(a re-post of a lost post called "Report from Columbia County")
I will let the cites describe what hapened:
(A/C = AugustaChronicle.com)
FBI
The Columbia County Seriff's Department in Appling, Georgia questioned two students of April 19, 1999(the day before Columbine) regarding death threats they reportedly had made at Evans High. Police seized guns at both boys homes as well as computers, and "Excalibur and Samurai-type swords". They boith were believed to practice some type of witchcraft, and they participated in LARP war games. They wore trench coats over their all-black outfits with combat boots. {Note that all of these characteristics were shared with the TCM in Colorado.}
The Georgia authorities said there was no connection to the events in Colorado, which was "contrary to many news reports fueled by rumor, that are currently circulating throughout the region." Early local media reports, however, said the two groups were in internet contact.
[FBI Report on Columbine, pg 8]
"From the information that came to us, they were upset with some kids who were making fun of them,'' Dr. Driscoll said. A/C 4-20-99
The 16-year-old did not attend school Monday because he was on out-of-school suspension for a previous offense, interim schools Superintendent Tommy Price said.
A/C 4-20-99
Two students were arrested after a .380-caliber handgun was found in one of their homes. Similar to reports in Colorado that the gunmen sought revenge for being ostracized, the Evans teens reportedly were angry with other students who teased them.
A/C 4-21-99
A/C Web posted April 21, 1999
Columbia County's crisis management plan, a drill implemented this year to prepare for shootings, calls for classrooms to be locked, students to go into hiding and complete silence to be maintained.
[Comment: I guess it's just coincidence that both Columbine and Evans had 'armed intruder' crisis-type plans ready to go]
Police investigating local link to shooting
Web posted April 22, 1999
School security was stepped up Wednesday as the FBI and Columbia County investigators looked into a possible link between an incident Monday at Evans High School and the Colorado school shooting. Sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said his department is investigating whether two Evans students may have belonged to the same gang as the shooters in Denver, the so-called "Trenchcoat Mafia.''
On Monday, two Evans High students -- boys ages 15 and 16 -- were arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of a firearm by a person under the age of 18. The arrests were made after a tip from school officials that the 15-year-old had indicated he planned to take a gun to school Monday to shoot someone during lunch. The two were arrested after the mother of one of the juveniles found a locked briefcase containing a gun in his bedroom.`
"We are looking at our high schools to see if we have any individuals associated with this Trenchcoat Mafia or any other similar clique,'' Capt. Morris said. .............
''Two FBI agents are working with the sheriff's office in the investigation to determine whether the two teens corresponded with the Columbine High School shooters, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17. ............
Some Evans High students said they had heard of the possible connection between their classmates and the Littleton, Colo., gunmen. "This kid, like, walks around the school in a black trench coat and wears dark glasses and stuff, and I heard somebody from our school signed on to that (Trenchcoat Mafia) Web site ... he got made fun of a lot, and I guess wanted to shoot everybody that made fun of him,'' sophomore Kim Bailey said Wednesday.
Elaine Maldonado, another Evans High sophomore, said she had heard the recent threat at her school was related to the Trenchcoat Mafia, too. "They were supposed to come in at sixth period lunch and go on a shooting rampage,'' she said. "Our school got the threat Friday(4-16-99), and Monday(4-19-99) at school we had cops all around our school and today we had cops at our school, too ... they looked on his computer and found that (TCM)Web site.'' .........
Evans-Colorado link
Web posted April 23, 1999
While rumors continue to run rampant about a local "Trenchcoat Mafia'' connection, state school Superintendent Linda Schrenko said two Evans High School students arrested Monday had visited the group's Web site before the Colorado shootings. "We know that they visited the site before all of this happened,'' Mrs. Schrenko told The Augusta Chronicle on Thursday. "The concern is that they may have been planning to repeat the same in Columbia County. It makes your skin crawl to think that we may have been facing this in Georgia............... "We've received a significant number of rumors that remain unsubstantiated,'' Columbia County Sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said. "We have so far been unable to substantiate any connection between these two juveniles and the incident in Colorado." .......... The Evans students also were known to dress in all black and occasionally wear trench coats. ....... Other threats were taken seriously throughout the county Thursday(4-22-99). A 17-year-old student was arrested at Evans High School for taking a toy water gun painted black to school, Capt. Morris said. Dr. Driscoll(principal) announced that trench coats would be banned at Evans for the rest of the school year. ......... Law enforcement and school officials were flooded with calls Thursday from national media as news of the possible connection to the Colorado shootings spread. ...........
