By now there have been at least two incidents involving pellet (or BB) guns and students at two different high schools in the local newspaper.
In one instance, a Lopez High School student was caught with a pellet gun and a machete locked in his trunk inn the parking lot of the school.
In another, a teacher at porter High School overheard a student talking about having a pellet gun at his home and that led to a search of two homes in the city, one on Houston Road and another on 30th Street.
In neither case was the offending BB guns or machete inside the school.
And last week's death of Cummings Middle School eighth grader Jaime Gonzalez Jr. is still sending ripples across the city and the Brownsville Independent School District. We had a local businessman call us last night telling us that he had heard about a student at Cummings who had deliberately used a knife to cut his stomach because he "wanted to be with his friend (Jaime)." Now, we don;t know whether the story of the Cummings student is true other than the source told us that it had been told to him by someone who works with students inside the school. Since it involves a minor, there is no way that anyone except law enforcement and school authorities could confirm this (up to now) rumor.
Will we now see a spate of such "reports" emanating from the schools as the panicky BISD administration and faculty overreact to any mention of BB guns or machetes? I know for a fact that some people carry machetes in the trunks of their cars as a matter of course. Whether it's to clear out weeds along a fence line or to cut offensive branches from their yard, it is a useful tool locally. As for the BB guns, many of us used to have them as kids and there is probably one lying around the garage somewhere.
Commenters on this blog have said that there was an altercation between Gonzalez and with office personnel prior to the staff calling the Brownsville Police to the scene. Doubtless, the attorneys hired by the family members will glean the essence of that confrontation and the subsequent developments when they file their lawsuits. Until then, all we're getting is what the gatekeepers at BISD and the BPD have allowed us to see. Any conclusions derived from these sources is, by definition, incomplete.
But the securing of search warrants (if there were any) and the search of private homes by local police seem to a little much and too little, too late at the same time.
It's like closing the gate after the horse has bolted.
6 comments:
The Brownsville Herald has made a martyr out of a punk at Cummings Middle School and we can expect copy cat and braggings by the other punks in the community. If teachers hear these punks in school...why call the police. Are all teachers on such a short lease that the schools can't even keep the peace in their own schools. No morale courage withing the schools, by teacher or administrators. The Herald has now made a "hero" out of a punk with a pellet gun and other snakes will crawl out of the rocks to show their "courage" as punks.
Well, first of all Jaime Gonzalez was NOT a punk! He had issues apparently. Secondly, what would you have us do as teachers and administrators-ignore what we hear and be sorry later? Sure the machete and the gun that shoots blanks were not inside the school building, but they were inside school property! Have you heard of the Zero Tolerance? As far as the rumor you heard about the student cutting himself because he wanted to be with Jaime is concerned-shame on the person from the school that divulged that information so that a person like you can post it in this blog!
Does the Zero tolerance policy prohibit having a BB gun at your home? Who the hell authorized that search warrant? A teacher overhearing a student is not probable cause for issuing one. So what the hell?
These subsequent events raise some important legal issues first is it illegal for a minor to have a Bb or pellet gun in his home. I don' think so. So what is with the illegal warrant, search mad seizure ?
Second, having a real weapon is your car in the parking lot of a school is not illegal . It has to be within the school. This has been the law for the past few years.
Police cannot violator the 4th. Amendment to the US Constitution just because they are in panic mode. However they will do so unless called on the illegal acts.
El Pinche Gringo
Divulged? It's hard to keep the truth under a rug with so many mouths to speak as is the case in public schools. Emphasis on the word public. Does the public have a right to know what goes on in the tax-supported public schools and other public entities?
Our administrators and police must continue to provide the safest enviroment for our students. Ever heard of a consent to search. This document is presented to the home owner who most of the time will sign it and allow law enforcement to recover and remove items from their home or business. If we continue to beat sensationalize this school shooting be prepared for all the other students looking for, attention in the same way Gonzalez did. Several years ago a person walking in our downtown area was shot in the face with a "pellet gun" buy someone in a passing car. Oh, the person shot with, the pellet gun, DIED! Dont tell his loved ones our us that pellet guns wont kill you. This case is still unsolved.
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