By Tony Gonzalez
Published: December 30, 2008
Virginia State Police have thwarted a plot to kill students and faculty at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind in Staunton.
Tipped by administrators Sept. 24, police responded with an all-night investigation that would eventually lead to charges this month against two teen students, said Lt. Joe Rader, investigations supervisor for the state police central division based in Appomattox.
The unnamed teens, from Augusta County and Arlington, planned to attack a dorm in late October, Rader said.
“Whether or not they would have been able to commit the act, we’ll never know because we intervened,” he said. “It could have been very serious. It would have been very tragic.”
Rader credited the VSDB staff for bringing the threats to police attention and assisting with interpreters during questioning. Police interviewed students and staff, learning that the suspects had “talked a lot about what they were going to do,” Rader said. They face Class 3 felony charges of conspiracy to commit murder of two or more people.
“They had a plan of what they were going to do and how they were going to go about doing it,” Rader said. “We were able to identify some potential victims.”
Rader said the suspects — one is 14, the other’s age is unknown — were both hearing-impaired and had prior discipline problems at the school. School officials could not be reached for comment.
The teens were formally charged earlier this month in Staunton Juvenile and Domestic Relations court, Rader said, and are scheduled for a hearing Jan. 5. The teens are not in custody.
VSDB, established by the Virginia General Assembly in 1838, educates deaf and blind students. The East Beverly Street campus includes four dormitories. According to the school’s Web site, campus security reserves the right to use video surveillance.
this is insane!
