TEXAS POLICE RESPOND TO LOCKDOWN CALL AND SHOOT & KILL 15 YR OLD MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT WITH REPLICA PISTOL (PELLET GUN) WHO AIMED IT AT POLICE.

An unfortunate tragedy occurred when police responded to a Lockdown incident at Cummings Middle School in South Texas. The shooting happened during first period at the school in Brownsville, a city at Texas' southern tip just across the Mexican border. Responding officers were required to shoot an eighth grade student who was holding a weapon.

The fifteen year old student, Jaime Gonzalez, had assaulted a fellow student and pulled a black pistol (see picture above) triggering the Lockdown response by school authorities. Jaime had walked into a classroom and punched a boy in the nose for no apparent reason. Police did not know why he pulled out the weapon, but "we think it looks like this was a way to bring attention to himself."  Teachers were notified over the school intercom that the school was on lockdown. They locked classroom doors and turned off lights, and some frightened students dove under their desks. They could hear police charge down the hallway. Students described the panic they felt during the lockdown. Renee Almazon, 15, crouched with her teacher and classmates away from all windows and doors. "We all moved to the corner where they couldn't see us," she said. Her teacher kept telling the class, "This is a real thing,"

A recording of police radio traffic posted on TV website indicates that officers responding to the school believed the teen had a handgun. An officer is heard describing the teen's clothes and appearance, saying he's "holding a handgun, black in color." The officer also said that from the front door, he could see the boy in the school's main office.  The student continued to brandish the weapon while police arrived and police repeatedly instructed him to drop the weapon which he failed to comply. The police were required to shoot him for their safety and the safety of others. Officers shot the teen with assault rifles, the interim police chief said. Unfortunately the boy died and his weapon turned out to be a replica (see picture above) Glock pellet gun. About 20 minutes elapsed between police receiving a call about an armed student and shots being fired, according to police and student accounts. Authorities declined to share what the boy said before he was shot. Police Chief Rodriguez said the teen was pointing the weapon at officers and "had plenty of opportunities to lower the gun and listen to the officers' orders, and he didn't want to." The chief said his officers had every right to do what they did to protect themselves and other students even though there weren't many others in the hallway at the time. Police said officers fired three shots.

Parents Reaction: Jaime’s distraught parents demanded to know why police took lethal action against their son. "Why was so much excess force used on a minor?" the boy's father, Jaime Gonzalez Sr., asked The Associated Press outside the family's home Wednesday night. "Three shots. Why not one that would bring him down?"  Then she flipped through three close-up photos she took of bullet wounds in her son's body. "What happened was an injustice," she said angrily. "I know that my son wasn't perfect, but he was a great kid." Jaime had gunshot wounds on his shoulder and rib cage, and one in the back of his head. "That's the shot that bothers me the most," Jaime Gonzalez Sr. said to The Brownsville Herald.

The officers will be placed on leave, a normal procedure in this type of event. Students, who were bused to another high school after the incident to meet their parents, Administrators said the school would be closed Thursday but students would be able to attend classes at a new elementary school that isn't being used.

Superintendent Carl Montoya remembered Gonzalez as "a very positive young man… Just something unfortunately happened today that caused his behavior to go the way it went. So I don't know," he said Wednesday. Gonzalez Sr. said he had no idea where his son got the gun or why he brought it to school, adding: "We wouldn't give him a gift like that." 

The Associated Press and The Brownsville Herald contributed to this report.

