A plot by two fifth graders at Fort Colville Elementary to kill a student was uncovered last week. The boys had brought a knife and a handgun to school and allegedly planned to carry out the murder of a fellow student. The plot was uncovered after a fourth grader, who witnessed one of the boys handling the knife on the morning school bus, told a school official. The small town of Colville, Wash. was unnerved by what could have happened. Six days later, Spokesman-Review reporter Tom Clouse was able the wrangle the court documents, which detailed the boys plans. Clouse posted the story around 4 p.m. Wednesday. As I read it, my jaw dropped at the details. The story also said that a community meeting to talk about school safety would be held at 6:30 p.m. An hour and a half drive later, I settled in for the meeting. At one point the school official told the crowd: “…that some of you have read the court document details on The Spokesman-Review website.” That’s when smartphones in the audience raised up in unison, and when parent Christy Gorst caught my eye. I knew what she was about to read. I raised my camera just a she reacted to a chilling part in the story. She told me later that it was this passage that stopped her cold: “If I find out who told them about our weapons I’m going to kill them,” one of the boys was overheard by a police detective saying to the other as they waited for transport to a juvenile detention facility in Spokane. “I don’t care when I get out of jail I’m going to come back and kill them.” What I find most interesting about this photo is how the power of mobile is showcased in all its full glory here. It is a wake up call to print publications who still think their audience is waiting for the newspaper to hit the porch in the morning.
