he Sheriff's Office found evidence that a 14-year-old Woodside Elementary School student made threats against other students and teachers and is recommending that charges be pressed against him. The boy has been suspended from school.
The February 28 incident occurred just days before the deadly school shooting in Santee, California, that claimed the lives of two teenagers. Just a week later, an 11-year-old Belle Haven Elementary School student was arrested for allegedly threatening violence against teachers in an essay assignment; he was released a day later, on March 9, when the district attorney's office declined to press charges. See story, this page.)
List of names
The Woodside Elementary School student allegedly made a list of names that he showed -- or spoke of -- to other children on Wednesday, February 28, according to Sgt. John Hein of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
"There was no overt threat, like 'I'll get you, I'll kill you' or anything like that," said Sgt. Hein. "I've been hearing that this is a kill list, and it's nothing like that."
He said his investigation found that there was evidence to support rumors at the school that the boy made a list naming students and teachers, but that there was no specific threat against them written down.
"It was a minor threat," said Sgt. Hein, who added that the Sheriff's Office takes any threats made on school campuses very seriously.
The boy's classmates were concerned enough with his comments to report the incident a couple of days later, and Woodside elementary officials contacted the Sheriff's Office on Friday, March 2, after school let out.
Non-uniformed deputies were on campus last week interviewing students. The student was suspended from school, but was not arrested or taken into custody, said Sgt. Hein, who concluded his investigation on March 12 by sending the case to the district attorney's office and recommending that the boy be charged with making threats.
Deputy District Attorney Eddie C. Thomas Jr. said he had not yet seen the case report and couldn't comment on it before the Almanac's press deadline on Monday afternoon. Sgt. Hein said sheriff's deputies conducted a limited search of the eighth-grader's Woodside home, but legally could not conduct a full search when they had little more than rumors to go on. He said deputies did not locate the alleged list.
School officials could conduct a more thorough search at the school, but Sgt. Hein declined to comment on whether Woodside elementary officials had conducted such a search.
Kids in danger?
Woodside Superintendent John Harter said school officials took appropriate action over the weekend, but did not specify the steps taken. He said legal constraints allowed him to say very little about the incident, but that there would be no rush to judgment.
"I strongly believed from the beginning that no student or adult was in any danger," said Superintendent Harter.
According to the parent of an eighth-grade student at Woodside Elementary, the boy being investigated did not attend school last week. Mr. Harter said he could neither confirm nor deny that the student had been suspended. Under the Education Code, a superintendent or principal can suspend a student for five days, and can suspend a student for longer than that if expulsion is being recommended.
While Sgt. Hein said the investigation is being taken very seriously, he also warned that the boy should not be convicted in the court of public opinion before the investigation is complete. Rumors about the incident have escalated to wild heights, he said.
"It's like being a kid and playing the game Telephone -- if you can't elaborate on the story and make it bigger, it's not as good," he said of some of the rumors. "I heard one where (the boy) was on the roof of the school with a gun. Where did that come from? Every kid's story gets bigger."
Woodside Elementary School Principal Sharon Hobbs, school counselor Janai Bryan and Superintendent Harter telephoned the parents of eighth-graders on Monday, March 5, and read them a statement saying that the school was investigating a student who "may or may not have made a list that threatened possible violence against some other students and teachers," and assuring them that appropriate steps had been taken to protect everyone's safety.
The statement concluded by saying, "We do not believe anyone is in any imminent danger."
Sgt. Hein said the students did the right thing by reporting their concerns.
"I think it is all of our duties if we think something is wrong -- something's funny, something could be dangerous -- to have someone look into it," he said. "There's a difference between telling and being a tattle-tale."
It is easier to apologize to the person if your suspicions are incorrect than it is to stay silent and then wish you had spoken up after disaster has struck and people are dead, he said, referring to the students in Santee who laughed off threats made by Charles Andrew Williams. Charles is the 15-year-old suspected of killing two students and wounding 13 in a shooting rampage at Santana High School in San Diego County on March 5.
At Woodside Elementary, said Sgt. Hein, it would have been better if the boy's classmates had talked to a teacher or a parent right away, rather than wait for two days.
"I think this kid needs to understand that he made some bad choices, and his classmates made bad choices in not reporting this right away, and spreading rumors and building panic," he said.
Sgt. Hein said he had not found evidence to support rumors that the student's list targeted kids who had teased him.
"I haven't heard that he was picked on," he said. "It's more that he was the type who goes from group to group. Everybody knows him."
A source close to Woodside Elementary School said that the boy was frequently teased and picked on by his school-mates.
Other incidents
The week following the school shooting in Southern California, several local schools called authorities to report students making threats.
An 11-year-old Belle Haven elementary school student was arrested March 8 writing an essay his teacher feared threatened violence; he had been assigned to write about what he would do if the world were to end in three days. He was released the next day, after the district attorney's office declined to prosecute him.
A 15-year-old Belmont boy who attends Charles Armstrong School was arrested March 6 after writing a "threatening" poem. He was later released and charges were dropped.
Palo Alto police investigated rumors that a student had brought a gun onto the campus of Palo Alto High School, also on March 6. Palo Alto police determined that the rumors about the gun were not true, but a 15-year-old student was arrested for possession of a cut-off wooden broom handle.
