TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: school shooting

  • Wrongful death suit in Red Lake?

    Wrongful death suit in Red Lake?

    Mother of Jeff Weise seeks to be appointed trustee:

    The mother of Red Lake school gunman Jeff Weise has asked to be appointed as trustee for her son’s next of kin – a move that could be a precursor to a wrongful-death suit.

    According to the article, being appointed trustee would also allow access to information such as medical records or investigative reports.

    For those of you who may not remember the circumstances regarding Jeff Weise’s mother…

    Joanne Weise is still recovering from a brain injury suffered 6 1/2 years ago when she survived a traffic accident that killed the driver of the car she was in.

    Now it’s just speculation at this point, but if she is going to file a wrongful death I wonder who she could possibly sue. Has anyone seen Jack Thompson in the Minnesota area?

  • Red Lake families file motion to attend trial

    Red Lake families file motion to attend trial

    Red Lake victims’ families seek access to Louis Jourdain’s trial:

    Families of Red Lake school shooting victims filed a motion in federal court Wednesday seeking access to the trial of a juvenile arrested in the case, according to sources familiar with the case.

    The government has filed a similar motion seeking to allow the families into the trial, one of the sources said.

    So hopefully, the victims’ families will be able to attend. And the media will be shut out.

  • Campbell County Victims Update

    Campbell County Victims Update

    School shooting victim’s home burglarized:

    How bad does this suck? On the day assistant principal, Jim Pierce was shot by Ken Bartley Jr. that night his house was broken into and an ATV, a rifle, an air compressor, and several tools were stolen.

    “We have several leads; the detectives have worked extensively ever since that happened, fingerprinted the residence and tracked down many leads,” said Campbell County Sheriff Ron McClellan.

    There’s a special place in hell for thieves like that.

    Campbell Co. principal released from hospital:

    At least we have some better news here. Principal Gary Seale was released from University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.

  • Bartley to undergo psych exam

    Bartley to undergo psych exam

    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.

  • Bartley hearing delayed

    Bartley hearing delayed

    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.

  • Intent

    Intent

    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.

  • Victims’ families shut out of Jourdain trial

    Victims’ families shut out of Jourdain trial

    Shut out of trial, families frustrated:

    I am no longer torn on the decision to keep the trial of accused Red Lake accomplice Louis Jourdain closed to the public. Yes, he is a minor. No, the media does not have the right to be in on every little thing. However, I do believe the victims’ families of the Red Lake shootings should be entitled to attend the proceedings.

    A day after a federal judge ruled court proceedings for the only person charged in the case will remain closed to the public, the father of one victim said he and other families have hired an attorney to seek access. A victims’ rights group says getting answers is an important step in the healing process.

    “If nobody is going to go into the courtroom, we will all have unanswered questions,” said Al Thunder, a cultural coordinator and Red Lake tribal courts judge, whose grandson Cody Thunder was one of seven people injured in the March 21 shootings. “All the ruling is going to bring is frustration.”

    “We have never had access to any evidence gathered,” said Francis Brun, a retired tribal administrator and the father of Derrick Brun, a security guard slain at the high school. “I would like to know what exactly happened and whether people could have done something to prevent what happened.”

    Hopefully, they will allow the victims’ families to attend while keeping the vultures of the press at bay.

  • Bartley’s parents removed him from help program

    Bartley’s parents removed him from help program

    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 by 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.”

  • Jourdain trial to remain closed

    Jourdain trial to remain closed

    Judge rules Red Lake trial will stay closed: (Log in info)

    A federal judge ruled on Friday that the trial of Louis Jourdain, the teen being tried in connection with the Red Lake shootings, will remain closed. The AP and other local media had sued to open up the trial.

    Like I said before, I’m torn on this decision because, on one hand, I think a trial of this magnitude should be opened up to the public. On the other hand, Jourdain is a minor, and it galls me when the media thinks they have the God-given right to have to know everything.

  • Prior History

    Prior History

    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.