TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: Thomas White

  • Malicious intent

    In our view: Memorial shooting:

    Over the years on this site, there has been a lot of debate about trying juveniles as adults for school shootings and the like. The latest debate rages over Memorial Middle School shooter Thomas White. To refresh your memory White brought his father’s MAC-90 assault rifle to school firing one round into the ceiling before the gun jammed preventing any bloodshed. A lot has been argued about his intent. I think this article should clear up his intent yet I’m sure the debate will still go on. This is from an editorial in the Joplin Globe which favors trying White as an adult but it reveals one fact that I didn’t know of until now…

    We will disagree in this case, though every instance must be looked at separately. If anyone doubts the intentions of this disturbed young man, they should re-examine testimony in last week’s hearing in which a juvenile detention officer reported a conversation between White and another boy on Oct. 10, the day after the incident.

    The boy remarked to White that he should have gone ahead and shot Principal Steven Gilbreth in the head.

    “I would have shot him in the head,” White reportedly replied, “but my f—— gun wouldn’t shoot.”

  • Thomas White to be tried as an adult

    Seventh-grader to stand trial as adult in middle school incident:

    Thomas White will be tried as an adult. The 13-year-old who fired a MAC-90 assault rifle inside of Memorial Middle School in Joplin, Missouri has been certified by Jasper County Circuit Court Judge William Crawford to stand trial as an adult.

    Crawford said he based his decision on the seriousness of the offense and the apparent violent nature of the boy’s actions.

    Juvenile officer April Foulkes testified Wednesday that she recommended certification of White to stand trial as an adult because if he was tried in juvenile court, he could be released within six months to a year. She said if he was prosecuted as an adult and convicted, White could be sentenced to a dual-jurisdiction program of the state and placed at a secure-care center in Montgomery City until he turns 18.

    Now let’s hear from the “He’s old enough to fire a gun but not old enough to go to prison” crowd…

    White’s lawyer, Chuck Lonardo, argued at the hearing that the boy is too young to be certified for trial as an adult. He said while treatment of the boy is needed, such treatment could best be accomplished by adjudicating him as a juvenile.

    He also said the court could order that White be kept in custody until he turned 18.

    Lonardo called clinical psychologist Kevin Whisman to testify about a psychological evaluation of the boy that he conducted after the incident. Whisman said in the weeks leading up to the shooting, White was feeling increased pressure to improve his grades, mostly coming from his father, who the boy said had threatened to beat him with a belt if his grades did not improve.

    As we know now the father is no prize either but suck it up, kid. My dad threatened me with a belt all the time and I was bullied too. But just because your dad and other kids at school are assclowns it’s no reason to kill other people. Now you’ve basically thrown your life away and you must be held responsible for your actions.

  • Like father like son

    Joplin middle-school student could stand trial as adult:

    Authorities in Joplin Missouri are seeking to have Thomas White tried as an adult. White is the 13-year-old who brought a MAC-90 assault weapon to Memorial Middle School and fired a round into the ceiling. The gun luckily jammed before any bloodshed could occur.

    In related news White’s father, Gregory has pleaded guilty today to firearm possession. Since the elder White is a convicted felon he is not permitted to own firearms. He’s looking at a maximum of 10 years and a possible $250,000 fine.

  • Mother says Joplin, Mo. shooter was bullied

    Mother says Joplin school shooter was bullied:

    The mother of Thomas White, the Memorial Middle School shooter, is claiming that her son was bullied…

    Norma White said that her son would come home with injuries, crying and begging not to be sent back to the school. The Associated Press is not naming the boy because of his age.

    “He came home once limping; he had been kicked by an older kid in the halls,” she said. “He came home once with a huge welt on his head from someone slamming his locker door on his head when they passed him in the hall. His hand was injured once too.”

    “He did suffer from bullying. He would come home crying, begging us not to send him back to school.”

    While I can definitely empathize it’s still no reason to bring a MAC-90 to school.

    Mrs. White is placing a lot of the blame on herself…

    Norma White did not directly blame the shooting on the bullying.

    But she said she now wishes she had done more to raise the problem with school officials.

    White spoke to her son’s teachers about the problem only a couple of times – during parent-teacher conferences – but never made a formal complaint to the administration. She said she advised her son to tell his teachers, but he often insisted nothing would be done about it.

    It also didn’t help that White had such easy access to the guns that White’s father wasn’t supposed to have anyway.

  • Missouri middle school shooter’s father faces charges

    Federal charge against father of boy in middle school shooting:

    It seems that father of Memorial Middle School shooter Thomas White is in a little bit of trouble over the whole incident. Is it because he basically allowed his son to take a rifle to school? That would make sense but no. It turns out that Gregory Lynn White, 44, was charged with being a felon in possession of a gun. Mr. White has two felony convictions of burglary in Florida and drug possession in California. The elder White is looking at a year in prison.

  • Joplin shooter identified

    Joplin student charged:

    The 13-year-old Memorial Middle School student who fired a rifle inside his school is Thomas White. He has been charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and making a terrorist threat.

    Police are saying that White did not have a fascination with Columbine or any other school shooting.

    How White obtained the gun…

    Police said Tuesday that the gun safe from which the boy obtained the assault rifle was located in his parents’ bedroom. Police seized the safe when they searched the home less than two hours after the shooting.

    “When we got there, the safe was locked,” Jones said. “The key, according to the mother, was kept in an ashtray somewhere in the house. When we got there, that ashtray was on the floor in front of the safe.”

    He said the ashtray contained about 30 keys, and police tried a number of them until they found one that opened the safe.

    It kind of defeats the purpose of a safe if the key is left out in the open.

    Still no word on a motive.

    And to make matters worse White has been charged with attempted escape after he tried to run away from staff as he was being led out of a cafeteria at the Jasper County Juvenile Detention Center.

    You’re not helping your case any son.