Fatal Wiley Elementary School shooting linked to child abduction, 2nd homicide
Updated April 23, 2024 at 10:48 p.m.
An adult woman was fatally shot on the grounds of Wiley Elementary School in West Richland Monday afternoon, according to West Richland police.
Police said at around 3:23 p.m. officers from the West Richland Police Department (WRPD) were called to Wiley Elementary School, where they found an adult woman dead outside of the school.
"During dismissal today, there was a shooting at the school," Wiley Elementary School wrote in a message that was sent to parents Monday afternoon. "The perpetrator is still at large. Schools placed in critical lockdown."
Police also noted there were no additional casualties in relation to the shooting.
Boy, now 10, confesses to unsolved murder of man in Gonzales County RV park when he was 7
By Stephanie Usery and Emily Van de Riet, April 4, 2024, 5:31 p.m. EDT
GONZALES COUNTY, Texas – A boy, who is now 10 years old, confessed to an unsolved murder from 2022, Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) announced on Friday. But GCSO said he will not be charged with the crime because he committed it before the age of culpability.
Brandon O’Quinn Rasberry, 32, was shot and killed while he slept in his RV at the Lazy J RV Park located at 85 Wild Meadow in Nixon. He had just moved there four days before.
His body was discovered after he failed to show up to work for two days. He had been shot one time in the head.
In a press release, GCSO said on April 12, they received a call from a Nixon-Smiley Independent School District principal about a student who threatened to assault and kill another student on a bus. During the district’s threat assessment, they learned that the child made a statement about shooting and killing a man two years ago.
Athletic director at Maryland high school used AI to fake racist recording of principal, police say
Story by Lilly Price, The Baltimore Sun
Pikesville High School’s athletic director was arrested Thursday morning in connection with an artificial intelligence-made audio clip of the school’s principal having a fake, racist conversation.
Dazhon Darien, 31, is charged with disrupting school activities after Baltimore County Police say he created the falsified audio recording of Eric Eiswert in January. The audio clip using the principal’s voice went viral and was swiftly condemned by the Baltimore County community. The school was inundated with outraged calls and needed an increased police presence and additional counselors.
Texas High School Teacher and Son Charged with Recruiting Students for Prostitution
The teacher allegedly helped her son recruit runaways at local high schools by offering them a place to stay at a motel.
By Robin Hattersley, April 16, 2024
KLEIN, Texas – A Klein Independent School District cosmetology teacher and her son have been arrested for sex trafficking and compelling prostitution of juveniles. Authorities say Kedria Grigsby, 42, and her son, Roger Magee, 21, recruited troubled female students from local high schools for sex work, reports Fox26Houston. Grigsby allegedly helped her son, who was arrested in November.
There are at least three victims, ages 15, 16 and 17, and authorities say there are probably more. The victims are students who were reported as runaways, reports KHOU. Police say the teacher recruited the victims by offering them a place to stay in a local motel. At least one of the rooms Grigsby paid for was used for prostitution. She is also accused of transporting the teens.
In New York, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division reversed a lower court ruling denying a motion for summary judgment dismissal of a case arising from injuries received by a student while participating in a game during gym class. The game, called “Steal the Bacon,” required each student to wear “a belt with a detachable flag hanging from it… line up across from a student on the opposing team…(with) toy pigs located between them.” While “running to grab one of the pigs and then racing with the pig in hand to cross a line without losing the flag,” the injured student collided with a fellow student. The lower court held that there were material facts for a jury to decide upon which liability might be found. On review, the New York Supreme Court disagreed. It held that while a “school has a duty to exercise the same degree of care toward its students as would a reasonably prudent parent,” that schools “cannot reasonably be expected to continuously supervise and control all movements and activities of students.” Another rule follows this one: “where an accident occurs in so short a span of time that even the most intense supervision could not have prevented it, any lack of supervision is not the proximate cause of the injury.” Dismissal was appropriate because the student “was engaged in an age-appropriate activity that did not constitute dangerous play…(and) more intense supervision would not have prevented the spontaneous and accidental collision of the two children.” S.T. v. Island Park Union Free School District
In Kentucky, the Kentucky Department of Education's School Safety Annual Statistical Report discloses “an increase of 99.7% in reports of deadly weapons on campus from five years ago.” State and local officials view this data as evidence of the successful implementation of the School Safety and Resiliency Act and the S.T.O.P. anonymous tipline. Students are providing the information regarding weapons on campus in the majority of incidents.
