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BB gun at middle school drawing regional media attention

By Howard B. Owens

The BB-gun incident at Batavia Middle School yesterday, as first reported by The Batavian, is apparently getting wider media attention.

A Rochester TV news van was reportedly parked illegally on Ross Street a few minutes ago.

And, just now, Batavia PD released the following statement to all regional media:

The Batavia Police and Batavia School officials are jointly investigating the details of a student bringing a BB Gun into the Batavia Middle School. As part of the investigation it has been determined that at no time was the BB gun displayed or any threats made. School officials discovered the gun based on an unrelated incident. Both the School and the Police Department will use the proper procedures to ensure all are safe and the person responsible is dealt with in accordance with the proper procedure in place for juveniles who violate school rules and New York State laws.  

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Feb 23, 2013, 5:21pm Permalink
John Woodworth JR

This is not really a good news story. It is the media making more of this than it should be. Not only are politician overzealous but, the media is too. This kid though he did not use good judgement (All kids make mistakes), he did not bring a weapon in that can cause mass casualties. It is a BB gun, not a AK-47, M-4, M-60, M-240, M-249 or M-203. Just like what someone mention in the previous article on this incident. A individual was banned from attending the Prom because, he carried shotgun shells in his car (maybe he is a hunter). OMG, the world is coming to an end because, everyone is carrying shotgun shells. The media has done one thing for sure. It has ensured the glorification of every active shooter. It gives them the one thing they all want, "TO BE REMEMBERED!" What bothers me the most is the media drags these events out for months and years. Look at the Sandy Hook incident when the news agencies went to the families and asked how they feel. Well duh A-holes, how do you think they feel? Do you really expect an answer from someone to be, "Well I feel pretty good about it Sir/Ma'am, at least I know my child is going to heaven." The media has become one of the most corrupted institutes in our nation. Only the government supercedes them.

Feb 24, 2013, 5:31pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

John, one thing I found out after the initial story -- the BB gun didn't look like a toy. It looked, very, very real. Even a police officer when he first saw it thought it was a real gun. For a child to be carrying around a BB gun that could easily be mistaken for something much more deadly is rather serious, IMHO. I'm sure you've had shoot/don't shoot training. How quickly can you decide whether that gun the boy is handling is real or not?

Which reminds me of this, ICYMI, http://reason.com/blog/2013/02/19/is-your-local-police-department-using…

Feb 24, 2013, 7:03pm Permalink
John Woodworth JR

Hello Howard, most every BB gun looks realistic. All I am saying is once they identified the gun as a BB gun they should have terminated the response. They further the action to court? The main stream media moved in? The last I knew this kid did not pull his BB gun on any Police Officer. They found it in his locker while looking for tobacco. Was this kid planning to threaten someone with it? Was he planning to target shoot with friends or do a little squirrel or bird hunting? All I am saying is the media has a bad habit of making nothing into something. Have you ever heard the phrase, "Paranoia will destroy you!" We are making our nation into a "Paranoia State" and instead of paranoia we need to educate ourselves. What the school did was great, they identified a threat and responded the appropriate way. However, getting the courts involved is a waste of our tax dollar. It is unnecessary to involve the courts when a parent’s scorn would work. Then again some parents are just as bad.

Feb 24, 2013, 8:25pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

John, the first reports I received from people was that a rifle was found in the school and that a student had threatened some one. These rumors are are what prompted the automated call to parents, which prompted more e-mail to The Batavian.

Would you have rather we not report the truth and actual facts and let rumors fester?

I'm kind of surprised Rochester media picked up the story, but they all read The Batavian and it isn't exactly an every day event (one of the key definitions of news).

Feb 25, 2013, 12:48pm Permalink
John Woodworth JR

Howard once again I am not arguing about response. Your first article claimed they found the BB gun during a search of his locker for tobacco products. One of the comments mention that, it was probably some type of criminal mischief. If this was a criminal mischief act, they're being quite secretive of the nature of charges. Yes, the P.O.I. has not been named since, they are a minor but, the news can announced the type of charges. The last I knew none had been officially filed. Do you know different?

Feb 25, 2013, 5:06pm Permalink
John Woodworth JR

Which just proved my point? They took it further than they needed too. The school could have placed him on in school suspension for the incident. Parents could have grounded as well. Yet, we let paranoia dictate the avenue of approach. Wasting court time and tax dollars for something that did not have to go that far.

Feb 26, 2013, 8:14pm Permalink

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