School Violence Plot Aborted
An 18 year old South Carolina Senior’s plan to bomb a local high school was averted Saturday when his parents called police after 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate was delivered to their home. Ryan Schallenberger was arrested as a result of the phone call from his very own parents. According to sources, Schallenberger had expressed a disliking for certain socially prominent students and their girlfriends. Written sympathies toward the Columbine shooters of 1999 was also unearthed as well as an audio tape made by the would be bomber to be used after he had detonated the bomb presumably killing himself as well.
Having resumed my work in the field of juvenile delinquency and seeing first hand students bringing weapons to class and some of the other red flag events going on daily in our schools, it doesn’t get any easier or make any more sense when these events transpire. Fortunately in this case, this young man had parents that were willing to make a hard call. Too often this is not the case. Some question what it is as a society we need to do to combat these events and to be sure, this sort of case by case diligence is first and foremost on the list. No amount of school security or social education alone is enough to suffice. Diligence to your surroundings and what your kids are into speaks louder and usually best in such cases. Never take anything for granted and always keep your eyes open. It’s a new world out there in more ways than one, and a bit of advice to parents…..don’t sleep walk through it.
