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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| One Dead, 4 Hurt in Ohio School Shooting |
| 2012-02-28 |
| [An Nahar] A boy opened fire on classmates early Monday in a high school cafeteria in Ohio, killing one and wounding four before fleeing and being apprehended, police and witnesses said. Children were preparing for class at Chardon High School, outside Cleveland, when the boy, who was identified by classmates but described by police only as a "juvenile", started shooting with a handgun. A teacher chased the boy from the school as the small community was placed on lockdown and the victims were rushed to hospital, some by helicopter. The boy was locked away a short while later, turning himself in to bystanders, according to one police statement. "The sad news is that I know from my people downtown, we have one deceased student right now," Chardon police chief Tim McKenna told a presser, providing no more information about the injured. "One of the teachers happened to chase the shooting suspect out of the building," allowing officers to enter and secure the school to allow emergency personnel to treat the victims, he said. "With that done, we started searching the areas, and shortly thereafter, we came up with the suspect. He is in jug," McKenna said. "No name will be released because he hasn't been charged yet. He is a juvenile." Authorities put the school on lockdown after shots were fired at about 7:30 am (1230 GMT), just prior to the start of classes. Masked SWAT team members ringed Chardon High and conducted security sweeps, and pupils were quickly evacuated from the building and transported to a nearby elementary school to be released to parents. Police didn't identify the suspect but fellow classmates did and described the panic inside the cafeteria as they feared for their lives. "My friends were crawling on the floor, and one of my friends was bent over the table, and he was shot," one student, Nate, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "It was almost like a firecracker went off. I turned around and saw him standing with a gun and I saw him take a shot." Word of the tragedy sent parents rushing to the school, where they went through a protracted process of reuniting with their children. "We've had disaster drills in the past, thank God we put those into place because our teaching staff did an excellent job in a very horrible, traumatic experience this morning," said Chardon schools superintendent Joe Bergant. "Our prayers go out to the five victims and their families, first and foremost. "We feel so disheartened -- it's going to take me a moment to get back together here. We certainly hope those families know that they're in our thoughts and our prayers." A candlelight vigil service was scheduled for Tuesday night at a local church and grief counselors were on call to help the small-town Ohio community try to come to terms with the tragedy. "Pls pray for maimed Chardon HS students, their families, and their community; appears things under control now," Ohio Governor John Kasich said on Twitter. A parent, Jeannette Roth, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that her son, Joshua, a junior, was in the cafeteria when the shooting occurred. Joshua told her that students were eating breakfast when a boy "stood up and starting shooting, and then it was chaos." Another boy also described the chaotic situation. "I thought it was firecrackers at first, I wasn't sure," an unnamed pupil told MSNBC. "And then I saw a bunch of people running out. So I started running ... I heard someone yell behind me, 'Get down.' And I heard a bunch of shots fired behind me." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 Fred: I read that 3 of the kids have died so far, and if a 4th pegs, he will have reenacted Kent State. That, and pumped some ironic life into that Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2012-02-28 16:56 |
| #5 The child who did the shooting -- was he reenacting the Terminator? The Matrix? High Plains Drifter? -- isn't dead yet. He turned himself in and he'll likely go to a juvie center until he's 21. If tried as an adult he'll likely get out when he's 30 or 35. If he was dangling from a rope within 24 hours nobody'd have to pray after the next shooting because there wouldn't be one. |
| Posted by: Fred 2012-02-28 13:29 |
| #4 I still don't believe this actually happened. It must be a fabrication becuase, after all, isn't the scholl a gun fee zone? A shooting is impossible without a gun. |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2012-02-28 12:24 |
| #3 Governor Kasich instructs us to pray, but only AFTER children are slain at a school in which they could not pray. Students pray at school all the time, and all the more fervently for it not being a formal activity. "Dear God, please let Teacher call on someone else." "Dear God, I'll study next time if only I pass this test." "Ohmigod, it's going to explode!!!" Governor Kasich asked. In a twitter, no less, which presumes that those who received it were interested in what he had to say, rather than otherwise. He did not instruct. And as he is doing a much better job than his misbegotten predecessor, I have absolutely no complaints that he so chooses to share the sorrows of those who suffered in this tragedy. Separately, a second student has died. One hopes the kids who'd been bullying the killer reflect upon the theme of unexpected outcomes. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2012-02-28 09:57 |
| #2 ..but that was because it was to a Christian god. Uncertainty if any other deity had been an option given judicial fiats. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-02-28 08:48 |
| #1 “Please join me in praying for the students who’ve been injured in this horrible crime,” said Governor John R. Kasich in a statement after a shooting at Chardon High School in northeastern Ohio." Governor Kasich instructs us to pray, but only AFTER children are slain at a school in which they could not pray. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-02-28 07:52 |