From staff and wire reports
In the wake of the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy at a Madison middle school, counselors from Limestone County Schools were helping students there try to work through the trauma, an official said.
Meanwhile, Limestone officials also are trying to learn what they can from the Friday shooting at Discovery Middle School.
Madison students returned to school Monday, creating makeshift memorials to their slain classmate as another student facing a murder charge remained in custody.
Students left stuffed animals and hand-lettered signs around the school, where ninth-grader Todd Brown was shot to death in a hall during a class change.
School officials met with each grade to discuss what had happened.
“It was a good day,” Police Chief Larry Muncey said. “We had some anxiety. A lot of students, probably more parents, were worried about today.”
The 14-year-old ninth grader charged with murder in the slaying was held at a juvenile facility, and Assistant District Attorney Tim Gann said a judge ordered the youth to remain in custody. The suspect’s name has been withheld because he is a juvenile.
The judge set a hearing for Feb. 17 on prosecutors’ motion to have the boy tried as an adult. “The outcome of that hearing will determine what happens next,” Gann said.
An attorney for the youth did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Muncey said authorities were trying to determine a motive for the killing and were checking out numerous possibilities, including whether the shooting might have been related to gang activity.
But authorities told parents during a meeting Sunday they might never know what prompted the shooting. The city school superintendent, Dee Fowler, said the slaying was “not a Columbine-type incident or a Virginia Tech-type incident (and) not a distraught individual seeking to harm other individuals.”
“It was an individual making a singular tragic choice,” he said.
About 1,000 students attend Discovery. Absenteeism was more than twice the normal rate, but a surprise winter storm caused travel problems and could have kept some students at home.
Brown’s funeral is scheduled for noon Friday.
Limestone attends briefing
Although Limestone Schools already have a school-wide safety plan, which deals with such events as shootings, school officials went to Discovery Middle School Sunday to learn more.
“A delegation of Limestone County Schools employees went to Bob Jones for their community briefing, which involved the school system, police and mayor,” said Mike Owens, assistant superintendent for Limestone County Schools. “It was informative and went a long way in showing the community what coordination went into the response to Discovery. We also had a team of school counselors report to Madison City schools (Monday) to help with counseling or other student services.”
Limestone’s own safety plan
In Limestone County, each local school already has a safety plan, Owens said.
“Each of these plans has a section dealing with situations such as Discovery experienced last Friday,” he said. “Each of those plans is reflective of the local emergency response services available to that particular school. Therefore what is planned for Ardmore would be different than what is planned for Clements.”
Local agencies, including the Sheriff's Department, local police departments, fire departments, rapid responders and others, are incorporated into the individual school plans, he said. Each plan outlines staff responsibilities, depending on the type of emergency, and students have a designated collection and release area, Owens said.
Transportation Director Darryl Adams serves as the county’s director of school safety.
