Superintendent disarms gunman at South Orangetown Middle School, shots fired, no injuries
-
- June
- 9
BLAUVELT – A gunman entered South Orangetown Middle School this morning but was disarmed by the schools superintendent, who tackled the man and wrestled the gun away from him, police said.
No one was injured.
As many as three shots were fired, but it was not clear if those rounds came from the gunman or the massive police response, officials said.
The gunman has been taken into custody, according to Orangetown Police Chief Kevin Nulty.
The man has some ties to the schools, but police were not immediately sure what they were.
When police found the man inside the building, Superintendent Ken Mitchell had the suspect pinned to the ground and had taken the gun away from him.
Mitchell, 54, was not hurt.
The first reports of the shooting were called into Orangetown police by a school security guard at 11:30 a.m.
Students in the school, which serves grades six through eight, remained in the classroom as police searched the building.
Frantic parents tried to enter the schools, but were stopped by police.
Police were setting up an information center at the Sons of Italy building on 46 Van Wyck Road., Blauvelt.
“I’m scared to death,” said Jennifer Gura, whose two sons, 11, and 14, were in the building, as she stood on the corner of Van Wyck and Erie Street.
Students were sending text messages to parents from inside the school.
Kathy Fidlow, whose 14-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter were in the school, said she had gotten a message from her children telling her that everyone was in the school on the floor.
“The kids are terrified,” she said.
Nulty said the Orangetown police used an emergency plan that they had developed after the Columbine shootings 10 years ago.
Check back later for updates on LoHud.com.
Report courtesy of staff reports.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 1:04 pm by Diana Costello.
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Im a 7th grader who was there that day. We were in the cafeteria eating lunch when they suddenly made an announcement. It was scary and they wouldnt tell us what was going on because they didnt know so they directed us to one side of the room and closed the other and the blinds on the windows. We all sat on the floor then and rested for about an hour without any information. A little while later the teachers started coming around and telling us a bit, yet no one would tell us if he had a gun or not. We stayed in there for the rest of the day and took the buses home. The swat team and police were there surrounding the perimeter.
Amanda,
Thank you for sharing your story with us. I couldn’t imagine how frightening the must have been. Thank goodness every is safe!
The dad went to confront the superintendent about the super’s lack of care when he was told that there was swine flu at the school, and when the super did nothing, and the guy’s son got hopitalized with the swine flu; the dad went crazy and rushed the super. The superintendent is NO hero, he’s a scum bag that should go to jail for putting children in harms way, he should have shut the school down when he knew 2 kids in the 6th grade had swine flu and refused to act on it. The dad simply flipped out when he saw his child in the hospital, any father would do the same, ok maybe not as dramatic, but not far off. FIRE THE SUPER AND LOCK HIM UP.
i was stuck in the itailan room there was people crying and yelling at each other the teacher did not know waht to do i think we should have drills for these events
i was stuck in the itailan room there was people crying and yelling at each other the teacher did not know what to do i think we should have drills for these events
the itatilan teacher was very clam and knew what to do for the event wh should have drills , just like fire drills for code red , and blue and the kids should know what to do at times like this ny other classmates would not SHUT UP
John P should get a clue. H1N1 is in all the schools and is throughout the county. The Rockland County Dept. of Health is advising the schools to stay open. It’s already in the community. Do you really think that the Super’s want all the kids to be sick?? Come on.
Also, how does this “Dad” know his child contracted H1N1 at school?? Maybe he got it somewhere else. I don’t even know why I am responding to this post. I shouldn’t waste my typing skills on ignorance…but of course you know more than anybody else I am sure.
I, too, cannot believe I’m wasting my energy on responding to such ignorance as expressed by John P, but it can’t be just let go. John, I don’t care how sympathetic you are with the gunman’s motives—apologizing for violence, especially in our schools, is reprehensible. It is not a little too dramatic. It is criminal, and a form of terror.
Every single child there that day is now subject to Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Their levels of trust and confidence are changed forever. The Superintendent had his life flash before his eyes, he faced death. He is forever changed. And for what are hundreds of people’s well-being threatened? A dispute over public policy about which intelligent people on both sides disagree.
You do not have a monopoly on knowledge of moral rightness, John P., and you cannot force your views on others. We live in a democracy, where there are avenues for redressing your grievances. You do not have the right to flip out. In defending the gunman as you have, you are telling the world what you expect not only of others, but of yourself. Get a hold of yourself. Certainly you have shown the world in your writing that, should you get upset about something, you believe you are within your rights to threaten others and use physical, even deadly, force.
But you are wrong. If you haven’t already spent time in jail, you will, unless you do some serious soul searching and change your violent views. Because the citizens of South Orangetown are not going to tolerate self-righteousness that advocates violence as a way to bring about change.
I was locked in the cafeteria for 3 hours. they closed off half of it and i was sweaty. I had no fear in it and i was singing songs that i made up.
Hey amanda commenter #1 im also a 7th grader and you probablhy know me from spanish
My info:
My sister was in 6th grade at the time and I was in 5th. My class was coming back from lunch and the other classes were in the hallway trying to get a peek outside. I asked my friend what was going on and she said “someone has a gun in the middle school. theyre on lock-down” I was so scared because my sister was in there.
The lies that were told at Cottage Lane:
i went through the rest of the day seeing kids asking teachers what was going on. some things i heard were “the guy had a loaded gun” or “there were three gun shots fired at kids”, and “there were two guys who were from Iraac and were attacking” and a few others like “these guys broke in from the mini gym and came into the school, then one pulled the fire alarm to get the kids out of their classrooms so they could shoot” and I heard a few things that werent complete lies just mistakes like “the police officer took the gun away” but that was just a person mix up it wasnt severe lies.
When I came home:
I talked to my sis and her friends and found out what really happened like “it was one guy” and “the guy didnt shoot anyone” and that “he was a Dad to a kid in the school”
So I found out what really happened
This is a response to Jayme i was also in fifth grade at the time and i tink i no who u r we talk alot on facebook and i no its u cause ik ur sis is in 7th now and was in 6th so trust me i was worried cause my sis was a eigth grader and they were in alot of trouble bein on the second floor closet to were the it was