Post by pelicanguy on Apr 17, 2007 19:35:02 GMT -5
This happened roughly 20 miles from my home and in my town.
Tommy Stogner
Bogalusa High locked down after threatening note found
02:47 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 17, 2007
WWLTV.com
BOGALUSA, La. -- Parents withdrew hundreds of students from a high school and middle school here Tuesday amid reports that a man had been arrested for allegedly threatening a mass killing in a note that alluded to the murders at Virginia Tech University.
Jerry Payne, superintendent of the Bogalusa city schools, said police arrested a 53-year-old man who allegedly made the threat to Bogalusa High School and a private school in Franklinton, La., in a note he passed Tuesday morning to a student on his way to the private school.
Bogalusa's public high school and middle school went on immediate "lockdown" after the alleged threat was reported to school officials, Payne said.
"The note referred to what happened at Virginia Tech," he said. "It said something like, 'If you think that was bad, then you haven't seen anything yet."
Police officials did not immediately return calls to The Associated Press.
The private school, Bowling Green School in Franklinton, was not locked down and an employee who would not provide a name, said no students were being picked up, except for the usual medical and dental appointments.
Franklinton and Bogalusa are roughly 70 miles north of New Orleans in Washington Parish, which is bordered on the north and east by the Mississippi state line.
On Monday night, only hours after a Virginia Tech student allegedly gunned down 32 people before killing himself, Payne said he and other school officials had discussed the possibility of a copycat threat.
"Sure enough, it didn't take 24 hours to have a copycat incident," he said. "It's just crazy."
Although the schools remained locked down Tuesday afternoon, Payne said parents were allowed to pick up their children. Roughly half of around 740 students at the high school had been pulled out of school by noon, according to Payne.
"It's a major disruption," he said.
Bogalusa Middle School principal Bruce Thomas said a school resource officer called him around 9 a.m. Tuesday to report a "situation developing at the high school." The officer didn't mention a threat, but advised Thomas to confine students to their classrooms.
"The kids call it a lockdown. We call it a 'controlled lunch' so it doesn't sound quite as bad," Thomas said.
At Bogalusa Middle School, a fence around the school was closed as part of the school's "crisis action plan," Thomas said.
Parents began showing up to take their children home Tuesday morning. Only about 100 of 489 students were still in school by noon, he said.
"They came on their own," he said of parents. "It was not a recommendation by the schools."
Tommy Stogner
Bogalusa High locked down after threatening note found
02:47 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 17, 2007
WWLTV.com
BOGALUSA, La. -- Parents withdrew hundreds of students from a high school and middle school here Tuesday amid reports that a man had been arrested for allegedly threatening a mass killing in a note that alluded to the murders at Virginia Tech University.
Jerry Payne, superintendent of the Bogalusa city schools, said police arrested a 53-year-old man who allegedly made the threat to Bogalusa High School and a private school in Franklinton, La., in a note he passed Tuesday morning to a student on his way to the private school.
Bogalusa's public high school and middle school went on immediate "lockdown" after the alleged threat was reported to school officials, Payne said.
"The note referred to what happened at Virginia Tech," he said. "It said something like, 'If you think that was bad, then you haven't seen anything yet."
Police officials did not immediately return calls to The Associated Press.
The private school, Bowling Green School in Franklinton, was not locked down and an employee who would not provide a name, said no students were being picked up, except for the usual medical and dental appointments.
Franklinton and Bogalusa are roughly 70 miles north of New Orleans in Washington Parish, which is bordered on the north and east by the Mississippi state line.
On Monday night, only hours after a Virginia Tech student allegedly gunned down 32 people before killing himself, Payne said he and other school officials had discussed the possibility of a copycat threat.
"Sure enough, it didn't take 24 hours to have a copycat incident," he said. "It's just crazy."
Although the schools remained locked down Tuesday afternoon, Payne said parents were allowed to pick up their children. Roughly half of around 740 students at the high school had been pulled out of school by noon, according to Payne.
"It's a major disruption," he said.
Bogalusa Middle School principal Bruce Thomas said a school resource officer called him around 9 a.m. Tuesday to report a "situation developing at the high school." The officer didn't mention a threat, but advised Thomas to confine students to their classrooms.
"The kids call it a lockdown. We call it a 'controlled lunch' so it doesn't sound quite as bad," Thomas said.
At Bogalusa Middle School, a fence around the school was closed as part of the school's "crisis action plan," Thomas said.
Parents began showing up to take their children home Tuesday morning. Only about 100 of 489 students were still in school by noon, he said.
"They came on their own," he said of parents. "It was not a recommendation by the schools."