Points For Discussion: 

• While this is certainly a tragedy, if ANYONE in a school commits a violent act and then brandishes a weapon (real or a realistic replica) causing a LOCKDOWN which then triggers an emergency law enforcement response (active shooter or hostage situation), and that individual refuses to put the weapon down when directed by police, they will be shot, and if shot, they stand a good chance of being killed.
• Many school shootings are over in the first few minutes before law enforcement arrives adding to the sense of urgency by law enforcement.
• Where did the boy get the replica pellet gun from? Why did he bring it to school?  Who else knew he had it?
• If this young man brought the replica gun to school to get attention, he did, and the replica gun put his own life at risk, and his failure to comply with armed officers cost him his own life.
• All students KNOW any weapon or something that looks like a weapon is FORBIDDEN to be brought into a school for this very reason.
• When Law Enforcement tells you to do something requiring them to draw a baton, taser, or firearm, YOU DO IT. You can ask questions later, complain, or make a complaint if you feel justified, but YOU COMPLY, especially in an emergency.
• After the fact, hindsight can appear to be 20/20 but unless YOU have ever responded in-extremis to a life threatening situation requiring the use of deadly force with even a rudimentary understanding of terminal ballistics, then you shouldn't second guess the police.
• This shooting like all shootings will be professionally investigated and the results and actions will be reviewed and disseminated.   

Final Comment: I feel sorry for the young loss of life (although understandable under these circumstances) and for the law enforcement professionals that were required to use deadly force because they faced a threat to the safety of the school community and their fellow officers. My prayers go out to his family and the law enforcement officials (and their families) who will bear the burden of what happened. God Bless.  

Irate Parent Confronting A Student in School Cafeteria

One month prior, the March 29th post titled Irate Parent & The Response of School Leadership. http://schoolpreparedness.blogspot.com/2011/04/irate-parents-response-of-school.html talked about a disruption at CT school in Thomaston. (I suggest you review that post for the recommended protocols).

Now on April 29th in East New Haven at Joseph Melillo Middle School (pictured above) a warrant has been sworn out for the arrest of a parent who allegedly (after receiving a cell phone call from her daughter) came to school and confronted another student in the cafeteria during the school. An excerpt from the story is as follows:     

        

INCIDENT: What precipitated the confrontation? According to East Haven PD an official stated:  “I guess there was a situation ... where there was food being thrown, and this girl called her mother from the cafeteria, saying that this other girl was throwing food at her.”  “I guess she’s had problems with her in the past.” According to police, “it appears the parent was ‘buzzed’ in the front door but did not follow the clearly printed rules,” which require visitors to report directly to the main office. The school has a security camera that shows who is at the front door, but does not have a camera that covers the area between the door and the office, he said. But he said the incident “happened so quickly,” and that as soon as the secretary realized that the woman hadn’t come to the office, she told Principal and they went looking for her. “Instead, she stormed into the cafe and confronted a female student about a situation regarding her daughter,” police said. The mother “went up to the other girl, and from what the other officer was telling me, got physical with her,” he said. “A male student tried to stop the parent and was pushed away by that parent,” police said.

East Haven Police Department Youth Detective Michael D’Amato said the investigating officer, will seek a warrant to charge the mother, whom police have not yet identified, with breach of peace. There may be other charges as well, he said.

What should the Irate Mother Have Done If She Was Concerned:  “Regardless of what the situation was between her daughter and the other girl, the parent had no right to take the situation into her own hands by entering the school and confronting anyone other than the principal,” police officials said. “She should have gone to the main office to the principal and handled it the proper way,” he said. 

 FINAL THOUGHTS: 

• Students and Parents need to know and be reminded of how to respond if they are being bothered by someone in school. Contacting a teacher, guidance counselor, housemaster or vice principal, or principal OR even the police are a multitude of options for a student or parent to use to solve a problem.
• Students and parents need to be reminded of the PROPER way to contact each other during the school day. 
• Parents and students calling each other and texting each other throughout the school day are an interruption to the educational process. It happens more often then people may think. This does not even address student to student calling and texts which is highly disruptive and can be used for nefarious purposes or have unintended consequences.
• Parent or student communication during the school day will be addressed in a future blog.           

A Peer Intervening Can Generate Positive Peer Pressure Against a Bully

A Student Demonstrating Moral Courage & Character Can Generate Positive Peer Pressure To Stop A Bully's Efforts.