In Indiana, the Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed the termination of the parental rights of a mother based on school safety concerns. The juvenile court ruled that there was a clear correlation between student’s dangerous behavior at school and the parent’s neglect, domestic abuse, and poor home conditions. The incidents on campus included “physical and verbal aggression towards staff and students, threats of violence towards himself and others, and a refusal to follow directions.” In one incident, the student “attempted to take the school resource officer's gun.” On appeal, the judges ruled that termination of parental rights was in the student’s best interests. “The evidence also established that (the) Mother did not demonstrate the appropriate level of concern in connection to Child's dangerous behaviors…(the) Child's behavior improved when his contact with (the) Mother was limited and DCS's plan for adoption, with an adoptive family having been identified, would provide (the) Child with much needed stability.” R B v. Indiana Department of Child Services
In Illinois, the Champaign Unit 4 School Board voted unanimously to return school resource officers to schools. The removal of the police was the direct result of staffing shortages. “Between January 2019 and July 2021, the Champaign Police Department saw 32 officers leave its ranks.” The result was a delay in hiring, training, and deployment of officers to the schools.
In Pennsylvania, the New Castle Area School District “is proceeding with establishing a police force, naming a police chief and hiring two officers.” School officials intend more officers - “to have one officer in each school... The police officers will function as a police department (having) detaining and arrest powers and the authority to make arrests, file citations for disorderly conduct or other minor offenses and file major criminal charges by juvenile petitions.”
In Arizona, Student gun threats are on the rise in Arizona schools. “In 2022, police handled an average of two gun threat incidents a day. From 2019 to 2022, emergency calls from schools came in, on average, about 10 times a week.”
CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) uses design, management, and activity strategies to reduce opportunities for crime to occur, reduce fear, and improve the overall safety of schools. The CPTED concept emphasizes the relationship between the physical environment, the productive use of space, and the behavior of people. Upon completion of this 24-hour course, successful completion of a written test is required to obtain a course certificate. The course will include a hands-on CPTED evaluation of a school, and attendees will be provided with tools to use on their school campuses or in their associated activities with school safety.
Cost: $400 per person for NASRO members / $450 per person for non-NASRO members
The first book to comprehensively examine lockdown drills in K–12 schools, "Lockdown Drills" balances research findings with practical applications and implications. Schildkraut and Nickerson, school safety experts with complementary backgrounds in criminology and school psychology, review the historical precedents for lockdown drills, distinguish school lockdowns from other emergency procedures (such as active shooter drills), explain why they are conducted, present evidence-based research on their effectiveness, and describe how to conduct them according to best practices. Proponents of lockdown drills as a life-saving necessity, the authors help to bring much-needed standardization to how these drills are studied and conducted.
The authors present common arguments for and against the inclusion of lockdown drills in emergency preparedness efforts, balancing their discussion of the perceptions and psychological impacts of lockdown drills with scholarly research on the extent to which lockdown drills improve how effectively individuals respond to a potential threat. Placing lockdown drills in the larger context of school safety and preparedness, they examine the broader implications for policymakers. Finally, they emphasize that drills, of which lockdowns are only one type, are just a part of the complex school safety puzzle. Ensuring that schools are safe places for students and educators begins long before a crisis occurs and continues through the days, weeks, and years of recovery following a crisis.
The establishment of an external door and window numbering system can be extremely valuable to emergency responders and will also assist your students and staff in acclimating themselves to door locations in case of an emergency. Request a free copy of our updated Model Door and Window Classroom Numbering System Guide.
