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Monday, April 21, 2008
News Why do kids hate school so much they want to blow it up?
Posted By Cheris Hodges on Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 9:33 AM
This morning as I watched the local news, I was floored by a Chesterfield County teenager's plot to blow up his high school. As a native of South Carolina, I'm familar with this county and this school. I've always been the type of person to say "why are these people on TV saying stuff like this doesn't happen here?"
Now, I can understand why they say things like that. Bomb plots don't usually happen in rural South Carolina. Chesterfield is the type of sleepy S.C. county that usually deals with kids hanging out at Hardee's after a Friday night football game, not some confused kid willing to kill a bunch of high school students.
According to The Charlotte Observer:
"The parents of 18-year-old Ryan Shallenberger became concerned after 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate were delivered to their house Saturday, authorities said. They then found a lengthy journal with maps and details of a planned attack the teen called “Columbine III.” That’s when they called police.The senior at Chesterfield High School, about 65 miles southeast of Charlotte, was arrested and jailed, charged with making bomb threats. Authorities say more charges could come today.Classes are scheduled as usual this morning at Chesterfield High. Authorities said bomb-sniffing dogs have been used overnight at the school, but there are no reports of any explosive devices being found."
Kudos to the parents for doing something before the plan of attack was put into action. Here's more proof that one of the biggest security threats to America isn't just militant outsiders, but our own homegrown terrorists.
I'm sure this kid thinks his life sucks, but that doesn't give him the right to try and take other people down with him. I hope he gets counseling or something.
The Observer says, "Officers believe Shallenberger planned to act alone - all the journal entries and descriptions of plans are written with singular pronouns. Still, investigators interviewed friends and casual acquaintances of the teen, sending tremors through the town of 1,500 on Sunday, the nine-year anniversary of the Littleton, Colorado shootings that ended with 14 dead and 24 wounded. April 16 was the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, which left 33 dead.
“People are rattled,” Lear said, adding that fear was amplified because Shallenberger’s actions never hinted at something like this. “We never had a problem with him, as far as I know. He never even had any school discipline. He didn’t wear black clothing.”
As a precaution, officers took bomb-sniffing dogs through Chesterfield High School Saturday. Principal Scott Radkin said Sunday night he had communicated with the 60 members of his staff and the school district was making an automated phone call to parents. "
Hopefully, this event that almost was won't spawn any copy cats.
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