Bullet found at suburban middle school; mother goes berzerk

[proud2BlibKansan]

PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. -- Police were called to Mission Valley Middle School on Wednesday after a bullet was found at the building.

A voice mail left for parents of Mission Valley students said, "After students departed, a .22 caliber bullet was found in one of our hallways."

Parents received the call on Wednesday night from Shawnee Mission School District officials.

But the message wasn't enough for one mother who wished not to be identified.

"But I also think they should've gone more in detail for parents who didn't get the message possibly," she said.

The district has a complaint section on its Web site where the mother said the district should have posted information about the bullet being found in the hallway.

"Was there a gun?" the mother said. "Do you know? Neither do I. It's just a bullet today. Do I have a gun tomorrow because a kid got by with a bullet today."

KCTV5 contacted a district spokesperson who said it is standard procedure to record a voice mail to notify parents of an incident. The spokesperson said staff called the Prairie Village Police Department and officers are investigating the incident.

"I definitely want it on the news so parents can talk with their kids," the mother said. "What if there's a kid watching, thinking, 'I got by with this, I'll do more damage tomorrow.'"

Investigators said that after the district sent out the voice mail, a student contacted the district and told them he was using the bullet as a belt accessory. He realized he lost the bullet after he got home.

http://www.kctv5.com/news/22675186/detail.html

[hlthe2b]

1. So, will she get a "reassuring visit"....

from members of the NRA? What's wrong with her? We need MORE guns in school, not less. :sarcasm:

[GreenStormCloud]

2. So what's the big deal?

So they found a .22 cartridge.

OMG! Run in circles, panic, scream and shout. The cartridge is a magic talisman that radiates evil impluses. /sarcasm

Some people need to get a grip. Back in my day it would have been picked up and flipped into the trash - end of story. Or more likely a student would have found it, picked it up, kept it, and used it in his gun next time he (or she) went hunting or plinking.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

3. Back in your day

kids usually didn't carry guns into to schools and shoot students and teachers.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. +1

But I still say this hysterical mother needs to find something important to complain about.

[dysfunctional press]

23. even today it doesn't usually happen.

what's your point..?

[spiritual_gunfighter]

28. But it did happen today

Teacher killed in Tacoma, Washington school shooting

By Gabrielle Biondo

Originally published February 26, 2010 at 11:59 a.m., updated February 26, 2010 at 11:59 a.m.


A female teacher has reportedly been shot and killed outside an elementary school in Tacoma, Washington while authorities are investigating a second reported shooting nearby.

According to CNN and local Tacoma news stations, a Tacoma School District spokesman confirmed that the shooting occurred outside Birney Elementary School, at 1202 S. 76th St., Friday.

Initial reports indicate there were few, if any, kids on campus at the time of the shooting because it happened before school started for the day. No children were hurt.

According to reports, the female victim arrived at the school about 7:30 a.m. and was shot by a man who was waiting for her to arrive. Tacoma police said the man was an acquaintance of the woman.

http://www.globe-democrat.com/news/2010/feb/26/teacher-killed-tacoma-washington-school-shooting/

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

32. That's a case of domestic violence from an adult.

Not a case of a kid bringing a gun to school.

:shrug:

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

36. No it didn't.

[Codeine]

38. That had nothing to do with kids or school.

Some poor lady arrived at her work and got killed by (presumably) an ex. Tragic, but hardly the same issue.

[proteus_lives]

77. Non-related. Have a point?

[spiritual_gunfighter]

82. self delete

would have gotten deleted anyway.

[proteus_lives]

83. I guess you don't.

[Obamanaut]

53. They found a bullet. Was there a fear some kid might pick it up and

fling it at someone, causing grievous harm?

What do they do about sharpened pencils? One can be stabbed with such an object.

[Posteritatis]

54. It looked like slippery-slope silliness

"If someone can bring in a bullet, that means someone can bring in a gun!" or something like was the parent's line of freaking-out.

If that reasoning were true, pencils would lead to me carrying full-sized sarissas around in high school. It'd be awesome.

(Of course, they'd have to widen the doors somewhat...)

[Obamanaut]

55. I had to look up sarissa. What an awesome weapon. nt

[Posteritatis]

62. Fun to (laughingly attempt to) handle too!

Got to play with a replica one that was "only" about three and a half meters long; it felt like the most dangerous pool noodle ever built. I shudder to think of the practice necessary to get one solid enough to use at full length under control.

[dysfunctional press]

74. number nine of the top ten military achievements that changed the world...

