Despite threat of attack, some see just a good kid
By ERIC HSU, northjersey.com from the Web, April 4, 2005
FAIR LAWN, NJ Apr. 2 -- The 16-year-old student accused of threatening a "massacre" at Fair Lawn High School quoted the Columbine shooters on a Web site he created and listed groups of people he hated, including teachers, gays, obese people and bullies, police said Friday.
But students and neighbors who know the boy described him as quiet and even helpful.
Concerns arose several weeks ago when the teenager brought a stun gun to school.
He was suspended from school last week and was arrested Thursday after police said they discovered a Web site the student created that showed him "threatening a massacre" at the high school.
The student was charged Thursday with possessing a prohibited weapon and making terroristic threats.
He had his first appearance Friday before a family court judge in Hackensack.
He was sent to the Juvenile Detention Center in Paramus, said Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Denyse Coyle Galda.
He is scheduled for another hearing Monday. Juvenile hearings are closed to the public, and the teen's identity is being withheld because of his age.
The student's parents, who were reached at their home, declined to comment.
Jeanine Hayek, a student government adviser and social studies teacher at the high school, said that though the news could be unsettling, she believed students and staff were taking it in stride.
"Nobody's in a panic," Hayek said. "We understand the administration is handling it, and we think it's being handled in the right manner."
But the discovery of the threats has come close on the heels of a school shooting last week in Red Lake, Minn., where 16-year-old Jeff Weise shot and killed 10 people, including seven at his high school and himself.
The Web site the Fair Lawn student created has been taken down, but police gave the first glimpse of its contents Friday.
The site quoted news accounts of things the two young shooters reportedly said during their spree in Columbine, Colo., in 1999, said police Sgt. Robert Boyle.
Boyle said the student also listed groups of people that he disliked, including "teachers who talk for 45 minutes," overweight and gay people, and anyone who blocked his way in the hall.
"He said he has a lot of rage and has to let it go," Boyle said.
At Fair Lawn High School Friday, a few students expressed fears about what the student may have planned, and whether the school was safe.
But many students said they were surprised to learn of the charges, saying the teenager was a quiet kid who blended in.
"He liked to ride bikes," said Joe Braunworth, a junior who said he lived near the student and often saw him riding with friends.
Catherine Taski, who lives across the street from the student, said she was shocked by the news and said the boy was a good neighbor who sometimes helped her carry packages up her stoop.
"I think he needs counseling," Taski said. "I don't think he's a bad kid.”
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