More than three dozen young people in Red Lake, Mn., heard about threats before their high school was assaulted last March, says the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “We want to find out how we can prevent this type of thing from ever happening again,” Tribal Chairman Floyd “Buck” Jourdain Jr. said after hearing a briefing from U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger and other federal officials. A key finding of the investigation was that 39 people had some knowledge of what the assailant, Jeff Weise, was planning. School officials now are making a point to examine every rumor and threat. Staff members have discussed anonymous notification programs so students could feel comfortable reporting potential threats.
The federal officials led the probe after Weise, 16, a student who suffered from depression and had been suicidal, killed his grandfather and his grandfather’s female partner at their home and killed five students, a teacher, and a security guard were slain at his northern Minnesota school, where Weise also fatally shot himself. “I guess any time you hear there were that many that had some knowledge, you have a tendency to take a step back and say, ‘Wow, I wonder why somebody didn’t come forward?’ ” said Chris Dunshee, the principal of Red Lake High.