[Comment: Did you remember any mention of this story in the wake of 4-20? I sure don't. This story was killed!]
Governor approves campus safety bills
Web posted April 23, 1999
Stressing that Georgia schools need to be better prepared to avoid and react to tragedies like this week's Colorado shooting spree, Gov. Roy Barnes signed a series of campus safety bills into law Thursday to strengthen codes of student conduct and training. ..............
Mr. Barnes and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor(sic) both made school safety major issues in their successful campaigns for office last year........ The legislation that Mr. Barnes signed Thursday adds special training and preparedness requirements to schools, and puts the Georgia Emergency Management Agency in charge of the effort. By next fall, schools must have a specific plan for handling campus violence, terrorism, natural disasters and accidents involving hazardous materials. Some already do. The bills add $380,000 to GEMA's budget for anti-violence training programs.
[Comment: Wow! The guy campaigned on the issue and two days later he was already signing legislation! This guy was ready.]
Schrenko: No local link found
Web posted April 24, 1999
.........state schools Superintendent Linda Schrenko recanted her Thursday statements about a link between the Colorado shootings and two Evans High students who were arrested Monday. ........ Thus far, law enforcement officials have found no link between the Columbia County students arrested for firearms possession and the alleged gunmen at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.,'' Mrs. Schrenko said in a written statement Friday. ..............
----------------------------
Student linked to murder-for-hire case
Web posted April 24, 1999
One of two Evans High School students arrested Monday for alleged gun possession is linked to a murder-for-hire case last year, his mother said Friday. ............ When asked if her son was approached by a Evans High schoolmate to kill her mother, she replied, "Yes.'' ........... The 15-year-old boy actually helped law officers last fall catch a girl who allegedly wanted to hire him to kill her mother. Ericka Leigh LePine, an Evans High School junior and one-time honor roll student, was arrested last September on school grounds ........... Part of the evidence against her included a taped conversation with two schoolmates. Police wired two students, including the 15-year-old boy, to record the murder plot against Ericka LePine's mother... ...the 35-year-old mother of three recalled the ..... local and national media attention that followed. She said her son's arrest is the result of an argument the two boys had last week with other classmates. "He and his friend had apparently worn black outfits to school,'' his mother said. "Someone told him, you look like a neo-Nazi -- a gay neo-Nazi.'' Insults were exchanged. ................ She is curious to find out if her son had any connection with the Trenchcoat Mafia as the two students who shot and killed 13 other people at Columbine High in Colorado. On Wednesday, the sheriff's office seized the computers of her son and the other teen and are now working with the FBI to determine if they corresponded with suspects in the Columbine High School shootings. ........He wants to be a Marine......... Her son, now a ninth-grader, joined the ROTC at Evans last year and got a crew cut to fit into the military style of the group. .........
Area briefs: Ex-student guilty in slaying plot
Web posted April 28, 1999
A former Evans High School student pleaded guilty in superior court Tuesday to charges of soliciting another student to kill her mother. Ericka Leigh LePine, 17, was arrested in September after police taped a conversation she had with two other students regarding a murder plot against her mother......... One of the students Ms. LePine tried to solicit for the crime has been identified as one of the two Evans students arrested last week on suspicion of threatening to bring a gun to school during lunch. ........ Ms. LePine, who originally pleaded not guilty when indicted by a Columbia County grand jury in January, offered no explanation for her change of plea. She faces a maximum of five years in prison on the solicitation charges, said the state's attorney in the case, Tricia Johnson. .........
