Campbell wary
after gun incident
The suspect, 17, faces
By Debra Barayuga and Craig Gima
criminal charges and
expulsion from schoolStar-Bulletin
Carrie Almarz has raised four kids in Ewa Beach, but says things are changing in the community.
Her nephew is going to Campbell High School and, after a police standoff at the school yesterday, she fears for his safety. "It's spooky, very scary." she said. "Things that happen on the mainland, it's happening here in Hawaii."
A police SWAT team surrounded a portable classroom at the school yesterday after a student brought a gun to class and allegedly threatened himself and others.
No shots were fired and no one was injured. The student gave himself up at 1:09 p.m. and walked out of the classroom empty-handed, police said. Police later recovered a loaded .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol.
Classes for Campbell's 2,300 students in grades 9-12 resumed this morning while an investigation continues.
School officials assured parents that the school was doing all it could to ensure student safety.
Principal Louis Vierra said the school will provide counseling services for students, teachers and staff members if they request it.
No other special actions were planned today, Vierra said, other than to summarize what occurred yesterday and announce the availability of counseling services over the school's public address system during the first period.
"We want them to refocus on the reason why they are here," he said.
"By and large, Campbell is a very safe school," said Alvin Nagasako, acting Leeward deputy superintendent. "But this is a wake-up call for all schools."
"The world's becoming a much more violent place," said Vierra. "Kids think the only way to resolve some of their problems is to go to an extreme."
There was no way school officials could have anticipated the student's actions, said sophomore Monica Risner. "It was his choice to bring the gun to school."
The student, a 17-year-old senior, allegedly pointed a gun at students and a vice principal and barricaded himself in the portable at about noon yesterday.
Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said the incident appeared to have stemmed from a domestic dispute, and not a dispute with students or the school.
"As serious as this matter was, it was a fairly isolated incident that doesn't occur frequently in our public schools," Knudsen said. "This is the first time in many years a weapon was used in a threatening manner."
The incident began at about 11:15 a.m. when the student apparently disagreed with a teacher. "Affected by recent stresses, this confrontation caused this student to display unusual behavior," a police report said.
He pulled out a gun and asked the teacher to leave the classroom, police said.
But first, the teacher evacuated her classroom, Knudsen said.
At least three people -- including a younger brother of the suspect and a female teacher -- stayed behind to attempt to reason with the student and later walked out on their own.
Sophomore Anna Frederick said she saw the suspect with the gun before the standoff began. "He was showing it to his friends, you know, cool-kine," she said.
Risner and two classmates were rushing to class after lunch when they saw the suspect walking nonchalantly by, the gun at his side.
"It freaked me out," she said. "I was thinking about the shootings on the mainland."
Frederick said a vice principal and a campus security attendant tried to take the gun away.
Vierra credited a campus security attendant with helping to defuse the situation. "The security who knew the kid well were able to talk him down," Vierra said.
Security has been particularly tight on campus since an incident a year ago in which an alumnus was stabbed by a student who claimed he had been threatened by gang members and feared for his life.
Students said the suspect belongs to the Ewa Beach Boys, a youth gang in the area.
But the suspect's grandmother said her grandson was "a good boy" and said he did not belong to a gang.
"We don't get trouble like that from him," she said.
The suspect was arrested on three counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, a firearms possession violation, and for having a gun with a defaced serial number. He was released last night from the Waianae police station.
The student also faces disciplinary action.
Any student who brings a gun to school faces expulsion for at least a year, according to a school board policy.
New schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu and the Leeward district superintendent visited the school yesterday.
"From what was reviewed, it did appear the school safety plan went into effect real well and everyone involved acted pretty admirably, especially the teacher who stayed behind to resolve the situation," Knudsen said.
In the 1996-97 school year, two firearms-related incidents were reported: Two episodes in 1997
January 1997: A homemade explosive device went off at Kaiser High School at the end of morning recess. No one was injured and few were around during the explosion. No suspects were identified.
