Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
Student killed in shooting in Tenn. school cafeteria
Share:
by Barry Artiste | August 22, 2008 at 05:25 am
265 views | 12 Recommendations | 7 comments
Photos
Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor
Let us hope the back to school year, does not include another spate of killings, which seem to hit schools in the last few years.
(Photo Inset) By Duncan Mansfield
Associated Press Writer / August 21, 2008
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/08/22/6533151-ap.html
August 22, 2008
Student killed in shooting in Tenn. school cafeteria
By Duncan Mansfield,
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A student fatally shot a 15-year-old classmate Thursday at a high school, police said, as other teenagers watched in horror as the victim clutched his chest and fell to the floor.
Police identified the victim as Ryan McDonald, a sophomore who lived with his grandmother and had alopecia, a condition that left him bald since he was 3 and the target of endless teasing as a child.
"He tried to have a tough exterior, like a shield, to fit in," his uncle Roger McDonald said.
"He was a good kid ... who was dealt some bad cards in life."
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Crowd Power
Barry Artiste
Vancouver, Canada
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (7)
at 05:42 on August 22nd, 2008
Barry Artiste, and that's all we can do is hope. School districts are still under-reporting their violence and with State Education Department awareness. Therefore, any state education department's release of violent incident report statistics requires verification as a result of this practice. One can simply make a FOIL request to their local police department to find out in fact how many violent incidents were reported by one's local school district, then compare it to the statistics released.
at 05:50 on August 22nd, 2008
Thanks Rhonda, for the comments and flag., certainly makes one wonder, when 20 years ago, student shootings were relatively unheard of. Being dealt a bad hand at cards in life, certainly is not excuse to snuff the life of another, especially a child
at 06:09 on August 22nd, 2008
Barry, the sad reality is schools have become breeding grounds for violence. Cover-up by "school officials" and state education departments is a serious issue in the ongoing violence. I'm working on exposing it in New York State; believe me when I tell you, it is no easy task.
at 11:08 on August 22nd, 2008
Barry Artiste, I like this story. It's good stuff. When I was still in the profession, I found that the admin would downplay threats to teaching staff. For many, it's simply too much trouble to follow up on the early signs of violence either to staff or students. To be fair, sometimes it just comes out of the blue.
at 11:26 on August 22nd, 2008
This is awful - and makes me so sad. I can't understand why children will do this to each other. It's shocking.
at 13:12 on August 22nd, 2008
Barry Artiste, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 13:58 on August 22nd, 2008
Thanks everyone for your comments and flags, certainly recent law in Texas for teachers to carry handguns as well shows, this is not the society today we all dreamed of, when the past was so much better with some longing for the good old days. No answers why in recent years this is becoming a regular occurrence.