Hats off to law enforcement for averting a mass shooting at Wooten

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom was asking how our district was handling this after seeing on the national news. That was the first I had heard of it! Did MCPS send out a message and I just missed it?

Maybe Wootton parents got a message, but I genuinely don't think there's a rationale for sending an all-MCPS message for a threat that never got beyond the planning stage. This is a genuinely awful situation, in which a profoundly mentally ill young person had their violent plans thwarted by a combination of a brave informant, robust gun control laws, and collaboration between local and federal authorities.

But the fact that it is national news? That's just sensationalism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom was asking how our district was handling this after seeing on the national news. That was the first I had heard of it! Did MCPS send out a message and I just missed it?

When an incident becomes a police issue, MCPS isn’t allowed to communicate about it unless directed/approved by police. People have complained about this before and the process has been discussed at BOE meetings. Any messages sent by a principal to the school community have to go through central office approval, and that takes time. There are some standard types of messaging that can be sent (counselors are available if students need to discuss), but principals get criticized for not providing details. It’s a no-win situation for MCPS.

Once an incident has made the news, I don’t see why MCPS has to repeat information publicly available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom was asking how our district was handling this after seeing on the national news. That was the first I had heard of it! Did MCPS send out a message and I just missed it?

My kids go to Wootton and we got nothing. I know he hasn’t been a student since Fall 2022 but still, a lot of students knew him. We had news and police outside the school last week. Not one peep from MCPS or the principal.

Not even a "will have psychologists or school counselors are available" kinda message?

[Anonymous]

Did the former WHS student, who has now been arrested, threaten other MCPS HS too this week? As reported on this forum, another HS had police cars at the school - which could be just another day/typical sighting at the high schools, dunno.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USA has freedom of speech and does not criminalize thoughts, not even dark thoughts. Movies, songs, and books about violent acts are not violent crimes.

Ye didn't hurt anyone. Between hospitalizations, gun control, and whatever else, the private writings and web searches didn't harm anyone or create imminent fanger.

I can't comment regarding public social media posts because I don't know what was posted (but I do know several current and former government officials who have certainly posted worse.)

In this case, the system worked, and officials intervened before mentally unwell person attempted to harm anyone. That doesn't mean a crime was necessarily committed or a long prison term is warranted. It's a great thing if we have systems in place to prevent violent acts and redirect people to the care they need.

Thoughtful post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read that the parents are Chinese PHD Statisticians. As someone who grew up in a Chinese household, I am not surprised to read that one of the parents dismissed everything as "fine" and that the kid would get therapy if he needed it - this was prior to the kid being taken into custody.
There is a lot of undiagnosed psychological issues in the Chinese population because of the need to maintain face. The culture's intense focus on studying and academics loses sight of the need to develop as a social being. My kid is studying in Asia this year and she and her American classmates still don't know how to react to the incredibly socially awkward kids at their college - so shy that they refuse to look at you, sometimes turn their entire body away, pretend you are not there....
This poor kid probably didn't get a whole lot of direction on social cues from his parents growing up.

This is really racist. You're making huge generalizations about a country you know nothing about. The child is American.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read that the parents are Chinese PHD Statisticians. As someone who grew up in a Chinese household, I am not surprised to read that one of the parents dismissed everything as "fine" and that the kid would get therapy if he needed it - this was prior to the kid being taken into custody.
There is a lot of undiagnosed psychological issues in the Chinese population because of the need to maintain face. The culture's intense focus on studying and academics loses sight of the need to develop as a social being. My kid is studying in Asia this year and she and her American classmates still don't know how to react to the incredibly socially awkward kids at their college - so shy that they refuse to look at you, sometimes turn their entire body away, pretend you are not there....
This poor kid probably didn't get a whole lot of direction on social cues from his parents growing up.

This is really racist. You're making huge generalizations about a country you know nothing about. The child is American.

Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom was asking how our district was handling this after seeing on the national news. That was the first I had heard of it! Did MCPS send out a message and I just missed it?

My kids go to Wootton and we got nothing. I know he hasn’t been a student since Fall 2022 but still, a lot of students knew him. We had news and police outside the school last week. Not one peep from MCPS or the principal.

This is not true. Mr. Nelson sent out a message the day the news broke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did the former WHS student, who has now been arrested, threaten other MCPS HS too this week? As reported on this forum, another HS had police cars at the school - which could be just another day/typical sighting at the high schools, dunno.

No, different student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom was asking how our district was handling this after seeing on the national news. That was the first I had heard of it! Did MCPS send out a message and I just missed it?

My kids go to Wootton and we got nothing. I know he hasn’t been a student since Fall 2022 but still, a lot of students knew him. We had news and police outside the school last week. Not one peep from MCPS or the principal.

This is not true. Mr. Nelson sent out a message the day the news broke.

It’s the same message that was sent out to my kid in ES in Wootton cluster. Guessing MCPS just gave the same message for the principals to send to everyone in the Wootton cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read that the parents are Chinese PHD Statisticians. As someone who grew up in a Chinese household, I am not surprised to read that one of the parents dismissed everything as "fine" and that the kid would get therapy if he needed it - this was prior to the kid being taken into custody.
There is a lot of undiagnosed psychological issues in the Chinese population because of the need to maintain face. The culture's intense focus on studying and academics loses sight of the need to develop as a social being. My kid is studying in Asia this year and she and her American classmates still don't know how to react to the incredibly socially awkward kids at their college - so shy that they refuse to look at you, sometimes turn their entire body away, pretend you are not there....
This poor kid probably didn't get a whole lot of direction on social cues from his parents growing up.

This is really racist. You're making huge generalizations about a country you know nothing about. The child is American.

I disagree. I am Chinese American, born and raised here. I am also second generation. There are many immigrant Chinese who feel this way about mental health. They deny it is an issue. The immigrants feel their sole purpose in life is to give their kids a better life. And that is through education. At all costs. Scrimping and saving to buy in a certain school district, paying for tutoring, pay for activities to give their kid the best leg up on attend an Ivy League school. Maintaining face is very important and a top priority. Getting into a T25 school is the top priority.

Looks like these parents did try to help their kid. Hope he finally gets it now.