Janitor Brings Gun to School in Waterbury CT

JANITOR LEAVES A LOADED GUN IN A PRE-SCHOOL CLASSROOM 

A 25 yr old male janitor was arrested for bringing a gun to school and leaving it loaded in a pre-school classroom at Bucks Hill Elementary School.The janitor (a 3 year employee) worked in the school over the weekend replacing ceiling tiles and brought the loaded .38 caliber handgun into the school and left it in a holster on a counter near a classroom microwave. The gun was found by two-paraprofessionals who were preparing for class prior to their  3 and 4 year old students occupying the classroom. The paraprofessionals took control of the weapon and contacted the school vice president who then contacted the police. The janitor was arrested for the charges of first-degree reckless endangerment and failing to properly store a firearm.The weapon the janitor left haphazardly was legally registered. The janitor was placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the internal investigation and his court hearing. The janitor has since resigned his position. 

Points for Consideration:

• After Repair Work or Construction, Check Student Areas: Since we never know what has occurred in our classrooms over the weekend it is always prudent to check the area prior to students coming in, especially with young kids. Imagine if kids found the loaded gun instead of the adults....? If there is repair work or construction in a school / classroom, there maybe tools or construction materials that could injure someone.  
• What do you do if you find a Weapon ?: Teaching our school community, especially our students, what to do if they see or come upon a weapon is important. Having this discussion can save a life, especially with young children to immediately report it to an adult if they see a weapon (knife or gun) and to not to touch it.
• Review of Employee and Student Rules & Regulations: Often viewed as overkill, but administrative officials hiring employees (teachers, certified & non-certified personnel) and welcoming new students and parents aboard need to review rules & regulations that pertain to prohibited items and unacceptable behavior and conduct are important. Documentation of this occurring is also important in holding these folks accountable should they violate these rules & regulations. 
• Guns + Schools = Zero Tolerance: Registered Gun Owners are made well aware that bringing a gun near a school let alone INTO a school (loaded or not) is a serious legal offense. Taking a LOADED gun into a pre-school classroom and LEAVING it there within reach of children is irresponsible, ignorant, and life threatening.

An Unfortunate Incident Which Resulted In An Arrest & Loss of Employment Which Could Have Turned Out Much Worse Had Someone Been Hurt or Killed. 

SOME SEX OFFENDERS LIVE IN TENTS IN WOODS & WOODED LOTS NEAR OUR NEIGHBORHOODS

Out of sight = Out of mind. An unrecognized national phenomenon is that some sex offenders are living in tents along the outskirts of our communities.

Some sex offenders live in wooded areas, near parkways, behind businesses and office parks, and in wooded lots near our communities. (The above photo is an AP photo of a registered sex offender who lives in a wooded area in Georgia) The focus of this posting is to raise community awareness to this unseen safety concern to the security of our children, families, schools, and communities. As a consequence to their convictions, sex offenders face tough living restrictions as to where they can and cannot live in proximity to institutions where children are concentrated such as schools, day care centers, and public parks. Typically they are restricted from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, child-care facilities, and other areas where children gather. Some sex offenders live in the woods as a last resort while others live in wooded areas to remain undetected for nefarious reasons. In some cases law enforcement agencies know where these concentrations are at and probation / parole officers monitor these individuals, but not in all cases. Regardless of their reasons, the American public must be aware of this phenomenon to continue to ensure our children’s safety.

 

Some Examples:

•  Winsted CT: Robert Logan (34) a registered sex offender from Arkansas lived in a tent in the woods in Winsted, CT and used promises of candy, ice cream, and money to lure children into his tent (near an apartment complex) to abuse them. He lured a 7 year old girl into his tent and abused her.
• Waterbury CT: Damien Wells, a 36 yr old unregistered sex offender (federal conviction on child pornography) was found living in a tent in a wooded patch behind a pharmacy on a busy street (Wolcott Street). He was armed with two weapons and ammo.

• Wooded Sex Offender Camps: Florida (Orlando, Orange County), Georgia (Cobb County), California (Laguna Woods). Just conduct a Google Search.

