An Ohio middle school student has been charged with 'inducing a public panic' after he told a California teen during an Xbox Live chat that he was going to bring a gun to his school. The California teen's father caught wind of the alleged plot and alerted the FBI. A search warrant was issued, and police hauled the boy off, along with his Xbox 360 and other "items of evidentiary value." He has since been released to his parents; but it's unclear if his Xbox was returned.The event has seemingly triggered a similar threat at the local high school, where police have begun patrolling school grounds in an effort to thwart potential violence. "Our suspicion is that the [Xbox Live] incident trickled over to the high school," said Teays Valley Superintendent Jeff Sheets. No further arrests have been made.
[Thanks, Ian]
















(Page 1) Reader Comments
Reply
Reply
Reply
"But it's unclear if his Xbox was returned"
Always focused on the main issues aren't we?
Games! FTW
Reply
Or the fact that in our post-911 world, something an FBI agent hears from a father, from his son, from a stranger, over a headset, is considered "probable cause" to supersede the Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights.
Reply
Reply
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,201866,00.html
Reply
Yeah, developers aren't under enough flak for violence in games as it is, they're SERIOUSLY going to rush to make games involving schools and guns.
Reply
tell that to the Russians
Reply
Russia is not part of Europe, dumbass.
Reply
Reply
According to a 1969 Supreme Court ruling you don't lose your constitutional rights when you are in school:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_v._Des_Moines
Reply
Reply
That case is in regards to the powers of the school, not the powers of the FBI. Besides that, free speech doesn't include things like this: the classic line that free speech does not give you the right to scream "Fire!" in a crowded theater (unless of course there is actually a fire in the theater). This is why they cite it as 'inducing a public panic'. Try again.
Reply
@10 huh ? O_o -half of europe is russia O_O http://www.explorecrete.com/crete-maps/images/europe.gif
if you meant the European Union taht's another story .
Reply
well I'll be damned. rofl @ me:P
Reply
you shod read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beslan_school_hostage_crisis
and @ 16 you learn each day something new :)
Reply
Anticrawl
Reply
Reply
How is this not covered under the law? Kid makes a threat that he's going to bring a gun to school, police bring him into custody, obtain warrant, find the gun, release the kid into custody of parents.
So you wish that this had happened to you when you were in high school so that you would be pitied and scorned by your community, in addition to bringing a protracted and expensive legal battle to your family?
You're either a retard or an attention whore.
Reply
Reply
Reply
I'm not sure how you came about the conclusion that I am a "retard." There is a great deal of flawed logic in your thought. My wish is to simply protect the rights of citizens using my resources and even putting myself in the crossfire to do so. There would be a monetary cost if you wanted to get technical, but no one involved would feel the affects of it. You know, joint efforts, law firms, support donations, human rights groups.
Well I'm off to play violent video games on my 360 and talk trash. Hope I make it through the night *crosses fingers*. Probably shouldn't make anymore comments about hurting people with my gaming speakers, basketball, baseball bat or paintball gun. I like my hobbies and wouldn't want someone taking my things.
Anticrawl
Reply
Reply
Posted at 7:44AM on Jan 25th 2007 by JonFitt"
Sorry dude, Euro-n00bs just make easy targets...
Reply
Reply
Reply
The other day I was talking on Xbox Live and I told a complete stranger I was going to work overtime without my bosses consent. The next day I awoke to the department of labor, who proceeded to break both of my legs and put my car up on blocks.
Anticrawl
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Guy: "But I meant in the game, as Marcus, with my chainsaw bayonet!"
FBI: "Sure you did, kid, sure you did. Enjoy Gitmo!"
Reply
Reply
Yeah there really is very little difference between threats of a school shooting and talking about your "frags" or whatever on a game. Man, The Institution is totally whack here!
Reply
Reply
i bet if the kid really DID shoot up his schools you assholes would be complaining about "WHY DIDN'T THEY DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT"
Heres the thing with the the FBI or ANY Agency like that
Everything thing they do or choice they make, either saves and or risk human lifes
Reply
You are want to be proactive....go to your neighborhood schools and denounce this stupidity instead of claiming " you are putting yourself in the crosshairs" I could care or less if he had an airgun. Now if he would have taken that airgun to school and someone mistaken it for a real gun .. then what?
One of my civil liberties is to send my kids to school without the threat of some knucklehead bringing a gun (airgun) to school. There is no need for it. Can you think of one? Didn't think so. So whose liberties are being threatened? The kid that makes the dumb ass threat or the millions of parents peace of mind???
I applaud the parent that made the call...had he not and someones kid(s) got hurt.... can you imagine the public outcry??
Reply
"but it's unclear if his Xbox was returned."
Lawl
Reply
does that mean the 360 is recording our conversations!?
my tin-foil hat is useless now!!!
Reply
Reply
Error on the side of caution?
I'd rather not have the police on my ass if I talk in a private conversation on Live while drunk and spout off bullshit, because someone was paranoid and authorities think a _third-hand_ report is worth the time and my tax dollars to investigate and blow out of proportion enough to accuse me of inducing public panic.
From the original report, the only "public" that was panicked was the CA teen & father, and the authorities they contacted. It was only after the police got involved that there's "public panic" -- but as the report puts it, people are uneasy and tense, but not "fire in a theater" panicked.
Reply
Lol. You made my day....
@5
"from a stranger, over a headset" That's a good point really. I mean I could say I'm going to bring a gun to a school in L.A. and I live in Florida...would they end up shutting the school down. I'm not saying bomb and shooting threats are not worth looking into, but there are a lot of people on Live, and they talk a lot of smack.
Reply
Reply
1. Why did the dad go straight to the FBI as opposed to, oh, maybe the school and the police?
2. What did they need the actual XBox for? It doesn't archive old conversations on the hard drive, does it?
3. Why do people keep going on and on and on about how terrible it supposedly is "in this day and age..." when "this day and age" has the LOWEST teenage crime rate in American history. (People who insist otherwise need to lay off the ABC "Action News" televised tabloids and pick up some *real* journalism.)
Reply