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FEBRUARY 15, 2019 | Volume 32 No. 14
FRIDAY
COACH FOCUSED ON TEAM Serge Lajoie tells KTW he is not concerned with his future after Kamloops Blazers’ co-owner Darryl Sydor joined him on bench A34
Page A30 is your guide to myriad events in the city and region
CRIME PATROL Mounties were busy at various places on Thursday A5
30 BY 30
TRU engineering prof helping to attract women to program A10
WEEKEND WEATHER: Periods of snow High -3 C Low -7 C
Students charged in plot to attack school with weapons TIM PETRUK
STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
Two Kamloops teens are facing criminal charges after an alleged plot to use weapons to harm staff and students at a city high school was thwarted last week. The youths, a boy and a girl, are accused of conspiring to attack administrators, teachers and students at the school. The teens cannot be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the name of the school, as well as the details of the allegations against the pair, is bound by a court-ordered ban on publication put in place on Wednesday. The teens are accused of plotting to carry out their attack on Feb. 7. They are charged with conspiracy to commit assault with a weapon. One of the suspects, the boy, was released from custody on Wednesday on a number of strict bail terms. The girl remains in custody. “The circumstances before me are of grave concern,” Kamloops provincial court Judge Stephen Harrison said Wednesday in granting the boy bail. “These are very serious charges.”
The boy was released on conditions requiring he live with his mother and stay off social media. He cannot have any contact with either his co-accused or staff or students at the school he is accused of plotting to attack. The boy, who has no criminal record, will also be required to submit to psychiatric testing as directed and will be barred from using the internet other than to watch Netflix. Reasons for the exemption are included in lawyers’ submissions, which are part of the publication ban. He is due back in court on Feb. 21. It is not known when the girl will make her first appearance in court. The boy’s Instagram account is named after a prominent U.S. school shooting. Included on the page are various images and text regarding death and mass homicide. The first post on the girl’s Instagram page is of a school shooting in progress. The Kamloops-Thompson school district is not commenting on the specifics of the charges against two of its students. “I can’t comment on any details right now,” said Bill Hamblett, assistant superintendent of secondary schools. “We are aware of the incident.
Keeping our students safe is our No. 1 priority. Our principals and our staff work closely with the RCMP to ensure our students and staff are secure.” Safer Schools Together is an organization that helps schools throughout North America minimize and manage risks of student violence. It has information on its website from a Feb. 5 school threat assessment symposium in Ontario. Dr. Peter Langman, an international expert on the psychology of school shooters, told the audience that when it comes to preventing the next Columbine High School shooting, educators need to look at what their students say and where they say it. “A lot of these kids are very open and post things on websites or social media that are clear, explicit comments about the violence they intend to do,” Langman said. “They might hide their intentions, but a lot of people are very open about what they intend to do. Maybe they think they can post it and get away with it. No one is going to stop them.” More information on violence and bullying behaviour prevention and intervention strategies can be found online at saferschoolstogether.com.
ONE YEAR LATER, DISAPPEARANCE STILL A MYSTERY On Feb. 17, 2018, 20-year-old Ryan Shtuka left a party in a home in Sun Peaks and vanished. In the year since the Beaumont, Alta., man disappeared, his family and friends have been helped by untold others in various searches that has thus far yielded neither Shtuka nor clues as to what happened to him in the wee hours of that Saturday morning. On Friday morning, the Kamloops RCMP will be joined by Shtuka’s family at a press conference to mark the one-year anniversary of his disappearance and to appeal to the public for help in finding out what happened. On page A12 of today’s edition of KTW, we speak with Shtuka’s mom, Heather, and with police regarding theories surrounding the case. Did he get lost walking home? Did he wander into the hills above Sun Peaks? Did he meet with foul play?
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