 

 

Points for Discussion:

• PREPARE YOUR KIDS: Ensure we continue to educate children about “Stranger Danger”. Teaching them to avoid and ignore strangers who try to engage them, and to make noise if the stranger doesn’t get the hint.
• We used to teach our child to scream / yell “GET AWAY FROM ME STRANGER!!!”
• Role play these stranger danger scenarios (Help me look for my lost puppy, Your mom got hurt & you need to come with me to see her, I am lost can you help me) with your child to include their actions and responses.
• Remind them to maintain a distance from strangers especially in cars and run away screaming if encountered. The goal is to empower & prepare them, not to live in fear.
• INAPPROPRIATE TOUCHING: Continue to educate them to not allow anyone to include people (relatives, neighbors, coaches, teachers, etc.) they know to “touch their bodies”. Always teach your kids to tell you (NO MATTER WHAT) if this happens to them, it makes them brave and is not their fault it happened.
• PREDATORS ARE HUNTERS: Remember child sexual predators / sexual predators are skilled hunters who know how to find, target, manipulate, control, and intimidate their victims. They will often tell the victimized child they will "kill their mommy & daddy if they tell anyone".
• SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING: Children like to explore especially in the woods. Ensure you tell your children to tell you if they ever see grown-ups living in the woods or tents in areas where they travel or play to let you or a grown up know immediately.
• PROTECT THEIR INNOCENCE: Telling your children their are bad people in this world who do bad things does not take away their innocence, but can protect it.

AWARENESS OF WHAT BAD THINGS CAN HAPPEN IS OFTEN THE BEST MEANS OF PREVENTING THOSE BAD THINGS FROM HAPPENING IN THE FIRST PLACE.

 

Sophisticated & Protracted Threat Against Ohio High School

A VARIETY OF SOPHISTICATED THREATS (IEDs, BIO-CHEM) SENT VIA MULTIPLE

EMAILS WITH THE FBI NOT IMMEDIATELY ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE SOURCE...? 

For a two week period, Orange High School has received a number of cyber threats sent via email (first threat email on Nov 6) and to local television stations. Initially the school was shutdown for a few days and then re-opened and the threats continued. These protracted threats are serious and involve a variety of bomb threats including cell phone bombs, backpack bombs, and car bombs. The situation was further complicated by information put out on social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) were it can be difficult to distinguish between gossip, information, and fact. The school and local police have contacted the FBI who have collectively opened a joint (state & federal) investigation. These email originated threats at present have been unable to be exploited by the FBI due to the high tech software used by the unidentified perpetrators. The full resources of the FBI to include their Behavioral Science Unit are involved. The Orange School District and Pepper Pike Police Dept. held a joint presentation with the FBI at a school board meeting with numerous parents in attendance. The school & Pepper Pike PD formulated a security strategy to address the serious threats involving limitations on student cell phones, student backpacks, bio-chemical agents, and single door entrance with accompanying searches. There was an increased police presence at the school and bomb searches by bomb detection dogs. There was also restrictions on students not being able to leave class without an adult escort. The duration and active measures fluctuated based on the changing threats over the course of the two weeks.

FBI Briefing at the Orange District School Board:

http://www.schooltube.com/video/00d19a8b167c4869be06/11_21_11_FBI%20Briefing

The School posted a special page on their website as an information forum for students and parents. The credibility of the threat appears to be diminishing, but due to the seriousness of the threats the authorities are taking no chances. Since the emails are considered evidence in the federal investigation, the contents cannot be directly released to the parents.  

While we hope this is a hoax or veiled threat resulting in a future arrest, this ongoing incident shows how unprepared our educational institutions are with no federal strategy towards school preparedness. Imagine if any one of these threats actually occurred, how would we be looking at this differently?

Kid’s Report School Bus Driver Who Is Driving Erratically Due to High BAC.

SEE SOMETHING, HEAR SOMETHING = SAY / DO SOMETHING: Kid’s Report School Bus Driver Who Is Driving Erratically Due to High Blood Alcohol Level.   

WESTAMPTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- A female bus driver in NJ was arrested on Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charges after the school children she was taking home called their parents to complain about her driving. Nervous students contacted their parents after Carole Crockett allegedly was seen falling asleep behind the wheel and swerving the bus she was driving in Westampton Township. The parents called 911, and police caught up with the bus at Holly Hills School, while she was trying to pick up more students. The 46 year old bus driver’s blood alcohol level was found to be .25 percent -- more than three times the legal limit of .08 percent. She faces 25 counts of driving under the influence with a minor and child endangerment. Bail was set at $10,000 for the disorderly conduct offense. Superior Court judge Michael Haas set bail on the endangering charges at $75,000. The driver was released after posting bail and her next court date is Nov. 17.

Points For Discussion:

• These students should be praised for their intelligent and morally responsible act of calling their parents when they saw something wrong and dangerous to themselves and others.
• One Critique in An Effort To Be Even More Prepared In The Future. Teach children to contact 911 FIRST when there is danger, an immediate serious safety threat, or an injury and THEN call their parents. Activating 911 first can save lives if their is an imminent safety threat or medical injury.
• Make a public example of these students for doing the right thing and protecting the safety and security of each other. Recognize them at a school function, PTO meeting, and have a local news article to be written about them.
• Energize the community to always OBSERVE school bus driving performance as they go about their day and to REPORT if they see a distracted school or unsafe (swerving, going thru a traffic light, etc.) bus driver.
• Positive Use of a Student's Cell Phone / Electronic Device: I am not a fan of allowing students to visibly display or liberally use a cell phone /iPhone during the school day
  (topic of a future post), but this is exactly why students should have the means to communicate if things are unsafe or they need help at anytime. 

