Student Who Alerted Authorities Comes Forward:
The Green Bay student that stopped the plot to attack East High School has come forward…
The student credited with stopping a conspiracy to attack Green Bay East High School came forward publicly Wednesday.
Matthew Atkinson, a senior at East High, says he knew it was the right thing to do. In the eyes of the mayor and school superintendent he is a hero, but the 17-year-old doesn’t see himself that way.
“I think of it as, I’m just saving my fellow students’ lives.”
The potentially life-saving move to tell authorities about an alleged Columbine-like plot wasn’t an easy one for him. Atkinson says he knew about the plot since at least last Wednesday, maybe sooner — the district attorney cautioned him and reporters not to go into detail about the case, which is under investigation — but he went home, and then he went to his mother.
He told her what he’d heard, and asked her what to do. She left it up to him. “I was told this, went home, and it was on my mind for a while. Told my mom about it and everything I had heard. She said, ‘Do the right thing. It’s up to you.’”
“This was in no way easy for Matt. I mean, he was very upset knowing about this and really needed to talk. I think it really just comes down to, like he said, do the right thing, think of your conscience, and that’s what he did,” mom Nancy Dury says.
The next morning, he went to his associate principal and told him what he knew.
Atkinson says he is overwhelmed and shocked to learn so many details of the alleged plot and about all of the weapons and ammunition police say they found at the suspects’ homes. He says now he realizes he did the right thing by telling.
The mayor, district attorney, and school administrators said they hope his coming forward sets a good example for other people to do what he did. The mayor went so far as to suggest creating a Matt Atkinson hero scholarship fund.
Atkinson’s mother says she hopes other parents and students can learn from her son so next time they, too, do the right thing.
Atkinson says, “Whether you think it’s going to happen or not, go for it, there’s no harm in telling somebody about it.”
Whether he considers himself a hero or not he did a good job. Also he’s absolutely right. If you know something about a plot like this you have to tell. Just think if Matthew Atkinson didn’t say anything he might have been a victim.