[Comment: Looks like someone didn't want this one to get to trial]
Web posted July 30, 1999
Teen gets probation for plot
A former Evans High School student who pleaded guilty to soliciting another student to kill her mother told a judge Thursday that voices in her head told her to do it. Ericka Leigh LePine, 17, was arrested Sept. 14 at the school after police taped a conversation she had with Michael Buckner, 15, in which she discussed a murder plot against her mother, Terry LePine. ......... Defense attorney Jim Blanchard told Judge Overstreet that Erika LePine had been molested by a family friend. The teen suffered from post traumatic stress disorder when she plotted her mother's death, Mr. Blanchard said. Since then, the teen has received psychiatric treatment and has been living in her mother's house. "We have a very close mother-daughter relationship and I had no idea where all of this was coming from when she was arrested,'' Terry LePine told the judge during her daughter's sentencing hearing Thursday. "We knew something was wrong, so we had her evaluated. People have asked me if I am afraid to live with Erica and I answer `absolutely not.' ''
postscript
Columbine crosses, speaker visit school
Web posted May 4, 2000
With three of the Columbine memorial crosses in front of him, (Pastor)Jerry Johnston challenged Evans High School students to examine their own lives Wednesday. The crosses bore the likenesses of Cassie Bernall, Isaiah Shoels and John Tomlin, three of the victims killed in the Littleton, Colo., high school shooting last year. ...... The crosses, seen by more than 2 million people, will be displayed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington at the museum's request.
Father to visit
Darrell Scott, father of slain Columbine High School student Rachel Joy Scott, will speak at West Acres Baptist Church in Evans at 6 p.m. on May 28. Mr. Scott will reveal writings from his daughter's diaries and some untold stories of Columbine.
"(The victims) are going to be remembered as long as we are a nation,'' Dr. Johnston said.The 6-foot-3-inch crosses were made by a carpenter from Aurora, Ill., Greg Zanis
[Comment: Apparently it's another coincidence that both these Colorado links made it to the area afterwards]
MARTINEZ, Ga.- Ericka Leigh LePine, beloved daughter of Richard and Terry LePine and sister Andrea (LePine) Valdez past away unexpectedly January 18, 2004. She will be sadly missed as she was loved by many. .....
The Augusta Chronicle January 23, 2004
augustachronicle.com/stor...4-38.shtml
"Let the Truth be out, and let the chips fall where they may"
I will let the cites describe what hapened:
(A/C = AugustaChronicle.com)
FBI
The Columbia County Seriff's Department in Appling, Georgia questioned two students of April 19, 1999(the day before Columbine) regarding death threats they reportedly had made at Evans High. Police seized guns at both boys homes as well as computers, and "Excalibur and Samurai-type swords". They boith were believed to practice some type of witchcraft, and they participated in LARP war games. They wore trench coats over their all-black outfits with combat boots. {Note that all of these characteristics were shared with the TCM in Colorado.}
The Georgia authorities said there was no connection to the events in Colorado, which was "contrary to many news reports fueled by rumor, that are currently circulating throughout the region." Early local media reports, however, said the two groups were in internet contact.
[FBI Report on Columbine, pg 8]
"From the information that came to us, they were upset with some kids who were making fun of them,'' Dr. Driscoll said. A/C 4-20-99
The 16-year-old did not attend school Monday because he was on out-of-school suspension for a previous offense, interim schools Superintendent Tommy Price said.
A/C 4-20-99
Two students were arrested after a .380-caliber handgun was found in one of their homes. Similar to reports in Colorado that the gunmen sought revenge for being ostracized, the Evans teens reportedly were angry with other students who teased them.
A/C 4-21-99
A/C Web posted April 21, 1999
Columbia County's crisis management plan, a drill implemented this year to prepare for shootings, calls for classrooms to be locked, students to go into hiding and complete silence to be maintained.
[Comment: I guess it's just coincidence that both Columbine and Evans had 'armed intruder' crisis-type plans ready to go]
Police investigating local link to shooting
Web posted April 22, 1999
School security was stepped up Wednesday as the FBI and Columbia County investigators looked into a possible link between an incident Monday at Evans High School and the Colorado school shooting. Sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said his department is investigating whether two Evans students may have belonged to the same gang as the shooters in Denver, the so-called "Trenchcoat Mafia.''
