e-mail that Johnson was recently fired from there and that his girlfriend left him.

    I said to the reader that I doubt Johnson was planning anything because after his New Years Day arrest on weapons charges I would think that local law enforcement and the feds are probably keeping a close eye on him.

    Now, this article confirms it that Wally World just requested additional security for the Christmas season.

    Police Sgt. Matt Partain confirmed that Johnson was formerly employed by the store but was terminated months ago. He further confirmed that Johnson’s girlfriend is a current Wal-Mart employee.

    “Yes his girlfriend works there, but we haven’t even seen him there since we’ve been there,” he said.

    Partain said Johnson is not believed to have had any involvement in a recent bomb threat at the Wal-Mart in north Fayetteville.

    So the people of Fayetteville have nothing to fear at Wal-Mart except the usual, other Wal-Mart shoppers.

  • Asa Coon was sober

    Asa Coon was sober

    SuccessTech shooter was sober during attack:

    According to Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office, Asa Coon had no drugs or alcohol when he went on his shooting spree at SuccessTech Academy in Cleveland, Ohio.

    I didn’t know this was an issue, since I’ve never heard of a drunk or stoned school shooter.