Poking society in the eye with a sharp pointy stick
Thomas White sentenced to 10 years in state custody:
Thomas White was sentenced to be a 10 year guest of the state for bring an assault rifle to Memorial Middle School in Joplin, MO, firing a shot into the ceiling and trying to fire a shot at the principal.
In reality the 16-year-old White will be held in a juvenile facility until around his 21st birthday. At that time a hearing will be held to see if he’s eligible for release.
Joplin teen who fired gun inside middle school pleads guilty:
As you’ll recall Thomas White of Joplin, Missouri was arrested some years ago for firing an assault rifle inside of Memorial Middle School and trying to fire the gun at the principal but the gun jammed. The last we heard the now 16-year-old White was ruled incompetent to stand trial.
Recently he was found competent and entered into a plea agreement yesterday. Under the terms of the plea White has pleaded guilty to two assault charges and the remaining felony charges against him will be dropped.
Sentencing is set for September and more than likely White will be released before he becomes an adult.
Lawyers take school shooting case to Mo. Supreme Court:
The lawyers for Thomas White are appealing to the Missouri Supreme Court to have White tried as a juvenile.
Public defenders said Monday they have appealed to reverse a lower court’s July decision that that Thomas White, 14, should be tried as an adult. He faces four felony counts related to the school shooting last October and a charge of attempted escape from juvenile custody.
White was 13 at the time of the shooting at Memorial Middle School.
Nobody was injured when White allegedly fired a single shot into the ceiling. Prosecutors allege that White repeatedly tried to shoot the school’s principal but that the gun jammed.
The public defenders are just delaying the inevitable. Now all court proceedings will be postponed until the state supreme court issues a decision or reverts the case back to a lower court. My prediction is that the Missouri Supreme Court will more than likely refuse to hear the case.
If they do hear the case I’m sure they’ll get a bunch of tear stained letters from suburban housewives who think no teen is capable of murder. Just on that possibility alone I wouldn’t hear the case if I was a Justice.
Joplin seventh-grader bound over for trial in school shooting:
Let’s take a look at some of the testimony in yesterday’s preliminary hearing about Thomas White, the 14-year-old Memorial Middle School gunman.
During the preliminary hearing, two administrators testified that White pointed the assault rifle directly at them.
Steven Doerr, assistant superintendent of Joplin’s public schools, said White was pointing the rifle at another student in the school’s main hallway when Doerr saw him, ran up and told him to put the weapon down.
“He pulled the rifle down from his shoulder, pointed it up (toward the ceiling) and fired it,” Doerr testified. “The purpose of that, I think, was to demonstrate to me it was a real rifle and loaded and he meant business.”
Doerr said White told him to go away, so Doerr stepped into a nearby classroom and called 911.
Stephen Gilbreth, Memorial Middle School’s principal, said that when he heard the gunshot he ran out of his office and into the hall where White was standing. Gilbreth said he approached the boy, who was wearing a mask and hood, and repeatedly told him to put the rifle down and leave the building.
Gilbreth said he thought White was trying to fire the gun when the boy repeatedly jabbed the weapon toward the principal. Police later said the rifle jammed because of improper seating of an ammunition clip in the gun.
“The only thing he (White) said the whole time was, ‘Don’t make me do it,’” Gilbreth testified. “He was making a motion with the gun toward me. I thought he was trying to discharge the weapon but I couldn’t be sure.”
Gilbreth said White then headed down some stairs and out of the building, with the principal behind him repeatedly encouraging him to keep walking and leave the school. White stopped once to look back and moved the gun toward Gilbreth, the principal testified.
“I put my hands in my pockets (and) said, ‘I’m not doing anything, bud. Let’s just keep going,’” Gilbreth said.
This is why he needs to be tried as an adult. Clearly there was an intent to do harm. Only by the grace of God did the gun jam and no one was injured. It’s not like he brought a gun to school to show off to his friends and it accidentally discharged. If that happened I’d say yeah try him as a juvenile. But these actions show wanton malice on the part of White.
The max he’s looking at is 49 years. I doubt he’ll get anywhere near that much but I won’t lose any sleep if he does.
White hearing postponed again:
Thomas White, the 14-year-old gunman in the Memorial Middle School shooting, has had a preliminary hearing postponed because prosecutors have filed additional charges.
Jasper County Assistant Prosecutor Todd Hawkins said after reviewing police records, the prosecutor’s office filed two additional charges against White Monday afternoon – a second first degree assault charge and a felony charge of unlawful use of a weapon.
