Three days before 10 people died in a school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. a small group of students at Bowie High School in Maryland pulled a senior prank that the local police chief called "reckless."

They wore black masks covering their faces. Some wore dark clothing.

School was already in session when the band of students rushed into Bowie High School in Maryland armed with water guns and fireworks in a stunt that simulated a school shooting.

The pranksters sprayed students and staff with the squirt guns and set off fireworks in the hallway, the school's principal, Robynne W. Prince, wrote in a letter to parents after the incident.

"I don't know what had to go through somebody's mind to pull off a prank like this in this day and age, so close to Parkland and then two days later to have the shooting today down in Texas," Steve Birckhead, whose daughter, Emily, was burned by the fireworks, told WJLA in Washington, D.C.

"It's like these kids just weren't thinking."


Emily said she was standing in the hallway with a friend when they heard people yelling, "They're coming."

She said she got squirted with vinegar. "They lit something and as they threw it sparks were flying," she told WJLA. She said she got hit with sparks on her thumb and behind her ear.

She said most of the students knew it was a joke.

But there were people who didn't know what was going on, John Nesky, Bowie's chief of police, told The Kansas City Star.

The school resource officer on the property "encountered the smoke and called it in as smoke in the area," Nesky said. "It didn't go out as anything larger than that. It was ascertained pretty quickly that it was a prank."

Nesky said the school district will decide whether any charges will be filed against the students who pulled the stunt.

School officials aren't handling it as a joke.

"School administration is taking this incident very seriously and coordinating with local police; the students involved will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law" and will be disciplined according to the school's student code of conduct, Prince wrote in her letter to parents.

The code, according to The Bowie Blade-News, says that a long-term suspension of four to 10 days, or an extended suspension of 11 to 45 days, can be given “for behavior that significantly disrupts the educational environment in the school, on the bus or at school activities and affects the safety of others."

Graduation is scheduled set for May 30, according to the Blade-News.

“I am really disappointed by the dangerous and reckless behavior displayed by this small group of students,” Prince wrote. “I know they do not represent the student body of Bowie HS, nor do they represent all the amazing accomplishments of our senior class.”

Nesky said the prank was "extremely ill-advised. It was very reckless. There could have been some very bad consequences that unfolded. Luckily nothing like that happened.”

He said he's never encountered a prank like this. "Hopefully we won't again," he said.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news...9.html#storylink=cpy

Imagine if a school resource, i.e.- cop, had happened to be coming around the corner at the exact inopportune moment for these idiots.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Imagine if a school resource, i.e.- cop, had happened to be coming around the corner at the exact inopportune moment for these idiots.

Flipside - notice there would be nothing to stop them if they had ill intent.

quote:

"It's like these kids just weren't thinking."

Really? They're public high school students. They've been told 'what' to think over the past four years, not 'how' to think, and these people want to hold them responsible? They're nothing more than a product of their environment.

And yes, I also noted there was nothing even approaching security that would have stopped them had they truly been there to harm people. I'd say it is amazing the media missed that with this story, but then again, its the media.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Imagine if a school resource, i.e.- cop, had happened to be coming around the corner at the exact inopportune moment for these idiots.

As cynical, suspicious and mistrustful as I have become, I wonder if that isn’t the real purpose, to discourage discussion about arming teachers and officers in school in fear of exactly this kind of foolishness.

...and yet they are kids like these who demand my liberty be attenuated because they are so perspecacious.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Imagine if a school resource, i.e.- cop, had happened to be coming around the corner at the exact inopportune moment for these idiots.

As cynical, suspicious and mistrustful as I have become, I wonder if that isn’t the real purpose, to discourage discussion about arming teachers and officers in school in fear of exactly this kind of foolishness.

You know damn well that the cop would have been demonized no matter what action he took.

A few months in the county slammer would help stop a repeat performance especially if their fate hit the national news.

My buddies and I did that twice in HS, a week apart back in 1987. Several deserving freshman were thoroughly soaked.

I believe it helps to have a the entire group humming the Mission Impossible theme in unison. We were in and out in under a minute. Unfortunately Gumby was not recovered in either raid.

In today's climate? How stupid can you be?

Just think, in a few months these kids will be eligible to vote.

They should have their diplomas withheld. Maybe a few months in jail.

They need to have their asses beaten thoroughly.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Imagine if a school resource, i.e.- cop, had happened to be coming around the corner at the exact inopportune moment for these idiots.

As cynical, suspicious and mistrustful as I have become, I wonder if that isn’t the real purpose, to discourage discussion about arming teachers and officers in school in fear of exactly this kind of foolishness.

You know damn well that the cop would have been demonized no matter what action he took.

Sure but if the kids were shot up, the whole idea would be gone, and the grabbers would rejoice.

Idiots surrounded by idiots.

I doubt that they are even smart enough to realize that in a free State they likely would have been shot.

They need to withhold their diplomas and require mandatory community service for the summer. Once 200 hours or so has been completed, then they can collect their diplomas. No prom, no walking at graduation.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
My buddies and I did that ....

Made people believe they were under an attack by a gang of active killers?