MSNBC conducted an investigative report (see link) on teen behavior to bullying by generating a false story about boy's conducting physical fitness activities. With their parents observing by hidden camera, the video amply demonstrates 2 boys (actors) harassing another boy (an actor) who was extremely non-athletic. The verbal bullying and occasional physical contact (grabbing & slight pushing) clearly makes the unwitting boys participating uncomfortable about the continued bullying. As it escalated, one young man spoke up in support of the bullying victim. This boy speaking up then emboldened the other boys to become more supportive of the victim and put pressure on the bullies to stop.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/vp/41831581#41831581

We need to empower students to speak up individually and collectively to challenge bullying behavior and actions anywhere and anytime it occurs. Speak up and Report to an Adult is what we need to promote. 

A 65 yr old Teacher Stops a Fight Between a Student Couple, Collapses, and Dies

THE STRESS OF A SCHOOL INCDENT CAN TRIGGER A SECOND INCIDENT

On Friday morning (7:25 am) June 4 in Fitchburg, Mass; a 65-yr-old teacher was found unconscious without a pulse. The school nurse attempted to revive him but he was later pronounced dead at the local hospital. His collapse occurred after breaking up a fight between a boyfriend and a girlfriend in the hallway of Fitchburg HS. There was no indication that he was injured or struck while intervening in the student fight.

Commentary: While the exact cause of this teacher's death are unknown this incident raises some issues for consideration.

• Teachers health and welfare are important especially stress management. Teaching can be a stressful profession and establishing activities which can help one manage stress is important.
• Following a school incident, school leaders and everyone must be hyper-vigilant for a sceondary response to the first incident.
• School members may be in poor health.
• Anxiety or asthma attacks
• A student with defacto PTSD from violent family experiences from the country he immigrated
• Teachers need to consider what they will and should do when violence occurs in the school environment. The goal is to maintain safety at all times, but how does one do that:
• Girls can be just as violent as boys when they fight, sometimes can be more unpredictable.
• Prevention requires continual vigilance and strict policies as consequences for fighting. 
• What is the protocol in your school if someone is seriously injured or unconscious. Remember, It always starts with activating 911 by phone, not a call to the main office or the school nurse.
• Are there AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) at your school? How many? Where are they located? Who is trained to use them?
• If not how do you obtain funding to get them....?

Middle School Fight on School Bus Results in a Box Cutter Slashing

FIGHT ON SCHOOL BUS = 1 arrest, 3 suspensions, 1 injured (slashes to face & hand), and 1 school relocation

On March 17, 2010 in Waterbury, Connecticut a fight between two 14 yr old boys from North End Middle School on a school bus resulted in one boy slashing abother boy who started a fight with him. The boy who started the fight received seven stitiches to the face and six stitches to one of his hands.The fight stemmed from a previous dispute. Both boys were arrested and suspended from school. the boy with the box cutter is now placed in an "alternative education setting outside of the public schools. " A girl on the bus was also suspended for trying to hide the box cutter after the fight. (Source: Republican -American newspaper).

Points for Discussion:

• How aware are teachers and school staff (administrators, guidance counselors, security, secretaries, food service staff, etc) of student conflicts? Regardless of how insignificant a conflict between students appears or where it originates (outside of school), it can have an impact in the school environment or school activities. 
• Students carry weapons when they are afraid, feel threatened, plan to commit criminal activity, feel the need to imtimidate, mentally unstable, and plan to injure of kill others.
• How comfortable do students feel reporting problems or conflicts to the adults in your school building? This is critical to developing preventive or interventive measures to stop students from hurting one another or themselves. 
• Every member of the school staff and teachers needs to actively and openly promote that students need to immediately report threats of or acts of physical altercations, intimidation, bullying, or criminal activity. Countering the child-like or criminal mindset of "Stop Snitching" needs to be addressed as a dysfunctional philosophy which only protects criminals and bullies and has no place in the adult world they hope to join someday. This priming is essential to teaching them to advocate for themself and feel empowered vice be victims.
• Physical Altercations, Weapons, and Bullying (Intimidation) need to be addressed severely to send the message that this will not be tolerated in a school environment, school activities, or society at large.