5 Students Arrested for Threat against School

Keenesburg, CO

Last week Monday, May 12, two students were arrested after a student reported a possible threat of violence against Weld County High School involving weapons.  A third student was arrested on Tuesday.  All three were charged with suspicion of interference with staff, faculty or students of an educational institution.

On Friday, the School Resource Officer at the high school became aware that two friends of the three suspects were plotting to pick up where their friends left off.  They were arrested on the same charge as their friends.  All of the boys who were arrested identify themselves as a "gang".

The Weld County Sheriff's Office issued the following statement, “The Weld County Sheriff’s Office has focused additional resources toward the investigation of this incident and will continue to provide heightened security measures as deemed necessary through the end of Weld Central’s school year.”

Analysis
Lost in the clutter of this story is that a student, and an SRO provided details about this plot.  In Chapter 5 of Staying Alive, the warnings signs of violence are provided for both adults and children.  In that chapter you learn that there is usually 'leakage' that occurs, indicators that someone is planning violence. 

It is good that the student at Weld County High School felt comfortable enough with school personnel to come forward with the information.  It is also good that the SRO was on-the-spot with the development of his/her intel.

Staying Alive's Chapter 5 is a must read for people who work with children!

Frightening School Attack Plot Revealed

Safe Havens International

A chilling plot of a 17-year old high school student to kill his family and then attack his school was revealed May 1, 2014.  A concerned citizen noticed a "suspicious" person lurking at a storage facility and called the police.

A police officer responded and found bomb-making materials in the storage facility.  He arrested the teen.  The subsequent investigation uncovered horrifying details of what the teen hoped to accomplish.

The teen had a 180-page notebook with intricate details of what he was going to do, beginning with the murder of his family.  He was then going to set a fire in a field to distract first responders, and assault his school.  He was going to set off pressure-cooker bombs in the cafeteria, then use Molotov cocktails and guns to kill as many students as he could before SWAT took him out.

The investigation began in late March when three explosive devices were found on an elementary school playground, and culminated with the call from a concerned citizen.

In Staying Alive, we address the issue of the concerned citizen.  People often do not call the police for fear of being wrong, but law enforcement would rather look into a suspicious person or incident than to respond to a mass casualty incident at a school.

"See something, say something" is a mindset that can help people to "Stay Alive".