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-greatest-military-achievements-that-changed-the-face-of-war.php



The sarissa, also know as a lance or pike, was a gigantic 13-21 foot long double pointed pike used in the Macedonian phalanx infantry formation as early as 3,000 BC. Its great length was an asset against hoplites and other soldiers bearing smaller weapons, because they had to get past the sarissa to engage the phalangites. The tight formation of the phalanx created a “wall of pikes”, and the pike was sufficiently long that there were fully five rows of pikes in front of the front rank of men—even if an enemy got past the first row, there were still four more to stop him. The Macedonian phalanx was considered all but invulnerable from the front, except against another such phalanx; the only way it was ever generally defeated was by breaking its formation or outflanking it.

The invention of the sarissa is credited to Philip, father of the celebrated Macedonian king, Alexander the Great. However, it was Alexander who successfully employed this new weapons system across Asia, conquering Egypt, Persia and the Pauravas (northwest India), victorious all the way. The sarissa-wielding phalanxes were vital in every battle to include the pivotal battle of Gaugamela where the Persian king’s brutal scythe chariots were utterly destroyed by the phalanx. The sarissa remained a primary weapon system for every Hellenistic army until the rise of Rome.

the rest of the top ten can be viewed at the link.

[NeedleCast]

61. They still don't

In fact, it is extremely unusual.

[Jennicut]

6. It depends on the area. I live in a small CT town but there is not a ton of hunting going

on around here. And we live close to Waterbury, which I assure you, would use guns for gangs and drugs not hunting.

[michreject]

8. I pull bullets out of my pocket all the time

I go to pay for something and pull out the change and 22's are mixed in with the coins. Nobody has ever said anything.

[Marr]

51. No kidding.

People have a sick child fixation in this country. From padded playgrounds to anti-bacterial sprays, they're obsessively fawning over a generation that would probably prefer to learn things the hard (i.e. fun) way.

[Shell Beau]

57. Seeing as how shooting up schools seems to be the thing to do

these days, I can see why she is concerned.

[Warren DeMontague]

76. Sure, It's not like it was something ***serious***, like an advil or a bag of weed.

In which case, I guarantee you, all hell would break loose.

[Chemisse]

5. That's happened at my school a couple of times

It is disturbing, but usually turns out to be relatively innocent. A lot of the kids here are hunters, and pretty matter of fact about guns. So carelessness can easily lead to a bullet found in the school. Still, they get in huge trouble for it.

Perhaps that women has very high anxiety and latched onto school shootings as something to freak out about.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. I hate it when I lose a fashion accessory like that

Is that a .50 caliber Browning M2 machinegun round in your pocket?

Or are you just glad to see me?

:hi:

I was going to suggest that the kid switch to plastic "snap-caps" instead of real bullets for his belt, but even inert plastic shaped like a bullet would probably fail a zero-tolerance policy.

[Codeine]

45. It would be characterized as

"a bullet specially designed to foil metal detectors." :rofl:

[kctim]

9. Fear fear fear

What a pathetic way to live.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. I grew up in this suburb.

Parents were crazy and overprotective then also.

[REP]

39. My husband's from Fairway and took a gun to school - he was on the rifle team

Fairway isn't that far from Perfect Village. This was in the early 80s, when my KC school had metal detectors and armed security guards!

[Codeine]

37. Fear is sustenance to the bored suburbanite.

Add their fat, spoiled children into the fear equation and it's like a fucking holiday dinner.

[slackmaster]

10. If that had happened in the UK, hilarity would have ensued

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/1013959.bullet_found_in_doorway/

[Mugu]

59. Good grief, that is pretty funny. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

75. LOL!

That reads like an Onion article. :D

[LeftinOH]

11. I recall that Civil War bullets, artillery shells from WWI and WWII were popular for show-and-tell

-I guess those days are over.

[Dappleganger]

12. Our son's high school history teacher gives away antique ammo

as rewards to students who want them. One of them must weight about 5 pounds and is shaped like a little torpedo. Should I call the school and freak out?

:sarcasm:

[proud2BlibKansan]

70. Yes

[HopeHoops]

13. The live rounds were a blast.

:hide:

[Throd]

15. In the 5th grade I brought in a dummy 35mm round from an A-10 Warthog

Everyone just thought it was really cool.

[deaniac21]

42. The A-10 was built as a platform for the GAU-8 Avenger

the ammunition is 30 X 173 MM


Just had to clear that up for you!

[Posteritatis]

49. I brought in a grenade once

Inert, of course, but I imagine I'd be executed for doing so today.

[TwilightGardener]

16. I agree with the mom. It IS a big deal. Being concerned about

ammo in a school is not "berzerk" or "hysterical", in this day and age. The school district needed to say more to parents than "hey, we found a bullet"--they needed to go on the news and state that an investigation was underway, and they should have notified parents that the source of the bullet was determined.

