Opinion ID: 786427
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Friday, April 23, 1999

Text: 7 On Friday morning of that week, two days after her conversation with Zach, Kayla wrote a note to Sadie LePage, saying that Zach was going to bring a gun to school and shoot us all because he was sick of bitchy preps. JA at 152 (LePage Written Statement). Sadie showed the note to Katie Spittle, another classmate. During the lunch period, Sadie and Katie asked Zach whether the contents of the note were true, and he allegedly told them they were, a point that Zach disputes. After lunch, Sadie and Katie told school officials about the threat. They first told Julie Orsini, the guidance counselor, about the note that Kayla had written. Orsini notified Vice Principal William Howell about the matter and relayed her impression that the girls were visibly shaken up [and]... feeling threatened. JA at 576 (Howell Dep.). Howell met with Sadie and Katie individually, and later called Kayla to his office as well. All three girls spoke to Howell about what had happened, then wrote statements in which they described the events of that morning and their interactions with Zach. In Kayla's statement, she said the following: 8 I talked to Zac on the phone Wednesday night & he said he was sick of everybody, everyone was getting on his nerves & he & Rhys Williams were talking about bringing a gun to school & he was very serious about the matter[.][H]is other option was planting a bomb & taking everyone out on the first (one) shot. But he had made very clear he would spare Katie Spittle because he liked her. This morning I [said]to Sadie LePage I had spoken to Zac & she asked what about & that is when I wrote Sadie telling her about our (mine & Zac's) conversation. Half of the note is now gone. 9 Id. Sadie said the following in her statement: 10 I was sitting in first period today and Kayla Hollins wrote me a note that said Zac Durbin was going to bring a gun to school and shoot us all because he was sick of bitchy preps and he was going to start with me because he hated me so much. Then it said that he said it would just be easier to plant a bomb because he could get us all at once. Then in band (second period) I showed Katie Spittle the note because I was scared and she took the note to him at lunch and he said that it was really true, that he was talking to Rhys and they were seriously thinking about it. Zac hates me so much because I broke up with him 1-2 months ago. And he said he was going to spare Katie of all of this because he likes her. 11 JA at 152. 12 And Katie said the following in her statement: 13 This morning in 2nd period (Band) Sadie LePage showed me the note. At lunch I asked Zac if it was really true, and he said yes. He said him and Rhys were talking about it. He pointed to Sadie and said she's going first. He said he was going to spare me, because he liked me. 14 JA at 153. 15 After his meetings with the three girls and after obtaining their statements, Howell contacted Assistant Superintendent James Spisak to inform him of the situation and to begin the emergency removal process with respect to Zach. Spisak agreed that Zach should be removed from the school under § 3313.66 of the Ohio Revised Code because of the continuing danger he posed. In an effort to release Zach to an adult, Howell initially tried to reach Zach's mother, Bobbi LaCross, but she was unavailable. He then called Zach's probation officer, Jeffrey Hayes, who came to the school. At roughly the same time, Howell notified Officer Randy LePage and Detective Brian Harbin of the City of Cambridge Police Department about the matter. 16 When Hayes arrived at the school, Howell briefed him about the situation, told him that the police had been notified and showed him the three girls' written statements. Hayes asked Howell whether these [girls] were reputable students because he wanted to determine whether it was somebody trying to get even with Zach or that type of thing. JA at 509 (Hayes Dep.). Howell confirmed the credibility of the girls' statements on the basis of their reputations as students. Hayes then called his supervisor, Jean Stevens, the Chief Probation Officer of Guernsey County, alerting her to the alleged threats, the girls' statements supporting them, the girls' reputations with Howell, the credibility of their statements from Howell's perspective, and the possible police investigation. Hayes told Stevens that Rhys was not at school that day and that police were looking for him. He then recommended to her that Zach be removed from the school. Stevens authorized Hayes to remove Zach from the school and to take him into detention at the Guernsey County Juvenile Probation Department. 17 At this point, Howell removed Zach from study hall and told him about the girls' allegations. In response, Zach confirmed that he knew about the note and acknowledged that Rhys (in his presence) had been joking around when talking to Gail Allen about the incident at Columbine, JA at 581 (Howell Dep.), but denied the rest of Howell's accusations, JA at 473 (Durbin Dep.). After the interview, Howell asked Hayes to escort Zach from the school. While Hayes claims that he did not arrest Zach at this point, he acknowledges that Zach was not at liberty to leave and that he handcuffed Zach in conformity with the probation department's policies. Hayes signed Zach out of the school late Friday afternoon and escorted him to the Guernsey County Probation Department in Byesville. Upon arrival, Zach was shackled and handcuffed to a chair. Eventually, Zach was driven to the Jefferson County Juvenile Detention Facility in Steubenville, where he remained over the weekend until he returned to Guernsey County for his Juvenile Court appearance on Monday, April 26th.
18 Rhys was not involved with the investigation that took place at the school on Friday, April 23rd, because he was not in school that day. Stevens claims that neither she nor Hayes ordered Rhys's arrest, although she admitted that she authorized his detention in a phone call with a Cambridge police officer. Several Cambridge police officers arrived at Rhys's house on Friday afternoon and informed his mother, Gail Allen, that he had been implicated in a bomb threat. In response, Allen called the probation department. Becky Masters, the probation officer with whom she spoke, confirmed the police officers' report and asked Allen to bring Rhys to the department. Allen brought Rhys to the probation department in Byesville, where Masters and a transportation officer handcuffed and shackled Rhys. He was eventually driven with Zach to Steubenville, held for the weekend and returned to Guernsey County for an appearance in Juvenile Court on Monday, April 26th.
19 Captain Randy LePage and Detective Brian Harbin of the City of Cambridge Police Department received a call from Howell on the afternoon of April 23rd. By the time they arrived at the school, however, Hayes and Zach had already departed. Because Sadie was Captain LePage's daughter, LePage recused himself from any further involvement and Harbin assumed control of the investigation. Harbin collected the written statements that Howell had taken from the three girls, then took a statement from Howell before leaving. He also took more formal statements from each of the girls at the police station later that afternoon. There is no evidence that Harbin ordered Rhys's apprehension, but Harbin was in charge of the investigation when Cambridge Police Officers arrived at Rhys's home.