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Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 11:37:15 AM

Fightdirecto

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quote:

The "heroics" of a teacher and campus supervisor protected students Thursday morning after a student with a shotgun opened fire on a 16-year-old classmate in a Kern County high school classroom, police and sheriff's officials said.

The victim was in critical but stable condition Thursday afternoon. The boy's injuries are not considering life-threatening, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Department…

Although officials would not name the teacher who confronted the student, he was identified Thursday afternoon as Ryan Heber, his father told NBC4.

Taft police received a report of shots fired at Taft Union High School, about 120 miles north of Los Angeles, at about 9 a.m. Two Taft police units were at the school 60 seconds later, police said.

The gunman, who is in custody, entered a classroom on the second floor of a science building and shot one student. He then tried to fire on another student but missed.

About 30 students were in the classroom when the gunman entered about halfway through the session.

A TEACHER WHO "ENGAGED" THE GUNMAN IN CONVERSATION AFTER THE SHOOTING SUFFERED MINOR INJURIES WHEN HE WAS GRAZED BY A PELLET FROM THE 12-GAUGE SHOTGUN, according to the sheriff's department. THE TEACHER, JOINED BY A CAMPUS SUPERVISOR, CONVINCED THE STUDENT TO DROP THE WEAPON, said Sheriff Don Youngblood.

"If it weren't for this teacher and a quick response, we don't know," Youngblood said. "THEY TALKED HIM INTO PUTTING THE SHOTGUN DOWN."

The shooter - described as a 16-year-old male student who lives near the school - had "a dialogue" with the victim before Thursday morning, Youngblood said.

After shooting the student, the gunman shot at - but missed - a second student as the teacher attempted to "get students out of the classroom."

THE TEACHER "DISARMED" THE GUNMAN BEFORE OFFICERS TOOK HIM INTO CUSTODY, Youngblood said.

"He told the teacher, 'I don't want to shoot you,' and named the other person he wanted to shoot," Youngblood said. "He had intended targets -- there's no question."

The teacher's injury was described a graze wound to the head, caused by shotgun pellet. The teacher told investigators he was not certain how many rounds were fired.

"THE STUDENT WAS STILL ARMED WITH A SHOTGUN AT THE TIME," Youngblood said of the encounter. "THEY PROBABLY DISTRACTED HIM, ALLOWING STUDENTS TO GET OUT OF THE CLASSROOM. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HIS EXACT WORDS WERE, BUT THEY'RE BEING INTERVIEWED AT THIS POINT.

"THE HEROICS GO WITHOUT SAYING -- TO STAND THERE AND FACE SOMEONE WHO HAS A SHOTGUN AND HAS ALREADY SHOT A STUDENT, WE'RE VERY PROUD OF THE JOB THEY DID."

At a news conference late Thursday, the sheriff fielded questions about whether the shooter had been the victim of bullying.

"I'm not sure there was any bullying that occurred," Youngblood said. "I'm sure there's a perception that there was, and there may have been, but it's been some time."

Youngblood said the gunman had "numerous" shotgun shells in his pocket as the teacher and supervisor talked with him.

"We can't thank them enough for what they did today," said Taft Police Chief Ed Whiting. "They are really awesome people."…

The high school is in the Kern County community of Taft, a city of about 9,500 residents near a massive oil field at the southwestern edge of the Central Valley.

The Taft shooting came less than one month after a gunman killed 20 children and six women at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., then killed himself.

NBC News

quote:

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

- Wayne LaPierre, chief executive and spokesperson for the National Rifle Association (NRA), in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

Damn teacher – talking the shotgun out of the shooter’s hands rather than shooting him to death.

I wonder if Wayne LaPierre feels disappointed.

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RE: Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 11:52:03 AM

Hillwilliam

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Good thing the kid didn't want to shoot him or he would be a heroic dead teacher.
Point of that being that there are a hell of a lot of teachers that would take a bullet for their students. There are also a hell of a lot of people sitting on their ass at home collecting monthly checks bitching about "Damn overpaid union teachers"

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RE: Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 12:14:25 PM

tazzygirl

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Seems the armed guard who was supposed to be there was "snowed in".

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RE: Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 1:38:48 PM

fucktoyprincess

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For all those in support of unrestricted gun ownership, how about paying schoolteachers more for the job they do day in and day out? In addition to teaching our nation's children, time and again we hear of how teachers and administrators at school behave in heroic ways to confront gunmen, shepherd children to safety, etc.