EVERYONE (Students, Teachers, Parents, Administration, Workers, Delivery personnel, neighbors, citizens) all have a ongoing role in school preparedness. These student's got it right and prevented disaster.

Westhill HS Students Arrested After Setting Off Homemade Explosives (June 2011)

Response to Student Homemade ChemBombs in Maryland 2008

STUDENTS WILL ON OCCASION WILL BRING

HOMEMADE EXPLOSIVE DEVICES TO SCHOOL

On July 2011, in Stamford, Connecticut, two city high school students face felony charges after setting off two small homemade bombs containing household chemicals on a friday morning at Westhill High School. A Westhill employee told police he would seek medical attention after inhaling fumes from one of the exploded devices, which were set off in trash bins. No other injuries were reported.

 

The bombs, contained in plastic bottles, produced loud explosions around 9:45 a.m. in two cafeterias at the Roxbury Road high school, said Stamford Police Sgt. Joseph Kennedy. The noise from the device caused "sheer panic" in the cafeteria, where a school resource police officer was posted.

 

The devices did not cause a fire, but one trash bin began smoking in the Raynor cafeteria, Kennedy said. An unidentified teacher or administrator went to the trash bin and inhaled chemical fumes and planned to seek medical attention. The exact contents of the homemade chemical bombs were unknown, but Kennedy said the two students filled plastic bottles with household cleaning solutions and mixed them with aluminum foil to cause a chemical reaction. The chemical reaction generate enough overpressure to cause the plastic containers to explode and release chemical liquid and vapors nearby.

 

Police officers and school administrators used surveillance video footage to identify the two 16-year-olds who set off the devices. They were arrested about 45 minutes after the explosions, Kennedy said. The students were charged with felony counts of second-degree assault, risk of injury to a minor, first-degree reckless endangerment and manufacturing bombs. They are being held at the juvenile detention facility at Bridgeport. Their names are being withheld because they are juveniles.

 

Kennedy said it is unclear whether the 16-year-olds were involved in a Wednesday incident at Westhill in which students threw water balloons filled with bleach at each other. School officials wouldn't disclose how the students will be disciplined. "Unfortunately, student privacy laws don't allow me to share the specific details of the disciplinary actions that will be taken," said Sarah Arnold, a spokeswoman for the district. "But the administration is going to pursue the maximum penalties."

 

According to the district's student behavior policy, students in possession of "explosive materials in school, or ignition of any flammable material in school" can be considered for removal from class, in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension and expulsion. Shannon O'Connor, a 16-year-old junior at Westhill, said she was sitting in the cafeteria several feet from the trash bin when one of the teens threw the small homemade device into it. The loud explosion startled everyone in the cafeteria, but the panic quickly subsided. "Everyone just screamed and jumped," she said Friday afternoon. "It scared me and I wasn't even near it."

Points for Consideration:

• It is a fact of life that teenagers left unsupervised and armed with a little information will try or experiment with chemicals and incendiary devices creating dangerous situations. The phrase "...it is all fun and games until someone loses an eye!" becomes deadly serious when kids can be injured. Many things that start out as a prank or something that seems cool turn out deadly and legally serious for the adolescent participants.
• Taken to a nefarious extreme, the Columbine incident was planned as a large two phased bombing attack to be followed by a shooting spree to kill the remaining survivors. Bombs (in duffel bags) were placed in the cafeteria during the busiest lunch period, but failed to detonate.
• Google search how to make a homemade device and you will be taken to YouTube where you can watch short films that will show you how. What is more disconcerting is to watch those short films made by kids who are demonstrating how to do this or that and even the film footage is an accident waiting to happen. Young kids playing with mixing interactive chemicals without any idea of the danger at close range.
• Parents / Guardians, Teachers, and students need to be tuned to that special frequency that if they "see something or hear something, they need to say something" to an authority figure so immediate action can be taken.
• The proper placement of cameras can be invaluable in finding out who was involved in an incident and what actually occurred.
• The reaction of students, school workers, and faculty to an explosion is often overlooked to include the unintended response (heart attack, anxiety attack, asthma attack, etc.) can turn a prank into a more serious affair (serious injury or death).

