Page 34 - TalesoftheParadiseRidge-Fall2020_Neat

Police Blotter - Students Plan

School Massacre

By Bill Hartley, Retired Paradise Police Officer

In early 1999, Paradise Police received a report that two detailed how they would steal the guns from the home
students, age 13, at the Paradise Intermediate School were one of their grandparents. They would hide the guns on
heard talking about shooting other students at school. the school grounds before school started. During school
A student overheard the conversation and reported it to hours, they would get the guns. One of them would lie
school authorities, who in turn reported it to police. out in the school field with a gun, and the other would
pull the fire alarm and climb up on the roof with a gun.
I received the report and located the two students. I ques- They planned to shoot the other students who walked out
tioned them, and they admitted to talking about shooting onto the school field as they are taught to do during fire
other students but said it was just a joke. (Note: this was drills/alarms.
planned about a month or so after the April 1999 shooting
at the Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.) Both boys were arrested and later served time in juvenile
hall.
I discovered the students had drawn up plans. They had
a list of students they would target to shoot. The plans

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