Cassville School Superintendent says no threat at middle school
March 21, 2018
Charlea Estes-Jones
Right before students held a peaceful rally on Thursday last week, rumors circulated that a student had generated a “hit list” and had planned to shoot students at Cassville Middle School. Two 911 calls were placed right before the rally because of fear of action during the rally. Cassville R-IV Superintendent Dr. Richard Asbill said those rumors proved to be unsubstantiated and there was no threat to students.
Dr. Asbill said there were three different stories that administrators were aware of at the middle school prior to the rally planned on Thursday, March 15, and they worked with the school’s resource officer to investigate those claims.
Dr. Asbill said, “One part of it we heard had to do with the rally and other parts did not. Around 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m., the initial reports came in regarding that there was a student who had a list, something like a “hit list” or a list of people he didn’t like. Then, number two was that he was going to ‘shoot up all the gays’. The third was that the student was going to disrupt the middle school student rally on Thursday.
“Mr. Hudson and Mr. Barton were reviewing that most of the morning and up until lunch.”
Ron Hudson is the middle school assistant principal and Jimmie Barton is the principal.
Asbill said the student at the center of the rumors was in In-School Suspension for an unrelated incident at the time this all occurred. He said, “It provided us the opportunity to at least evaluate the situation and reports while knowing where one of the alleged students would be.”
Principal Barton said, “In every one of those reports by students, there was no one with firsthand knowledge. It was all ‘Somebody said’ and ‘I was told by somebody else’. We interviewed nearly 20 students that day, and none were able to give anything as far as evidence.”
However, despite administration taking steps to ensure there was no threat during the rally, two individuals, presumably students, placed 911 calls prior to the rally based on what they had heard about a possible shooter. Barry County E9-1-1 confirmed that those calls were placed at 1:39 p.m. and 1:43 p.m.
Initially, principal Barton made comments that the school would engage the students who called 911 and possibly their parents about whether it was appropriate to place that call instead of contacting a teacher. Parents and students vocalized concern about students being punished for calling 911.
Dr. Asbill confirmed that the students would not be reprimanded for placing those calls. He said, “The school does not have any issues with students calling 911. With students having access to cell phones and those things, that’s the norm. The issue in question would be that the calls came in right before the scheduled assembly. All of our students would have been in classes or have access to teachers at that time.”
Barton also said that he made an announcement to students letting them know that there was to be plenty of supervision during the event. Cassville Police Department already had additional officers to secure student safety in preparation for the rally.
Asbill continued, “Number one, the students should be commended for what they did, but we also wish they had contacted a teacher at that point.”
He continued, “We met administratively and with Officer Wenzel (SRO) to go back over things. The issue was not to discipline kids for calling 911, it was more looking at it as that Officer Wenzel was here and could deal with that if the students had spoken to a teacher.
“We just want to expedite our ability to respond to those situations.”
While the school cannot comment on individual students or disciplinary action about the alleged threat, Dr. Asbill did share, “About 3 p.m. the same day, I had received a phone call in regard to a related issue that was about turning over group text messages on a cell phone. We were able to coordinate that with Mr. Barton and Officer Wenzel. The police took that phone and that is in the police’s hands.”
Dr. Asbill sent out a School Reach phone message district-wide on Friday to alert parents that there was no threat, nor did the district institute a lockdown at any time on Thursday or Friday.
Charlea Estes-Jones
Right before students held a peaceful rally on Thursday last week, rumors circulated that a student had generated a “hit list” and had planned to shoot students at Cassville Middle School. Two 911 calls were placed right before the rally because of fear of action during the rally. Cassville R-IV Superintendent Dr. Richard Asbill said those rumors proved to be unsubstantiated and there was no threat to students.
Dr. Asbill said there were three different stories that administrators were aware of at the middle school prior to the rally planned on Thursday, March 15, and they worked with the school’s resource officer to investigate those claims.
Dr. Asbill said, “One part of it we heard had to do with the rally and other parts did not. Around 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m., the initial reports came in regarding that there was a student who had a list, something like a “hit list” or a list of people he didn’t like. Then, number two was that he was going to ‘shoot up all the gays’. The third was that the student was going to disrupt the middle school student rally on Thursday.
“Mr. Hudson and Mr. Barton were reviewing that most of the morning and up until lunch.”
Ron Hudson is the middle school assistant principal and Jimmie Barton is the principal.
Asbill said the student at the center of the rumors was in In-School Suspension for an unrelated incident at the time this all occurred. He said, “It provided us the opportunity to at least evaluate the situation and reports while knowing where one of the alleged students would be.”
Principal Barton said, “In every one of those reports by students, there was no one with firsthand knowledge. It was all ‘Somebody said’ and ‘I was told by somebody else’. We interviewed nearly 20 students that day, and none were able to give anything as far as evidence.”
However, despite administration taking steps to ensure there was no threat during the rally, two individuals, presumably students, placed 911 calls prior to the rally based on what they had heard about a possible shooter. Barry County E9-1-1 confirmed that those calls were placed at 1:39 p.m. and 1:43 p.m.
Initially, principal Barton made comments that the school would engage the students who called 911 and possibly their parents about whether it was appropriate to place that call instead of contacting a teacher. Parents and students vocalized concern about students being punished for calling 911.
Dr. Asbill confirmed that the students would not be reprimanded for placing those calls. He said, “The school does not have any issues with students calling 911. With students having access to cell phones and those things, that’s the norm. The issue in question would be that the calls came in right before the scheduled assembly. All of our students would have been in classes or have access to teachers at that time.”
Barton also said that he made an announcement to students letting them know that there was to be plenty of supervision during the event. Cassville Police Department already had additional officers to secure student safety in preparation for the rally.
Asbill continued, “Number one, the students should be commended for what they did, but we also wish they had contacted a teacher at that point.”
He continued, “We met administratively and with Officer Wenzel (SRO) to go back over things. The issue was not to discipline kids for calling 911, it was more looking at it as that Officer Wenzel was here and could deal with that if the students had spoken to a teacher.
“We just want to expedite our ability to respond to those situations.”
While the school cannot comment on individual students or disciplinary action about the alleged threat, Dr. Asbill did share, “About 3 p.m. the same day, I had received a phone call in regard to a related issue that was about turning over group text messages on a cell phone. We were able to coordinate that with Mr. Barton and Officer Wenzel. The police took that phone and that is in the police’s hands.”
Dr. Asbill sent out a School Reach phone message district-wide on Friday to alert parents that there was no threat, nor did the district institute a lockdown at any time on Thursday or Friday.
