192 lines
6.0 KiB
Plaintext
192 lines
6.0 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
------------------------------------
|
|
by James Harrison
|
|
UPI News Services
|
|
------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
MIDLAND (UPI) - Today, this
|
|
peaceful Texas town was shaken by
|
|
violent student action at a local
|
|
high school. Harry M. Truman High
|
|
School, of the 1200 block of Main,
|
|
was closed after students reported
|
|
seized control of the library and
|
|
some surrounding areas, local and
|
|
federal police said.
|
|
"We have information that
|
|
approixmately 40 students armed with
|
|
homemade and stolen weapons
|
|
attempted a coup yesterday
|
|
afternoon," said FBI investigator
|
|
Robert Harks. "They were
|
|
unsuccessful, but managed to take
|
|
control of the library and some
|
|
surrounding areas before state and
|
|
local police arrived," he said.
|
|
Harks added that although the
|
|
library was still under control of
|
|
the student group, which calls
|
|
itself The Freedom Coalition, plans
|
|
are underway to bring kids back to
|
|
school.
|
|
"The local school authorities
|
|
have assured me that the students
|
|
will be back to school by next
|
|
Monday," Harks said, "and I am sure
|
|
that by that time we will have
|
|
eliminated the threat that these
|
|
delinquent members of society pose
|
|
to our community."
|
|
Frank Hurman, Principal of
|
|
Truman High School, said that he
|
|
agreed with the actions of the
|
|
federal and local officers and would
|
|
cooperate fully.
|
|
"I think that these policemen
|
|
are doing a wonderful job of trying
|
|
to preserve order in a time like
|
|
this," he said, "and I am in full
|
|
agreement with the steps they are
|
|
taking and will help them to the
|
|
best of my ability."
|
|
Hurman said that he didn't know
|
|
"what got into those individuals" or
|
|
why they decided to take over the
|
|
library.
|
|
"I definitely feel that they
|
|
were targeting the library and our
|
|
librarians in some fashion," he
|
|
said. "I do not know why," Hurman
|
|
added.
|
|
Harks said that he was not sure
|
|
of the focus of the violence.
|
|
"At this time, it would be
|
|
premature to assume what their
|
|
objective is," he said. "As any
|
|
expert on this sort of situation
|
|
like myself knows, terrorists often
|
|
have motives that do not manifest
|
|
themselves immediately. On the
|
|
basis of this information, I cannot
|
|
tell you what they are after. I can
|
|
tell you that they are violent,"
|
|
said Harks.
|
|
According to police and federal
|
|
agents, a group of 30-40 students
|
|
gathered outside the library early
|
|
Wednesday morning, equipped with
|
|
backpacks that turned out to be full
|
|
of weapons.
|
|
Marsha Hendricks, a sophomore,
|
|
was one of the students who was at
|
|
the scene of the violence. She had
|
|
to fight back tears as she spoke
|
|
with reporters.
|
|
"There were these people, I
|
|
knew some of them," she said, "just
|
|
standing around (the library). And
|
|
I was talking to a friend, and we
|
|
were about to go into school, and I
|
|
looked over, and this guy just
|
|
pulled a gun out of his backpack."
|
|
Hendricks said that at that
|
|
point, the violence began.
|
|
"...everyone out there had a
|
|
gun, and one guy just blew the
|
|
security guard's head off. It was
|
|
awful. Then, they just broke in,
|
|
right into the library, and I heard
|
|
more shooting. I saw Mrs. Lambard
|
|
falling. I don't know what
|
|
happened after that. I ran. It was
|
|
a nightmare."
|
|
The security guard's body was
|
|
thrown from a second story window
|
|
earlier today, but police have not
|
|
yet released details. Lambard's
|
|
whereabouts are unknown.
|
|
John Fries was standing outside
|
|
the library when the shooting
|
|
started. He is the only witness to
|
|
a killing that has baffled police
|
|
investigators.
|
|
"I was standing outside, with
|
|
some friends, and I heard some
|
|
popcorn popping-noises. I looked
|
|
up, and I saw Mr. Huxley (a
|
|
librarian) standing by a window, and
|
|
then the window just...shattered,
|
|
and he fell down inside. He was
|
|
covered with blood," Fries said.
|
|
No one else actually saw the
|
|
shooting, say police. Fries is
|
|
adamant about it.
|
|
"See that window up there?" he
|
|
said, pointing. "It's all shot
|
|
out," said Fries. "That was where
|
|
they shot him. But all these police
|
|
dudes say is that there is no
|
|
evidence. I know what I saw."
|
|
Investigators still know
|
|
precious little about the case. All
|
|
that has been verified, said Harks,
|
|
was that there was an attack and
|
|
that there is at least one person
|
|
still shooting from the second story
|
|
of the library.
|
|
"There is at least one heavily
|
|
armed individual inside that
|
|
building," he said. "However, at
|
|
this time I cannot tell you how many
|
|
people or who was involved. Most of
|
|
the students left when the shooting
|
|
started. All that we have is the
|
|
testimony of several scared
|
|
teenagers, and I can't make arrests
|
|
on that."
|
|
Harks said that police are now
|
|
systematically searching for who
|
|
might be involved.
|
|
"We are calling homes," he
|
|
said, "but it will take time."
|
|
Investigators do not expect a
|
|
major break until at least Friday.
|
|
Earlier today, a tape with
|
|
demands supposedly from The Freedom
|
|
Coalition was sent to local
|
|
newcasters. On the tape was a list
|
|
of demands, including the ability to
|
|
talk and have group study in the
|
|
library, and to remove the power of
|
|
librarians across America.
|
|
Part of the tape was a caustic
|
|
criticism of America's librarians.
|
|
"We have experienced the
|
|
unfairness and cruelty of high
|
|
school librarians. You are the
|
|
people who give us detentions for
|
|
talking in the libraries, even
|
|
though it is necessary for our
|
|
studies. You hold too much power,
|
|
and it has corrupted you. In view
|
|
of this, we condemn your actions and
|
|
demand your removal," the tape said.
|
|
Although investigators insist
|
|
that the investigation is moving on
|
|
schedule, there are still skeptics.
|
|
"I think they're just wasting
|
|
time," said Elaine Hendricks, mother
|
|
of Marsha Hendricks, a witness to
|
|
the attack. "They're calling my
|
|
little girl a liar, ignoring what
|
|
she has to say, while some crazy
|
|
people out there are getting away
|
|
with murder. I mean it. There's no
|
|
excuse for this dawdling," said
|
|
Hendricks.
|
|
Fries agreed. "I know what I
|
|
saw," he said, "but they don't know
|
|
what they're seeing."
|
|
|
|
|