Drawings of Weapons Led To New Jersey Student's Arrest

First time accepted submitter gannebraemorr writes with this news, snipped from a CBS News report out of New Jersey:"'The Superintendent of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District said around 2 pm Tuesday, a 16 year old student demonstrated behavior that caused concern. A teacher noticed drawings of what appeared to be weapons in his notebook. School officials made the decision to contact authorities. Police removed the 16-year-old boy from Cedar Creek High School in Galloway Township Tuesday afternoon after school officials became concerned about his behavior. The student was taken to the Galloway Township Police Department. Police then searched the boy's home on the 300 block of East Spencer Lane and found several electronic parts and several types of chemicals that when mixed together, could cause an explosion, police say. The unidentified teen was charged with possession of a weapon an [sic] explosive device and the juvenile was placed in Harbor Fields.' If 'chemicals that when mixed together, could cause an explosion' is a crime, I'm pretty sure everyone's cleaning cabinets are evidence just waiting to be found. Bottle of Coke and Mentos... BRB, someone knocking at the door."

I would not jump to conclusions....

[overlook77]

Although the story seems disturbing, it never goes into any detail about the student's behavior which prompted the search nor does it say what exactly was found in the student's home. Without more details the story, left this vague, is borderline sensationalism. The student could have been exhibiting some extreme behavior which the school could have been subsequently been lambasted for not following through with.

Re:"best" part

[Anonymous Coward]

"Ciccariello said that the student was not in conflict with anyone"

"Police Chief Pat Moran stressed Tuesday night no threats were made by the student and there was no indication there was any danger posed to anyone or property at the school"

"There was no indication he was making a bomb, or using a bomb or detonating a bomb"

but still "arrested ... on charges of having chemicals at his home that could be made into a bomb"

Re:I would not jump to conclusions....

[Rockoon]

it never goes into any detail about the student's behavior

Yes it does. It says he was drawing weapons. Thats it. Thats the behavior. You are reading more into it because it violates the senses that drawing weapons in a notebook is a "behavior."

I've read 4 or 5 news articles on this now.

More extensive articles go into some of the background here. This is a school district that is "counseling students following last Friday’s shooting in Connecticut"

Let me lay down what else they are doing (also from news articles:)

1) cameras inside and outside each school;
2) one armed school resource officer in each building;
3) a lobby guard that runs the identification of each visitor to each school;
4) proximity card readers for staff members, who must swipe their cards before gaining access to the building; and
5) security officers at each school 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

They are obviously hyper-reacting. Way over the top. 24/7/365 security, armed guards, "papers please" ... they are doing it all.

Re:No harm done

[kqc7011]

Have they checked the schools MSDS sheets for chemicals that if spilled or combined with others could be hazardous. Let's see if they have any chlorine and ammonia on hand, or maybe some sodium hydroxide in the bathroom cleaning closet. If they do, they better call the police to haul the school staff off.

Re:No harm done

[DJRumpy]

Irritating. Even the mother didn't seem to clarify what was found, or the newspaper purposely stripped the info. I've read at least 30 stories on this and the are all very list on info including the mothers response below.

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/20385390/fi [myfoxphilly.com]

Hell, I could have been that kid.

I have serious doubts about the picture sorce myself since it is not cited and there is a link about a weapons ban found below the story. If so, that's pretty dispicale.

Re:Great!

[Seumas]

Though, in the 1980s, we had a librarian in grade school who would punish you for drawing even the most crude weapon (especially a gun), the fact is that every little boy spends almost his entire childhood drawing guns, bombs, explosions, tanks, and massive battle scenes, and other gory and violent depictions. It's called being a boy. And last I checked, nobody has ever been physically harmed by a drawing or a painting.

Re:Great!

[CodeBuster]

Exactly. It's often argued by some, especially those predisposed to emotional arguments designed to short circuit logic and reason, that a new law or rule ought to be enacted merely because it offers some forlorn hope of additional safety or security. But in their haste to do "something" these same people rarely stop to consider the unintended consequences of their actions and in so doing they fail to recognize that their new law or rule is a far greater and more pernicious evil than that which they hope to eradicate. Indeed, it's the natural tendency of society to take for granted the good things in life while regarding every misfortune that befalls them as unnecessary and preventible if only we had the right rules. Of course, before these people are finished making their new rules, the security that they'd hoped to receive as the price for their surrendered freedoms has long since failed to materialize while they've made slaves to the state of us all.

Re:No harm done

[pla]

If this article from a local rag is indeed showing a picture of what they found, this may have been warranted.

No, actually, that counts as the entire problem - Not warranted.

Even if this kid planned to blow up something big, the entire chain of events that led to police finding whatever they found make it all the fruit of the poisonous tree [wikipedia.org].

IANAL, but drawing pictures of guns just doesn't count as sufficient evidence to get a warrant in any sane world.


Fuck, what the hell has this country come to? I used to keep a goddamned "kill list" in junior high - And somehow, I made it through our country's socialized babysitting prisons without going on a murderous rampage. "Wishful thinking" doesn't equal "homicidal intent". Funny, that.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:No harm done

[Anonymous Coward]

Photo is a stock photo of a Palestinian bomb making operation: http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=NOEL%20JABBOUR&showact=results&sort=relevance&intv=None&sh=10&kwstyle=or&adte=1356199851&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&rids=54170f7043e5da11af9f0014c2589dfb&dbm=PY2000&page=1&xslt=1&mediatype=Photo

Re:No harm done

[choongiri]

Confirmed: that photo has NOTHING to do with this story. It's an Associated Press photo from the 1998 discovery of a bomb factory in the West Bank:

http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=98011301827 [apimages.com]

"Plastic containers holding explosives and the chemicals used to manufacture them, are stored in a room in the town of Nablus in what is described as the biggest bomb factory ever discovered in the West Bank, Tuesday Jan. 13 1998. Police said that three quarters of a ton of explosives were seized and four activists from the Muslim militant Hamas group were arrested."

That's truly disgustingly shameful photo selection by the NY Daily Times to try to stoke fear.

Re:No harm done

[russotto]

The picture I see is a bunch of yellow containers and a pan filled with a white powder. Photo credit is "NOEL JABBOUR/AP". A search for Noel Jabbour reveals a Palestinian photographer "based in Berlin and Nazareth". Unless this is some OTHER "Noel Jabbour", I'm guessing the picture has nothing to do with the story.

A search for "Noel Jabbour" on apimages.com turns up a very similar picture, labeled "mideast palestinian bomb factory". The Daily News image is a crop from that image. In other words, the NY Daily News is sensationalizing the story. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

Re:No harm done

[TheLink]

Mod parent up! nydailynews should be punished for the misleading picture.

Yikes! No guns. He drew a picture of a glove.

[Telephone Sanitizer]

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/20385390/fi [myfoxphilly.com]

He drew a glove with flames on it.

From what I've read elsewhere, he was an honors student, a scout and he played on a Christian basketball team.

What profile does that fit?