[Statistical]

17. An investigation?

No wonder why teachers in the classrooms don't have any money.

It is all being spent on investigations and press conferences.

[TwilightGardener]

18. Police investigation. How would that "steal" from teachers' pockets?

[Statistical]

19. ok money from the left pocket not the right one. thats much better.

[TwilightGardener]

21. ?? OK, let's not investigate how bullets got into a school, who the fuck cares

if someone has a gun in there? In fact, let's not investigate even if we do find a gun, in a locker or somewhere. I mean, that might cost the community, and then teachers might in theory get paid two cents less...:wtf:

edit to add: I know DU is very teacher-centric, but really...this is not a teacher issue AT ALL.

[Statistical]

22. Your right it is a waste of money issue.

The school found a bullet. Student explained to school it was hit and he dropped it.

Only GUNZZZZZZZ hysteria allowed this non-story to make it to the news.
Teachers and Police have a little more important things to do then placate people who jump at their own shadows.

[TwilightGardener]

24. Why are you making this a teacher issue? It's a parent-district issue.

And as a tax-paying parent, I'd like my tax money to go to a police officer looking into this incident until it's resolved. If I were an employee of the school (teacher or otherwise), I'd ALSO like to be reassured that no one is bringing in a gun. It's not gun "hysteria" to be concerned that gun ammo was found in a school.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

29. "I'd ALSO like to be reassured that no one is bringing in a gun"

And what actions might reassure you of this?
I'm afraid there is literally no way, short of having the TSA oversee school entry admission, to keep anything unwanted out of schools. If some dumbass wants to bring something dangerous to school, there is little obstacle to stop them. Go to any inner city middle or high school and you'll find at least a pair of kids dealing drugs, kids with cold/headache medicine, and dozens of kids with picket knives or some other childhood fascination device.

At most, the press release needed to mention that nothing else suspicious was found and wrap up a few loose ends.
An investigation here is literally worthless. What could it possibly find out? It's a .22lr rifle round.
The most diminutive and ubiquitous type of ammunition in america - often used by young shooters.

Being concerned and reacting irrationally are two different things.

[TwilightGardener]

33. There's nothing irrational about finding out why there's a bullet inside the school.

And the process of getting to the bottom of the incident will show kids that it's a major deal to bring that shit in.

[tammywammy]

40. But they did find out

A student called in and said it was an accessory to his belt and had fallen off. End of story, move on, no more investigation is necessary.

[TwilightGardener]

44. I'd let the police handle it. And I'd notify parents that the issue was resolved.

And I'd make sure every damn kid in that school knew that anyone bringing in such items would be suspended.

[Statistical]

58. We all know real mass shooters really care about suspension.

Suspension and 0 tolerance is a feel good policy.

You eliminate all the non-threats (which are 99.9% of incidents) and do absolutely nothing to stop the 0.1% which will hurt actually hurt people.

[TwilightGardener]

69. This is why kids should learn not to do dumb stuff like this--

and they should get punished when they do. Same as calling in a fake bomb threat, or vandalizing, or threatening to shoot someone. Unfortunately, even though it ends up being nothing 99% of the time, it still can't be ignored or blown off.

[proteus_lives]

78. Fell out some kid's backpack.

He was plinking away with .22 this weekend a loose round fell out his pack or pocket.

Bet ya $100.

[proud2BlibKansan]

71. Maybe because I live here

I think it's ridiculous. Falls under the 'get a life' category. :shrug:

[sufrommich]

20. What is your definition of "goes beserk"? I'm not seeing it. nt

[ctaylors6]

35. I'm not seeing it either. I have no problem with a parent asking about this.

I don't think there needs to be some full-scale lockdown of the school, but I think it'd be nice if they found out what happened.

A boy brought a few bullets to school at my son's school (middle school also). A student told a teacher, the teacher called the vice-principal, and the VP called the child's parents. I don't know what the explanation was, but I felt better knowing the school administration and the parents knew about it. I'd hate to find out later it was a very early warning sign of a troubled child that was ignored by school and parents.

[kctim]

25. This chick

is nothing more than a busybody whackjob who lives her life in fear and expects everybody else to live and fear as she does. She is no different than a so-called mother who fears muslims because "they are all terrorists."

"Was there a bomb?" the mother said. "Do you know? Neither do I. It's just a backpack today. Do I have a bomb tomorrow because a kid got by with a backpack today?"

People like her will never be happy until our children are all bubblewrapped drones afraid of their own shadows.

[-..__...]

26. "What if there's a kid watching, thinking,..

wow!!! What a great way to stir shit up and create a panic. Now I just need to score a bullet or two to leave laying around in the hallway".

