Another school shoothing. Why??
 

RED LION, Pa. April 24 —
A student shot and wounded a principal at a junior high school Thursday morning and then killed himself, an emergency management official said.

The shooting happened at the Red Lion Area Junior High School, about 30 miles southeast of Harrisburg in south-central Pennsylvania.

Emergency officials responded to the school sometime before 8 a.m., said Patrick McFadden, the executive director of York County's Department of Emergency Services.

McFadden said he believed the student was a boy, but it wasn't immediately clear how old the student was or what grade he was in.

The principal, whose name was not immediately released, was transported to the hospital. His condition was unknown.

Students from the school were moved across the street to Red Lion Area Senior High School, said Rebecca Garland, a volunteer working in the high school's main office Thursday.

A woman answering the telephone at the junior high school referred calls to the central district office. Calls to that office were not immediately answered.

The same school district was the site of a machete attack on a kindergarten class that injured a principal, two teachers and 11 of the 23 pupils in 2001. A Tennessee man angry about his divorce and allegations he had molested his stepdaughters pleaded guilty to the attack and was sentenced to 132 to 264 years in prison.

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed


http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030424_609.html

How sad.. :( I never thought that a shooting would happen so close to home (I only live a half hr to 45 mins away).

Not to sound cynical (maybe I am)... but it's strange that this isn't all over the news.. a la Columbine. No calls to ban guns completely, etc..

Kind of interesting how the media can really control the public discussion like that.

I don't know which is worse : this lastest shooting incident or the one in New Orleans last week.:(

That is some crazy isht!!

Yeah, I haven't heard anything about this until now either.

This happened this morning, about 3 - 4 hours ago or so. I heard about it on the radio and looked for an article about it on the 'net. When I posted this, CNN didn't have anything yet, and MSNBC had a caption on it's homepage saying there was a shooting, but there was no article. It'll be on the news tonight, for sure.

Sure, but if this had happened pre-9/11 we'd all be watching it real-time, as it happened. Having it blown waaay out of proportion. This kind of stuff was just as commonplace in the 80's, 90's and before Columbine.. The media just didn't give it so much air time.

The one in New Orleans was a retaliation for an earlier murder.

Not that it makes the loss of life forgivable, but its a different situation than "student goes wakco from constant teasing" situations.

The one in New Orleans is a good example of "you play with fire, you're going to get burned"

I don't think either is worse, they are both bad situations with terrible outcomes.

Sad.

I'm not saying this isn't a tragedy and that my sympathies don't go out to the families of those involved. We had a shooting happen no more than 15 minutes from me in back in 1998 at a school dance and I'm friends with some students who were there.

I find it kinda strange how the media jumps on a school shooting "Middle America", the suburbs basically. But, shoots have been happening in the inner city schools for a while and no national news coverage. I'm not a huge Eminem fan, but I thin he has a point in "The Way I Am" when he says.

"When a dude's gettin bullied and shoots up his school
and they blame it on Marilyn.. and the heroin
Where were the parents at? And look where it's at
Middle America, now it's a tragedy
Now it's so sad to see, an upper class ci-ty
havin this happenin .."

I think it's a shame that we only seem to care when it happens to suburban kids.

Hey Guys,

This was my junior high! Dr. Segro was just Mr. Segro when he was the assistant principal not too long ago. I teared up a little when I hear about it. I remember going back to the school to pick up my younger sisters and he would always be in the office, smiling. He would remember my name and say hi.

It's just so sad. I haven't heard who the kid was that did it, but I can bet big bucks his family will be moving out of the area real quick. RL is a small, small community, and the cliche, You never thought it would happen here, definately applies.

Please keep both Mr. Segro's family and the student's family in your thoughts and prayers.

GL,
jess_pom

Edited to add: The principal passed away some time this morning, before 11.

Or, there's also Ani DiFranco's take on how school shootings make news when it's the middle class areas:

"and every year now like christmas
some boy gets the milk fed suburban blues
reaches for the available arsenal
and saunters off to make the news
and the women in the middle
are learning what poor women have always known
that the edge is closer than you think
when the men bring the guns home"

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Basically, no school shooting is worse or more tragic than the other one. Does a kid being shot in Southeast DC more tragic than if it happened in my town? No.

In reponse to the Red Lion shooting, there was an incident of school violence near my house... a 14 year old boy was throwing gasoline at his school building! :eek:

Take a look at the link: http://www.whtm.com/showstory.hrb?f=n&s=84564&f1=loc