AOW1
Make sure to show confusion or close reading of the article. And you must write a one page response to the questions that are at the end of the article.
February 27, 2012
School Shooting in Ohio Leaves 1 Dead and 4 Wounded
By JESS BIDGOOD and SABRINA TAVERNISE
A teenager opened fire on a group of students in a high school cafeteria outside Cleveland around breakfast time on Monday, leaving one student dead and four others wounded, the authorities said.
The local police in Chardon, a town of 5,000, said they had apprehended a suspect on Monday afternoon, but Tim McKenna, the police chief, said they could not identify him publicly because he was a juvenile.
But the family of T. J. Lane, a sophomore who is being held as a suspect, made his identity public on Monday night when they issued a statement through a lawyer on WKYC-TV in Cleveland. In the statement, the Lane family said that they were devastated by the news and that they wanted “to extend their heartfelt and sincere condolences” to the victims and their families.
T. J. is a student at Lake Academy, an alternative high school for troubled students. “By all accounts, T. J. is a fairly quiet and a good kid,” said Robert N. Farinacci, the Lanes’ lawyer, who noted that T. J. had never been in trouble before.
Students at Chardon High School said they heard screams around 7:40 a.m., the time the authorities said the shooting took place, and described spreading panic as teachers locked down classrooms and students started sending text messages to friends. One teacher was said to have dragged a wounded student into his classroom for protection.
“I saw two girls running away screaming, and I heard an administrator come on saying we’re in lockdown,” said Brady Lawrence, 17, a senior who was in his English class, near the cafeteria, when the shooting began.
The classroom collapsed in confusion, he said in an interview, as students tried to figure out the gunman’s location. “We just didn’t know where he was,” he said. “They were saying he was loose, and we were scared.”
The authorities identified the dead student as Daniel Parmertor, a 16-year-old junior. They said two students were in critical condition, while two others appeared to be stable.
According to The Associated Press, Daniel, an aspiring computer repairman, was shot while waiting in the cafeteria for a bus for his daily 15-minute ride to a vocational center. “We are shocked by this senseless tragedy,” his family said in a statement. “Danny was a bright young boy who had a bright future ahead of him. The family is torn by this loss.”
Danny Komertz, a student, told The Associated Press that the gunman appeared to have focused on a group of students. “I looked up and this kid was pointing a gun about 10 feet away from me to a group of four kids sitting at a table,” he said.
Brady Lawrence, from the English class, said students tried to call their friends and families but the network was overloaded. He said Daniel Parmertor was his neighbor. “I feel so bad for the family,” Brady said. “They’re good people. I’m still kind of in shock. I really can’t believe he’s dead right now.”
WTAM-AM, a news radio station in Cleveland, bumped Rush Limbaugh’s program on Monday, giving the local host Mike Trivisonno seven hours to discuss the shootings. Mr. Trivisonno said callers were lined up all day, with listeners weighing in on the roles that bullying, social media, gun laws and parenting might have played in the shooting.
“It can happen anywhere, and does,” Mr. Trivisonno said on the air in response to a caller who wondered if a divide between the area’s rural and suburban populations might have contributed to the shootings. “It can happen anywhere.”
Jennifer Preston contributed reporting.
Do you think that this is something that could happen here at our school?
Do you think it would be easy for a student or an outsider to come onto campus with a weapon?
Do you know of anyone that has brought something illegal to school before (don’t tell me who they were)?
Write a one page response addressing these questions or any other issues that you would like to discuss about the topic.