No word on how much that could potentially add to his sentence.
Father of Joplin school shooter pleads guilty:
Gregory White, the father of Memorial Middle school shooter Thomas White, has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Missouri to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
He’s looking at 10 years and $250K fine. A date for sentencing has not been announced yet and a hearing is being held today to see if Thomas White will be tried as an adult.
In our view: Memorial shooting:
Over the years on this site there has been a lot of debate about trying juveniles as adults for school shootings and the like. The latest debate rages over Memorial Middle School shooter Thomas White. To refresh your memory White brought his father’s MAC-90 assault rifle to school firing one round into the ceiling before the gun jammed preventing any bloodshed. A lot has been argued about his intent. I think this article should clear up his intent yet I’m sure the debate will still go on. This is from an editorial in the Joplin Globe which favors trying White as an adult but it reveals one fact that I didn’t know of until now…
We will disagree in this case, though every instance must be looked at separately. If anyone doubts the intentions of this disturbed young man, they should re-examine testimony in last week’s hearing in which a juvenile detention officer reported a conversation between White and another boy on Oct. 10, the day after the incident.
The boy remarked to White that he should have gone ahead and shot Principal Steven Gilbreth in the head.
“I would have shot him in the head,” White reportedly replied, “but my f—— gun wouldn’t shoot.”
Seventh-grader to stand trial as adult in middle school incident:
Thomas White will be tried as an adult. The 13-year-old who fired a MAC-90 assault rifle inside of Memorial Middle School in Joplin, Missouri has been certified by Jasper County Circuit Court Judge William Crawford to stand trial as an adult.
Crawford said he based his decision on the seriousness of the offense and the apparent violent nature of the boy’s actions.
Juvenile officer April Foulkes testified Wednesday that she recommended certification of White to stand trial as an adult because if he was tried in juvenile court, he could be released within six months to a year. She said if he was prosecuted as an adult and convicted, White could be sentenced to a dual-jurisdiction program of the state and placed at a secure-care center in Montgomery City until he turns 18.
Now let’s hear from the “He’s old enough to fire a gun but not old enough to go to prison” crowd�
White’s lawyer, Chuck Lonardo, argued at the hearing that the boy is too young to be certified for trial as an adult. He said while treatment of the boy is needed, such treatment could best be accomplished by adjudicating him as a juvenile.
He also said the court could order that White be kept in custody until he turned 18.
Lonardo called clinical psychologist Kevin Whisman to testify about a psychological evaluation of the boy that he conducted after the incident. Whisman said in the weeks leading up to the shooting, White was feeling increased pressure to improve his grades, mostly coming from his father, who the boy said had threatened to beat him with a belt if his grades did not improve.
As we know now the father is no prize either but suck it up kid. My dad threatened me with a belt all the time and I was bullied too. But just because your dad and other kids at school are assclowns it’s no reason to kill other people. Now you’ve basically thrown your life away and you must be held responsible for your actions.
Joplin middle-school student could stand trial as adult:
Authorities in Joplin Missouri are seeking to have Thomas White tried as an adult. White is the 13-year-old who brought a MAC-90 assault weapon to Memorial Middle School and fired a round into the ceiling. The gun luckily jammed before any bloodshed could occur.
In related news White’s father, Gregory, has pleaded guilty today to firearm possession. Since the elder White is a convicted felon he is not permitted to own firearms. He’s looking at a maximum of 10 years and a possible $250,000 fine.
Mother says Joplin school shooter was bullied:
The mother of Thomas White, the Memorial Middle School shooter, is claiming that her son was bullied…
Norma White said that her son would come home with injuries, crying and begging not to be sent back to the school. The Associated Press is not naming the boy because of his age.
“He came home once limping; he had been kicked by an older kid in the halls,” she said. “He came home once with a huge welt on his head from someone slamming his locker door on his head when they passed him in the hall. His hand was injured once too.”
“He did suffer from bullying. He would come home crying, begging us not to send him back to school.”
While I can definitely empathize it’s still no reason to bring a MAC-90 to school.
Mrs. White is placing a lot of the blame on herself�
Norma White did not directly blame the shooting on the bullying.
But she said she now wishes she had done more to raise the problem with school officials.
White spoke to her son’s teachers about the problem only a couple of times – during parent-teacher conferences – but never made a formal complaint to the administration. She said she advised her son to tell his teachers, but he often insisted nothing would be done about it.
It also didn’t help that White had such easy access to the guns that White’s father wasn’t supposed to have anyway.
Bad Breeders
Follow Trench!