I just think it's interesting that many of the same people who are against gun control don't bat an eye when the education budget gets slashed. People make interesting choices sometimes.....

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RE: Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 1:54:14 PM

Aswad

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Slashing the education budget strikes me as ludicrous.

A teacher here in Norway starts out at $72.000 per year, fresh out of school.

It's not as high status a profession as it perhaps should be, but we're working on changing that.

Of course, our education system is crappy as hell, thanks to the Labor Party, but we're working on ousting those, too.

ETA: Almost forgot... kudos to the teacher in the news story referenced here.

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RE: Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 2:55:15 PM

Nosathro

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What!!!??? you mean no 30 round clip semi automatic weapon was used??? 4 or 5 30 round clips mimum were emptied???....just talk...what is the world coming to???? I am sure the NRA will say that this is all lie, created by the gun ban nuts.

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RE: Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 2:59:32 PM

OsideGirl

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This student was suspended last year when they found him with a hit list of people he wanted to kill.

The school determined he was harmless and never did anything else about it.

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RE: Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 3:20:41 PM

jlf1961

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quote:

ORIGINAL: OsideGirl

This student was suspended last year when they found him with a hit list of people he wanted to kill.

The school determined he was harmless and never did anything else about it.

Let me get this straight, he had a hit list.

He was determined to be harmless, by who? What shrink examined him?

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RE: Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 3:33:43 PM

DesideriScuri

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quote:

ORIGINAL: jlf1961

quote:

ORIGINAL: OsideGirl
This student was suspended last year when they found him with a hit list of people he wanted to kill.
The school determined he was harmless and never did anything else about it.

Let me get this straight, he had a hit list.
He was determined to be harmless, by who? What shrink examined him?

Don't go apeshit before you know all the details. Not saying he was harmless, nor am I saying he wasn't.

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RE: Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 4:02:53 PM

fucktoyprincess

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quote:

ORIGINAL: jlf1961

quote:

ORIGINAL: OsideGirl

This student was suspended last year when they found him with a hit list of people he wanted to kill.

The school determined he was harmless and never did anything else about it.

Let me get this straight, he had a hit list.

He was determined to be harmless, by who? What shrink examined him?

I'll be honest, while in hindsight it looks damning, a teenager with a list of people he/she wants to kill is probably a common occurrence especially given the casual way the word "kill" is often used by people, and also given how overdramatic teens can be.

If schools and law enforcement followed up on every teen who wrote things like that there would be no end.

I'm not sure how one sorts through all of the "typical teenage angst" to separate out the usual stuff from the truly dangerous. That is something that would be very useful for schools and law enforcement.

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RE: Heroic UNARMED Teacher stops High School shooter - 1/11/2013 5:52:56 PM

fucktoyprincess

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Aswad

Slashing the education budget strikes me as ludicrous.

A teacher here in Norway starts out at $72.000 per year, fresh out of school.

It's not as high status a profession as it perhaps should be, but we're working on changing that.

Of course, our education system is crappy as hell, thanks to the Labor Party, but we're working on ousting those, too.

ETA: Almost forgot... kudos to the teacher in the news story referenced here.

IWYW,
— Aswad.

If you look at historically what has happened to American schools post Brown vs. Board of Education (that desegregated schools) you will see how since that decision, white conservatives have worked systematically, in a variety of ways, to reduce funding to public schools. First, many of them pulled their children out of the public school system and sent them to private or parochial schools. If you look at schools in the U.S. there are many private/parochial schools that emerge in the era immediately following Brown. After that, the conservatives systematically attacked property taxes - one of the results being the decline of the public school system. And while destroying public schools may not have been the original intent of policies like Proposition 13, to enact such policy and not correct for the impact on public schools essentially amounts to the same thing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978)

Is it any surprise that demographically, the same people who support such policies also support the NRA?

Teachers in the U.S. are grossly underpaid in my mind. Not, perhaps, relative to other countries, because I don't believe that to be an appropriate benchmark. But because they teach, care for, and in some instances protect the future as represented by our society's children. If we, as a society, feel that is not worth a lot, then what, pray tell, is?

Americans, due to their abhorrence of paying taxes have turned the public school systems in this country into a kind of glorified babysitting service. And we, sadly, get what we pay for on an educational front.

That there are still people willing to pursue teaching as a profession and would even put their life on the line to protect children says a lot. They deserve more support from society.

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