PENDLETON — Lockers were searched and police were called at the Pendleton Heights Middle School on Sept. 11 as school officials got wind of a rumor indicating that a school shooting was to take place the following day.

Pendleton Police Chief Marc Farrer said the school resource officer, Sam Quiroga, learned of the threat and immediately pulled in the local police.

According to Farrer, the rumor, which turned out to be false, originated from a spat between two students.

Pendleton principal Dan Joyce said the irony of the situation was that the two students never actually spoke to one another, and fought through friends who relayed messages back and forth. “It was like, did you hear what such and such said about you?”

Soon, students were spreading rumors about an impending shooting. “The rumor was that a gang-oriented group was going to come to Pendleton and there was going to be shooting and fights,” Farrer said.

At least one student involved in the original argument had made false claims of ties to a gang, Joyce said. “They are what we call wannabes. There are students that want to emulate gang activity. We have one student that wants to emulate that, but there was no evidence of ties to a gang.”

Farrer said gang activity was not a threat in this situation, but shouldn’t be taken lightly. “There’s gangs everywhere. A group of five kids who live in the same neighborhood can call themselves a gang. We have gang activity in Pendleton just like every other town.”

Most activity, he said, involves students mimicking Hollywood versions of gang life. “A wannabe usually talks about what they’ve seen on TV .... Do we have kids that play that game? Yes. They walk the walk and talk the talk. Unfortunately, we live in a society that glamorizes it, so they think it’s cool.”

After interviewing the involved parties and searching lockers, Joyce and Farrer decided that the threat was false and that the rumor mill had caused unnecessary panic.

A week later, the rumor surfaced again just before the Pendleton homecoming football game.

A concerned resident wrote an e-mail to The Herald Bulletin last week, asking to remain anonymous, and indicating that a shooting would take place at Friday’s homecoming football game. “Friday is only two days away and if the principal thinks it is ‘just talk’ then he should think about Columbine.”

Despite having ruled out the possibility of a threat the week prior, Farrer and Joyce once again questioned students and determined that the rumor had simply been manipulated from its original form.

Instead of a shooting taking place on Sept. 12, it was now scheduled for Sept. 19, according to the rumor. “From that day, almost three weeks ago, the people picked up on the rumor and it fired back up again right before homecoming. We again met with all the possible suspects involved and the kids that had heard the stories and again, it went back to the previous incident,” Farrer said. “We looked into it. We were diligent in questioning everyone.”

Homecoming came and went without incident and no disciplinary action was taken against the two students who originally traded barbs, igniting the rumors of school violence, Joyce said. “There was never any wrongdoing. It was all rumor. The lion’s share of this problem has not been these two young men. It’s been all the other people that want to talk about it.”

Parents panicked during the initial days of the rumor, calling the police chief at work and home to try and find answers. Joyce said any rumors heard by parents should be addressed with school staff. “Anytime a parent hears something like this, please call and hear it from us. We can give you the details. This was much ado about nothing.”





Rumor timeline

Sept. 11: School and police learn of rumors indicating that a shooting will occur on Sept. 12. Students questioned and lockers searched. No evidence of planned violence found. Rumor determined to be false.

Sept. 12: Class carries on without incident.

Sept. 15-18: Rumor resurfaces and claims are made that shooting will occur on Sept. 19 at homecoming game.

Sept. 19: Homecoming game is played without incident.

Sept. 22: Students return to school without incident.