On Monday, two Evans High students -- boys ages 15 and 16 -- were arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of a firearm by a person under the age of 18. The arrests were made after a tip from school officials that the 15-year-old had indicated he planned to take a gun to school Monday to shoot someone during lunch. The two were arrested after the mother of one of the juveniles found a locked briefcase containing a gun in his bedroom.`
"We are looking at our high schools to see if we have any individuals associated with this Trenchcoat Mafia or any other similar clique,'' Capt. Morris said. .............
''Two FBI agents are working with the sheriff's office in the investigation to determine whether the two teens corresponded with the Columbine High School shooters, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17. ............
Some Evans High students said they had heard of the possible connection between their classmates and the Littleton, Colo., gunmen. "This kid, like, walks around the school in a black trench coat and wears dark glasses and stuff, and I heard somebody from our school signed on to that (Trenchcoat Mafia) Web site ... he got made fun of a lot, and I guess wanted to shoot everybody that made fun of him,'' sophomore Kim Bailey said Wednesday.
Elaine Maldonado, another Evans High sophomore, said she had heard the recent threat at her school was related to the Trenchcoat Mafia, too. "They were supposed to come in at sixth period lunch and go on a shooting rampage,'' she said. "Our school got the threat Friday(4-16-99), and Monday(4-19-99) at school we had cops all around our school and today we had cops at our school, too ... they looked on his computer and found that (TCM)Web site.'' .........
Evans-Colorado link
Web posted April 23, 1999
While rumors continue to run rampant about a local "Trenchcoat Mafia'' connection, state school Superintendent Linda Schrenko said two Evans High School students arrested Monday had visited the group's Web site before the Colorado shootings. "We know that they visited the site before all of this happened,'' Mrs. Schrenko told The Augusta Chronicle on Thursday. "The concern is that they may have been planning to repeat the same in Columbia County. It makes your skin crawl to think that we may have been facing this in Georgia............... "We've received a significant number of rumors that remain unsubstantiated,'' Columbia County Sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said. "We have so far been unable to substantiate any connection between these two juveniles and the incident in Colorado." .......... The Evans students also were known to dress in all black and occasionally wear trench coats. ....... Other threats were taken seriously throughout the county Thursday(4-22-99). A 17-year-old student was arrested at Evans High School for taking a toy water gun painted black to school, Capt. Morris said. Dr. Driscoll(principal) announced that trench coats would be banned at Evans for the rest of the school year. ......... Law enforcement and school officials were flooded with calls Thursday from national media as news of the possible connection to the Colorado shootings spread. ...........
[Comment: Did you remember any mention of this story in the wake of 4-20? I sure don't. This story was killed!]
Governor approves campus safety bills
Web posted April 23, 1999
Stressing that Georgia schools need to be better prepared to avoid and react to tragedies like this week's Colorado shooting spree, Gov. Roy Barnes signed a series of campus safety bills into law Thursday to strengthen codes of student conduct and training. ..............
Mr. Barnes and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor(sic) both made school safety major issues in their successful campaigns for office last year........ The legislation that Mr. Barnes signed Thursday adds special training and preparedness requirements to schools, and puts the Georgia Emergency Management Agency in charge of the effort. By next fall, schools must have a specific plan for handling campus violence, terrorism, natural disasters and accidents involving hazardous materials. Some already do. The bills add $380,000 to GEMA's budget for anti-violence training programs.
[Comment: Wow! The guy campaigned on the issue and two days later he was already signing legislation! This guy was ready.]
Schrenko: No local link found
Web posted April 24, 1999
.........state schools Superintendent Linda Schrenko recanted her Thursday statements about a link between the Colorado shootings and two Evans High students who were arrested Monday. ........ Thus far, law enforcement officials have found no link between the Columbia County students arrested for firearms possession and the alleged gunmen at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.,'' Mrs. Schrenko said in a written statement Friday. ..............
