On Thursday, we ran a story about a threat at the high school. A student apparently saw a gun in a trash can.
The school safety plan was enacted. Officials began an investigation and parents were notified.
“We do take this, and any safety situation seriously and will continue to investigate the matter,” Principal Tom Cochran said. “We have made the Marysville Police Department aware, and they will be working with us.”
A school resource officer went to the trash can and saw the gun, apparently an airsoft-style gun with an orange plastic tip.
When I first heard about this I was surprised. I thought this was a terrible overreaction.
“Don’t waste time with a safety protocol, just go to the can and look at the gun,” I thought. “If it is a real gun, if there is a real threat, then lock down the school and investigate.”
That way, when it is proved to be a toy or a joke or a folded piece of paper or nothing but a shadow, the issue does not draw unneeded attention. I have read other stories in the past, from local and other school districts, and had a similar reaction.
Then I read the story of 16-year-old Kyle Plush. Former Marysville Journal-Tribune reporter Taylor Evans told me about the story. Plush was a tennis player for Seven Hills School, where Evans now works.
The boy was in the back of a minivan, leaning over the back seat trying to reach something in the van’s trunk well. As he reached, the seat apparently began to fold and pinned him hanging upside down, with his body weight and the weight of the van’s backseat on his chest.
Plush wasn’t able to dial his phone, but asked Siri to call 911. Once on the line with a dispatcher, Plush begged someone to send help, explaining that he was going to die soon if he didn’t get help.
The call was apparently difficult to hear. The dispatcher notified first responders but they were unable to find the vehicle.
When he called a second time, dispatchers apparently let the boy talk, but did not acknowledge him. While the technology is available, officials did not track the phone making the call.
Hours later, the boy’s parents used the technology to find the boy, dead, stuck inside the van’s well.
I am not casting blame on the dispatcher as I do not know the full story. I don’t know exactly what happened, what she did to help or what more she could have done.
What I do know is that in an emergency, time is of the essence. It is much better to treat a trivial incident seriously, than to treat an emergency as a joke and learn you were wrong.
Maybe I was the only one who read the gun story from the school and thought it was a bit of an overreaction, but I doubt it.
I hope those who felt this was too much, me included, take a moment to think next time about how important it is to take “any safety situation seriously.” Our kids are too important to do any different.
-Mac Cordell is a reporter for the Journal-Tribune.