Newspaper Runs Gun Ad Next To Coverage Of Connecticut Shooting
Rock Hill Herald, a newspaper in South Carolina, printed a large ad for a big gun sale in Rock Hill on the same page as its coverage of Friday’s massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. The ad, which touted Christmas discounts on Smith & Wesson assault rifles, ran in Saturday’s edition on pages A4-A5:
The editor, Paul Osmundson, has issued an apology for the placement of the ad, noting “Please be assured that this was neither intentional nor the fault of the advertiser.” “Advertisements are usually placed days before the newspaper lands on your doorstep. In this case, the advertisement in question was placed Thursday morning. … Multiple editors worked on the page and should have noticed the problem. We all made a terrible mistake, and for that I apologize.” http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/15/1341551/newspaper-runs-gun-ad-next-to-coverage-of-connecticut-shooting/
By LAURA SUMMERS World Correspondent Published: 12/15/2012 2:16 AM Last Modified: 12/15/2012 5:12 AM
BARTLESVILLE - An 18-year-old Bartlesville High School student was arrested early Friday after police uncovered an alleged school-shooting massacre plot.
Sammie Eaglebear Chavez attempted to recruit students in the school cafeteria on Wednesday to help him carry out a massive school shooting and bombing plot, police allege in a court affidavit.
Police arrested Chavez at his home about 4:50 a.m. Friday, Bartlesville Police Capt. Jay Hastings said.
Prosecutors charged Chavez later Friday with planning, attempting or conspiring to perform an act of violence. Chavez was arraigned Friday afternoon and is in the Washington County Detention Center, with bail set at $1 million.
"Sammie tried to recruit other students to assist him with carrying out a plan to lure students into the school auditorium where he planned to begin shooting them after chaining the doors shut," Bartlesville Police Lt. Kevin Ickleberry wrote in the affidavit, which was filed in Washington County District Court.
"He also told them that if the students assisting him did not do what they were supposed to do, he would not hesitate to kill them and/or himself."
Police were notified of the plot Thursday afternoon by school administrators who had been told of the alleged plan by another student, the affidavit states. Chavez had told the students he would place bombs by the auditorium doors and that when police arrived, he would detonate them.
As police conducted their investigation, officers learned that Chavez had told a teacher last week that he'd bought a Colt .45-caliber gun and had spent the weekend shooting it, the affidavit says.
Chavez, who had been attempting to obtain a map or diagram of the high school facilities, had been using a school computer to search for information on a Marlin Model 99M - a .22-caliber rifle on a machine gun platform, the affidavit states.
Students had witnessed Chavez researching the Columbine High School massacre and reading online letters that were written in the aftermath of the April 1999 shooting, which killed 12 students and a teacher in Littleton, Colo., as well as the two shooters. A student also had witnessed Chavez looking at a website on how to build pipe bombs, the affidavit states.
Bartlesville Public Schools issued two alerts to parents on Friday, stating that administrators were informed of a rumor in which a current student "was planning to potentially harm students and staff at Bartlesville High School. School administrators took the information extremely seriously and informed the Bartlesville Police Department of the alleged plan."
Chavez was absent from classes on Thursday as school officials and police were investigating the rumor. Superintendent Gary Quinn applauded the work by school administrators in ensuring that students "were never in harm's way."
"I am proud of our administrative personnel who took what started out as an unsubstantiated rumor and, through their diligent work and exhaustive investigation, were able to determine there could be a future threat," Quinn said.
"We appreciate the excellent relationship we have with our local law enforcement and their swift response to the information we provided them. We will always put the safety of the students of the Bartlesville Public School District first and foremost."
[UPDATE:] Exam for Okla. man charged in school shooting plot
By Justin Juozapavicius Associated Press - March 27, 2013
TULSA, Okla. — A mental competency exam was ordered Wednesday for an 18-year-old man charged with plotting to shoot fellow students and set off bombs at Bartlesville High School last year after luring them into the school's auditorium.
Washington County District Judge Curtis DeLapp ordered the exam for Sammie Eaglebear Chavez, who police say tried to recruit classmates to help in his shooting plan and threatened to kill those who didn't join him. A spokeswoman at the county court clerk's office said arraignment is set for May.
Chavez was arrested on Dec. 14, hours before a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
Chavez's mother has said she doesn't believe her son would've carried out such an attack, and that he suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other ailments, and had been treated at mental health facilities.
She also told the Tulsa World in December that she received a text message from her son two days before his arrest, telling her that he wanted to "shoot up" the high school because he suspected some students were talking about him behind his back.
Messages seeking comment from Chavez's attorney and county prosecutors were not immediately returned Wednesday. A phone number for Chavez was not working.
Police said an assistant principal at the high school contacted them after a student said Chavez "tried to recruit other students to assist him with carrying out a plan to lure students into the school auditorium where he planned to begin shooting them after chaining the doors shut," an affidavit states.
The affidavit also said Chavez told students he wanted to place bombs by the doors and set them off when the police arrived, killing them as they entered the building.
Police later seized a rifle from his home in Bartlesville, a town located about 50 miles north of Tulsa.
Chavez is being held on $1 million bond in the Washington County Jail on a charge of conspiring to cause serious bodily harm or death to other students.
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