----------------------------
Student linked to murder-for-hire case
Web posted April 24, 1999
One of two Evans High School students arrested Monday for alleged gun possession is linked to a murder-for-hire case last year, his mother said Friday. ............ When asked if her son was approached by a Evans High schoolmate to kill her mother, she replied, "Yes.'' ........... The 15-year-old boy actually helped law officers last fall catch a girl who allegedly wanted to hire him to kill her mother. Ericka Leigh LePine, an Evans High School junior and one-time honor roll student, was arrested last September on school grounds ........... Part of the evidence against her included a taped conversation with two schoolmates. Police wired two students, including the 15-year-old boy, to record the murder plot against Ericka LePine's mother... ...the 35-year-old mother of three recalled the ..... local and national media attention that followed. She said her son's arrest is the result of an argument the two boys had last week with other classmates. "He and his friend had apparently worn black outfits to school,'' his mother said. "Someone told him, you look like a neo-Nazi -- a gay neo-Nazi.'' Insults were exchanged. ................ She is curious to find out if her son had any connection with the Trenchcoat Mafia as the two students who shot and killed 13 other people at Columbine High in Colorado. On Wednesday, the sheriff's office seized the computers of her son and the other teen and are now working with the FBI to determine if they corresponded with suspects in the Columbine High School shootings. ........He wants to be a Marine......... Her son, now a ninth-grader, joined the ROTC at Evans last year and got a crew cut to fit into the military style of the group. .........
Area briefs: Ex-student guilty in slaying plot
Web posted April 28, 1999
A former Evans High School student pleaded guilty in superior court Tuesday to charges of soliciting another student to kill her mother. Ericka Leigh LePine, 17, was arrested in September after police taped a conversation she had with two other students regarding a murder plot against her mother......... One of the students Ms. LePine tried to solicit for the crime has been identified as one of the two Evans students arrested last week on suspicion of threatening to bring a gun to school during lunch. ........ Ms. LePine, who originally pleaded not guilty when indicted by a Columbia County grand jury in January, offered no explanation for her change of plea. She faces a maximum of five years in prison on the solicitation charges, said the state's attorney in the case, Tricia Johnson. .........
[Comment: Looks like someone didn't want this one to get to trial]
Web posted July 30, 1999
Teen gets probation for plot
A former Evans High School student who pleaded guilty to soliciting another student to kill her mother told a judge Thursday that voices in her head told her to do it. Ericka Leigh LePine, 17, was arrested Sept. 14 at the school after police taped a conversation she had with Michael Buckner, 15, in which she discussed a murder plot against her mother, Terry LePine. ......... Defense attorney Jim Blanchard told Judge Overstreet that Erika LePine had been molested by a family friend. The teen suffered from post traumatic stress disorder when she plotted her mother's death, Mr. Blanchard said. Since then, the teen has received psychiatric treatment and has been living in her mother's house. "We have a very close mother-daughter relationship and I had no idea where all of this was coming from when she was arrested,'' Terry LePine told the judge during her daughter's sentencing hearing Thursday. "We knew something was wrong, so we had her evaluated. People have asked me if I am afraid to live with Erica and I answer `absolutely not.' ''
postscript
Columbine crosses, speaker visit school
Web posted May 4, 2000
With three of the Columbine memorial crosses in front of him, (Pastor)Jerry Johnston challenged Evans High School students to examine their own lives Wednesday. The crosses bore the likenesses of Cassie Bernall, Isaiah Shoels and John Tomlin, three of the victims killed in the Littleton, Colo., high school shooting last year. ...... The crosses, seen by more than 2 million people, will be displayed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington at the museum's request.
Father to visit
Darrell Scott, father of slain Columbine High School student Rachel Joy Scott, will speak at West Acres Baptist Church in Evans at 6 p.m. on May 28. Mr. Scott will reveal writings from his daughter's diaries and some untold stories of Columbine.
"(The victims) are going to be remembered as long as we are a nation,'' Dr. Johnston said.The 6-foot-3-inch crosses were made by a carpenter from Aurora, Ill., Greg Zanis
[Comment: Apparently it's another coincidence that both these Colorado links made it to the area afterwards]
MARTINEZ, Ga.- Ericka Leigh LePine, beloved daughter of Richard and Terry LePine and sister Andrea (LePine) Valdez past away unexpectedly January 18, 2004. She will be sadly missed as she was loved by many. .....
The Augusta Chronicle January 23, 2004
augustachronicle.com/stor...4-38.shtml
"Let the Truth be out, and let the chips fall where they may"