[Toasterlad]

27. Exactly.

[proud2BlibKansan]

72. +1

[Edweird]

30. If it was a 'belt accessory', it likely wasn't real. It was most likely inert no matter what.

So, yes this does seem a bit overboard.

http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/Accessories/BeltsBuckles/Olive-Canvas-Bullet-Belt-262907.jsp

I mean, really.

http://img.hottopic.com/is/image/HotTopic/262907_hi?$270x406$

[comrade snarky]

31. I got pulled in by Disneyland security

For wearing something like that back in my more punk days.

I know, I know... Punk at Disneyland??!!?

There's a jail and everything down there. When you get a mugshot, the footprints they have you stand on are shaped like duck feet. Best Disney trip ever!

[slackmaster]

41. Were you busted by the Three Little Pigs by any chance?

[comrade snarky]

46. Nothing quite that cool unfortunately

Apparently they'd been looking for my friends and I for a couple of hours and were in a minor freak out because they were afraid we had a gun. They never lose track of "persons of interest" like that. If we'd been trying to intentionally avoid security I doubt we could have done that well.

The weirdest part was how many people who looked like cleaning staff or ride operators turned out to be security. It's the happiest secret police state on Earth!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

50. There's a reason for that.

http://www.davelandweb.com/yippies/

[comrade snarky]

52. Looking at that picture

I can almost smell the sweat and patchouli.

<shudder>

[Edweird]

67. I used to have a leather strap with inert 7.62X39's that went around my

engineer boots (steel toe, of course). Never had a problem at Disney world, tho.
I used to march to the beat of power door locks, lol....

[sweetloukillbot]

80. Haha - speaking of punk at Disneyland...

I had a friend in high school who had a Southern Death Cult tee-shirt with a skull with Mickey Mouse ears on the front. He wore it to Disneyland. The guards didn't say anything when we went in, but a little kid saw it, started crying and his mother complained. They made him leave the park until he changed shirts.

[Posteritatis]

47. A lot of schools treat drawings of guns the same as actual firearms lately

So I can see them freaking out over an inert or replica cartridge.

[Edweird]

68. Yeah, I don't get that. That's dumb as hell.

[Codeine]

34. Jesus christ lady.

It's a .22 round, not a fucking live grenade or an IED. WTF is with middle-class suburban hysteria?

Are soccer moms on 24-hour watch to find things about which to be unreasonably frightened?

[Posteritatis]

48. Yes. (nt)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

43. That reminds me...

http://www.theonion.com/content/radio_news/concerned_parents_demand

[npk]

56. No parent I know would take something like this litely

I don't see where the parent went berserk. Seems to me she was rightfully trying to ascertain more information about the circumstances around the incident. Hardly an overreaction considering the news as of late.

[etherealtruth]

60. Uh, yeah

I certainly would want more information.

[slackmaster]

63. I would have chewed out school authorities for making a mountain out of a mole hill

Yes, I am a parent.

[ctaylors6]

64. sounds like voicemail to parents simply said bullet found THEN student called in

to say it was from the belt. I can see how without the student's information, the parents would be left wondering what was going on.

I wouldn't go "berzerk" but I would want to know what was going on after I got a robocall that a bullet was at my kid's school. Especially if the message didn't have much more info than what the news article said: ""After students departed, a .22 caliber bullet was found in one of our hallways."

[rcrush]

65. This happened lots of times when I was a kid.

It was never a big deal.

[NeedleCast]

66. Hysterical America

There was a kid in my middle school who used to wear a .22 bullet on a little string necklace. We called him bullet. I thought it was cool. As far as I know, he never lead a massacre.

[Alias Dictus Tyrant]

73. Ninnies with a case of the vapours. The horror.

I had a bullet necklace in high school. No one cared. No one died.

[proteus_lives]

79. Pack of morons.

[lib2DaBone]

81. Because of people like this.. we have the TSA...

.. it's a .22 bullet for 'chris sakes.

In rural communities.. people can pull change out of their pocket and a .22 will be mixed in. How many Pickup trucks have a .22 in the ash tray?

This samne woman probably drives 70 mph and texts with both hands....

[GreenStormCloud]

84. The 60s called, they want their fashion accessories back.

I remember back in the late 60s and early 70s when bandoliers of fake bullets really were a fashion item. Fake plastic bullets were used because a bandolier, or belt, of real ones were too heavy. Mostly it was girls that wore them. Sometimes a belt with a few real ones were worn.





These below are fake, but real ones could be put in the loops.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bEBzZgZ5Tmc/SLXIdbSU_II/AAAAAAAAKGU/gANhHyTrfPw/s400/bullet+belt+hottopic.jpg