CHEMISTRY OUTSIDE  OF CHEMISTRY CLASS IS DANGEROUS

for STUDENTS



 

Mexican Cartels Recruiting American Children Part II - Elisabeth Mandala

Elisabeth Mandala, the Sugar Land high school senior found beaten to death in Mexico. Her body was returned to the United States with her family from Monterrey. Her body was found with two slain men in a truck in Mexico, near Monterrey. Friends described her earlier this week as a sweet and caring young woman, who loved to ride horses and participated in soccer and clubs at school. But she appeared to be living a double life. After her disappearance, her mother told police her daughter had wanted to be a coyote, a person who smuggles illegal immigrants into the U.S.


It's not known what Mandala's relationship was to the two men in the car. Police have said all three were beaten to death and at least one of the men had a criminal record, although they can't say what it was. On Thursday, the Mexican Office of the General Prosecutor said it had no information to provide on the case.

“She was the kind of person that you couldn't help but like, get along with or laugh with,” wrote school friend Amber Lucas, who said she had known Elisabeth since elementary school. “Elisabeth was an amazing friend, always there for people. She would do anything for a friend that needed her.” Ana Mandic, who has known Elisabeth since fourth grade, described her as a fun, conversational jokester. “She wasn't, at least I figured, the type to really hide anything,” Mandic said.

DRUG CARTELS AND GANGS EXPLOIT OUR CHILDREN (LIKE ELISABETH) BY ENTICING THEM WITH THE PROMISE OF EASY MONEY, A FALSE SENSE OFSECURITY, AND EVEN BEING LIKE A FAMILY.  

Mexican Cartels Recruiting American High School Students Part I

“Mexican Cartels have corrupted nearly an entire generation of youth living in Northern Mexico and they seek to corrupt our youth as well to further their smuggling operations,” said Steven C. McCraw, DPS Director. “The Mexican Cartels value American (Texas) teenagers for their ability to serve as expendable labor in many different roles and they have unlimited resources to recruit our children.”

Here is a warning for parents about a disturbing new trend. Mexican Drug cartels are seeking younger and younger recruits, and they're finding them in American schools, at present in Texas. Six of the seven Mexican cartels have established command and control networks in Texas. The link between Mexican Drug Cartels and gangs which help promote and sell drugs is apparent. There are thousands of potential candidates for cartel recruitment in Houston area schools. They include kids who are U.S. citizens, speak Spanish and can blend in on both sides of the border. The DPS says parents should pay attention to who their kids are hanging out with since recruiters may not be who you might think. "The people recruiting them may not be much older, maybe a 16 or 17-year-old, but they're tracking them down, talking to them, telling them how glamorous it is to deal and traffic drugs," said Commander Steen.

A couple of incidents within the last 30 days prompted the warning, but the increased threat began a few years ago. Here are some examples:

• Elisabeth Mandala (an American 18 yr old) left Kempner High School in Sugar Land for Mexico. She wound up beaten to death in a pick up truck along with two men carrying fake identification. It's believed the violent drug cartels recruited Mandala to smuggle undocumented immigrants across the border.
• Just last week in a border county officers caught a 12-year-old American boy driving a stolen pick up truck with more than 800 pounds of marijuana.
• Last month two Texas teens were lured to Mexico where they were kidnapped, beaten, ransomed and released in a remote area along the Rio Grande River.
• Within the past year, more than 25 juveniles have been arrested for drug trafficking in one Texas border county alone.

"The cartel influence is here," said Duane Steen, regional commander for the Texas Department of Public Safety. The DPS is warning parents across the state that children are at risk of being seduced by the cartels that seem to be stepping up their game. "Sometimes this may be delivering drugs. It may be crossing drugs over from Mexico or involvement in some of the other violent activities," said Steen.

"Recruiting is easy for such a vulnerable population," said Kim Ogg, the former gang task force director for the city of Houston. Ogg suspects the cartels are recruiting through gangs. "Some see it (the gang) as their family. Some are attracted to the money, drugs, guns, women, and others are attracted because they have family members in gangs and it seems normal," said Ogg. What the cartels won't tell recruits is how it all could end with jail, injury or death.

As the Hispanic and Latino demographic in America and our schools increase, we must remain vigilant against the impact of Mexican and Latin American cartels and groups, drugs and gangs in our communities, schools, and population. All Drug Cartels from Mexico or anywhere else are a national security problem and threaten the safety and security of our schools as well. We must protect our children.


SIMILAR TO MUSLIM EXTREMIST GROUPS THE LEVEL OF INDISCRIMINATE AND TARGETED VIOLENCE (Beheading, Public Burnings, Body Parts Publicly Displayed, Families Slaughtered, etc.) FROM DRUG CARTELS IS DIFFICULT FOR THE AVERAGE AMERICAN CITIZEN TO COMPREHEND.