Principal: Bartley had chance to flee:
The other day, I posted about Campbell County High Assistant Principal Jim Pierce testifying in the juvenile status hearing for shooter Kenny Bartley. Now it’s Principal Gary Seale’s turn. According to Seale’s testimony, Bartley had an opportunity to flee the office rather than loading the gun and firing it.
Seale soon found himself distracted by a tardy student who showed up at the guard shack. Meanwhile, Bartley had arrived at Pierce’s office. Pierce again radioed Seale, who headed to Pierce’s office.
“Mr. Bruce walked in behind me,” Seale said. “Little Kenny was sitting in a chair. I asked him what was going on.”
Seale took a seat next to Bartley. Bruce stood near the door. Pierce was seated behind his desk.
“I just told Kenny, ‘I want what you have in your pocket,’ ” Pierce testified.
Bartley reached for his pocket. Seale did, too, but Bartley swatted his hand away and pulled out a gun, Seale testified.
“Kenny stood up with the gun, waving it at all of us,” Pierce said.
Bruce moved from the door to the back of the room, Seale said.
“I was like, ‘Little Kenny, is that real?’ ” Seale testified. “He was like, ‘I’ll show you. I don’t like you anyway.’ “
Seale and Pierce testified that Bartley then reached into his pocket, pulled out an ammunition clip, loaded the gun and opened fire. Seale was struck in the groin. Bruce was struck in the chest. Pierce was shot in the side and hand while wrestling Bartley to the floor.
As soon as Ken Bruce moved to the back of the room, Kenny Bartley could have just walked out the door. Instead, he chose to fire his gun, killing Bruce and wounding Seale and Pierce.
An officer also testified that drugs played a major role in the shooting.
Campbell County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Darrell Mongar testified that Bartley had 10 Xanax pills in his pocket. Xanax is a brand name for a prescription narcotic sedative.
Under questioning by defense attorney Mike Hatmaker, Mongar described Bartley’s reaction once handcuffed.
“He started crying,” Mongar said. “He stated that he had stolen his father’s gun and brought it to school to trade for Oxycontin (an opiate-based prescription painkiller). He said none of this would have happened if he hadn’t taken (two of) the Xanaxes.”
Considering he was trying to trade the gun for OxyContin, it’s safe to assume that the Xanax wasn’t prescribed to him.
If Bartley is tried as an adult, he’s looking at a minimum of 51 years. Since Bartley has a prior juvenile record, that swings things in favor of him being tried as an adult since rehabilitation obviously hasn’t worked.
A decision should be reached today.
