I'm forwarding a link to this thread to our school's SRO right now. I encourage other APS elementary parents to do the same.

Ive got an APS elementary kid and this is terrifying from every single angle.

The OP's reluctance to take action is mind-boggling. You better believe if my kid was involved in any way, the police would have been called immediately after the phone call from the school. And even without involvement, if I knew that this was going on at my child's school, he wouldn't return until the situation had been fully resolved.

Has anyone contacted ACPD yet?

Anonymous wrote:School called us yesterday evening.
I find it hard to believe a 9 yo would have access to a gun. Possible but not probable. But you are right, I do not know for sure. I believe the school thinks it is serious enough and they are investigating. Remember, this info is obtained from 9 yo kids. He said/she said. I felt comfortable enough to send my kid to school today. As did the other parent I am in contact with. We googled his parents and they seem responsible enough (hold respectable high executive position in major govt dept). I really want to give the school a chance to handle it.

WOW! You post this situation on DCUM, and then you do not listen to what over 80% of the posters on all these pages are suggesting you do?!?! Did you talk to the school counselor? The principal? Isn't your daughter very upset about this? Have you not followed up with the school by now?

And 9 year olds can get their hands on guns if one is kept in the house. No, we do not know for certain whether he really has one, but there is no way I would dismiss this. It really doesn't matter what his parents do.

I am completely APPALLED at how OP is handling this, both for the sake of her own child and others.

OP. Would you please tell us which school this is.

Anonymous wrote:School called us yesterday evening.
I find it hard to believe a 9 yo would have access to a gun. Possible but not probable. But you are right, I do not know for sure. I believe the school thinks it is serious enough and they are investigating. Remember, this info is obtained from 9 yo kids. He said/she said. I felt comfortable enough to send my kid to school today. As did the other parent I am in contact with. We googled his parents and they seem responsible enough (hold respectable high executive position in major govt dept). I really want to give the school a chance to handle it.

Please do some research on children having access to guns. Your beliefs do not comport with the facts.

https://www.bradycampaign.org/our-impact/resources/the-real-story-behind-school-shootings

Anonymous wrote:School called us yesterday evening.
I find it hard to believe a 9 yo would have access to a gun. Possible but not probable. But you are right, I do not know for sure. I believe the school thinks it is serious enough and they are investigating. Remember, this info is obtained from 9 yo kids. He said/she said. I felt comfortable enough to send my kid to school today. As did the other parent I am in contact with. [b]We googled his parents and they seem responsible enough (hold respectable high executive position in major govt dept). I really want to give the school a chance to handle it.[/b]

OP, I assume this is you. Thank you for the update. But those two points above are ...GAHHH, I don't know what to say. Kids who want to get their hands on guns kept in the home will FIND A WAY TO DO THAT. Kids are much smarter than we give them credit for being when it comes to stuff like that. And what kind of assumptions are you making about the parents that they are responsible gun owners? Have you SPOKEN TO THEM ABOUT THIS? And finally, I simply do not understand where you're coming from re: "giving the school a chance to handle this" -- you are still doing that even if you contact that police yourself. I think it's called due diligence? Your child's name is on a freaking KILL LIST! The school can work it out their way, and as a concerned parent (which I assume you are?) you can work it out your way. Also, IT'S NOT JUST YOUR KID AT RISK. Again, this is a public health issue. There are hundreds of other kids at the same school with your kid, and this other kid who has a list of kids he WANTS TO KILL. Do you really want to see APS as the next Sandy Hook? Look, I get not freaking out about every little thing that goes on at with our kids at school, but honestly, if ever there was a time to freak out THIS MIGHT BE IT.

Signed,
Fellow APS parent who is really not at all pleased with this situation and the way OP is handing it

Anonymous wrote:School called us yesterday evening.
I find it hard to believe a 9 yo would have access to a gun. Possible but not probable. But you are right, I do not know for sure. I believe the school thinks it is serious enough and they are investigating. Remember, this info is obtained from 9 yo kids. He said/she said. I felt comfortable enough to send my kid to school today. As did the other parent I am in contact with. We googled his parents and they seem responsible enough (hold respectable high executive position in major govt dept). I really want to give the school a chance to handle it.

Based on a google search of his parents, you've decided it's unlikely the kid has access to a gun? Really? I'm glad you are comfortable with the risk of sending your daughter to school, but what about the rest of us whose kids could get hit with a stray bullet in the hallway or cafeteria? I would take this much more seriously. And please, tell us what school this is!

School called us yesterday evening.
I find it hard to believe a 9 yo would have access to a gun. Possible but not probable. But you are right, I do not know for sure. I believe the school thinks it is serious enough and they are investigating. Remember, this info is obtained from 9 yo kids. He said/she said. I felt comfortable enough to send my kid to school today. As did the other parent I am in contact with. We googled his parents and they seem responsible enough (hold respectable high executive position in major govt dept). I really want to give the school a chance to handle it.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand OPs reluctance to name the school, WTF?? I am about to call the Arlington police and have them investigate every school in the county until we can figur out where the problem is!

APS parent here, and I fully support this course of action. OP, we know you don't spend all day hanging out on DCUM, but please let us know what you've done since your initial post this morning if anything. I seriously can't believe anyone would downplay a situation like this given all we have been through as a society since Columbine.

I smell an exaggeration by parents who were embarrassed when their children were outed for bullying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You started this thread at 10 am this morning after school started. Given how much you'd already learned about the situation, it doesn't seem likely to me that you got the phone call from the administration, talked to your daughter about the kill list, and talked to other parents whose kids' names were on the list in the hour and a half or so since school started, so I'm going to start with wondering why, if you knew this was all happening, did you send your child to school knowing her name was on a kill list and not knowing what the administration was doing to keep them safe?

It's such a fundamental question, I'm having a hard time imagining this thread is for real.

Your timeline is wrong.

How so? OP first posted at 10:19 this morning with all of the information stated above, except perhaps whether she actually talked to some of the other parents (it felt implied to be, but I realize OP didn't actually state it).

Anonymous wrote:You started this thread at 10 am this morning after school started. Given how much you'd already learned about the situation, it doesn't seem likely to me that you got the phone call from the administration, talked to your daughter about the kill list, and talked to other parents whose kids' names were on the list in the hour and a half or so since school started, so I'm going to start with wondering why, if you knew this was all happening, did you send your child to school knowing her name was on a kill list and not knowing what the administration was doing to keep them safe?

It's such a fundamental question, I'm having a hard time imagining this thread is for real.

Your timeline is wrong.

I don't understand OPs reluctance to name the school, WTF?? I am about to call the Arlington police and have them investigate every school in the county until we can figur out where the problem is!

Anonymous wrote:My child would not be at school, and would not be returned at school until I knew that boy had been dealt with. There is no way I would just trust the school to handle it.

Agreed. And I would refuse to leave the principal's office until I had met with the administration and the police. Together.

My child would not be at school, and would not be returned at school until I knew that boy had been dealt with. There is no way I would just trust the school to handle it.