Student arrested for threatening school with zombie invasion

Jim | Kentucky | Tuesday, October 4th, 2005

Student Arrested For Terroristic Threatening Says Incident A Misunderstanding

Updated 14 March 2005: Some of Poole’s journal writings revealed in court session.
Updated 24 March 2005: Poole makes bail, released from holding center.
Updated 30 March 2005: Poole re-arrested for violating terms of bail.
Updated 15 July 2005: Grand Jury indicts Poole for misdemeanor charge, not felony.
Updated 28 July 2005: Poole pled not-guilty. Lawyer files to have charges dismissed.
Updated 04 October 2005: All charges dropped but Poole still on probation. Details at bottom of post.

William Poole, a junior at George Rogers Clark High School, was arrested Tuesday for making terroristic threats against his school.

Poole told LEX 18 that the whole incident is a big misunderstanding. He claims that what his grandparents found in his journal and turned into police was a short story he wrote for English class.

“My story is based on fiction,” said Poole, who faces a second-degree felony terrorist threatening charge. “It’s a fake story. I made it up. I’ve been working on one of my short stories, (and) the short story they found was about zombies. Yes, it did say a high school. It was about a high school over ran by zombies.”

Even so, police say the nature of the story makes it a felony. “Anytime you make any threat or possess matter involving a school or function it’s a felony in the state of Kentucky,” said Winchester Police detective Steven Caudill.

The short story did not mention Poole’s school, any teachers, the principal or any cops, officials or students.

His bail was raised from one to five thousand dollars at the request of prosecutors because of the “seriousness of the crime”.

There is no mention of the school itself being involved here. This madness seems to be 100% from the police.

Winchester Government contact information:
Mayor Dodd Dixon
Chief of Police W.M.Jackson II - Phone: 1-859-745-7400, Fax: 1-859-745-7404

(Tip credit to Tori in Texas)

UPDATE 14 March 2005

Details of student’s writings revealed
Police disclose contents of writings allegedly threatening school takeover

Winchester Police Detective Steve Caudill read from Poole’s journal during a hearing last Tuesday. It’s difficult to get a picture of just what is in the journals as the portions reported are disjointed quotes and reports of police opinion. Police claim that the journal shows Poole’s plan to organize a gang called the “No Limit Soldiers” based in four locations or zones. These zones are Clark County, Barbourville, South Carolina and New York City.

This is a serious concern? The police are actually thinking that an 18 year-old junior is actually planning to start a nationwide gang?

Detective Caudill also read an excerpt from the apparent master plan:

Another excerpt, read by Caudill, states, “All the boys sit down at the kitchen table and start planning it out. They wrote down how many teachers, students and guards were at the high school. Also, how long it would take police to get there. They wrote down what was needed and how they was going to do it. They agreed right there they they would all die together.”

He continued, “They yelled, ‘kill them,’ and all the soldiers of Zone 2 started shooting. They are dropping every one of them. After five minutes, all the people are laying on the ground dead.”

A poorly written violent story set in the past tense is the basis of holding and charging Poole? Lending credence to Poole’s claim that these are works of fiction were several other fictional stories in the journal.

A separate story, titled “War” was described by Caudill as “futuristic,” and referred to a group of people sitting down at a kitchen table, where they plan a takeover of a school, determining how long it will take for police to arrive on the scene. “They will all die together,” Poole wrote.

Futuristic violent bad writing. This doesn’t impress me as a cause for alert. Perhaps it is the recurring kitchen table theme that has the police so worried.

Nowhere in Poole’s writings did he refer to a specific school. It also did not list any specific targets, making only general references to teachers, students and school security.

Detailed plans for raising a nationwide gang of soldiers. So detailed that they demand the writer be held in prison on high bail to protect the populace from the accused. Plans so intricately detailed that the only thing they lack is…well…all of the details.

Incidentally we’ve found out why Poole never published a story in the school newsletter. He was warned not to try.

According to Caudill, Poole told police that a teacher at GRCHS read the piece called the “Overview,” and warned that Poole could be in trouble if others at school saw it. Consequently, Poole reportedly told police that he left his writings at home. The teacher told Caudill he did not see any of the journal entries that police confiscated.

So Poole had already taken this fiction story to a teacher for feedback. That doesn’t seem like the normal way that a gang mastermind develops his secret plans.

Poole might be a troubled youth and it’s a sure thing that he is not a very good writer but I’m more sure than ever that this is a horrendous overreaction by Kentucky police.

(Tip credit to Icarus)

UPDATE 24 March 2005

Poole released from jail on bond

Jeffrey Russell, Louisville, posted a $5,000 bond at 3:40 p.m. Saturday to have Poole released from jail. The two never met before Saturday. Russell told The Sun that he acted on behalf of an unidentified individual in California who has an interest in civil rights and heard about Poole’s case on the Internet.

“(The person) has an interest in a non-police state,” he explained.

Poole’s release has sparked the rumor mill in this small community. As reported by reader Icarus the community believes his bail was arranged by CNN and that Poole has threatened deadly force against his family and the town. Given the police readiness to arrest him in the first place I find it highly doubtful that Poole has actually threatened anybody and remained out of police custody.

(Tip credit to wr)

UPDATE 30 March 2005

Teen Accused Of Threatening School Re-Arrested

Poole was seen near a Clark County elementary school, a violation of his bail. The judge signed an arrest warrant and he was re-arrested on Monday.

A close family friend told LEX 18 that Poole was acting harmlessly when he was seen with another teen at the school, and that the other teen was picking up his sister there. The excuse didn’t fly with the judge, who immediately signed a warrant for Poole’s arrest.

On the plus side this should at least put a stop to the rampant rumormongering going on in the community. Poole has been accused of everything from fleeing the state to threatening dismemberment of his grandparents to readying a homicidal attack on the school. See this post by James Bow for an excellent recap of the known facts of the case.

(Tip credit to Sharon)

UPDATE 15 July 2005

Jury hands down Poole indictment

Poole had been charged with a second degree felony - terroristic threatening. The Grand Jury disagreed.

But the grand jury declined to indict Poole on that charge and instead returned an indictment charging him with attempt to commit terroristic threatening - a class A misdemeanor.

Poole’s future, though still not rosy, is now considerably brighter.

(Tip credit to Sue.)

UPDATE 28 July 2005

William Poole pleads not guilty to attempted threatening charge
Poole’s lawyer seeking charge dismissal

Pool has pled not-guilty and his public defender, Brian Barker, has filed to have the charges against him dismissed and have him released from prison. Poole was originally charged with second-degree felony terroristic threatening but this was reduced to a misdemeanor charge of criminal attempt to commit terroristic threatening.

Barker argues that an overt act must occur in order to be charged with criminal attempt. “Some sort of act or conduct is required to prove that a defendant is serious about carrying out his intentions,” Barker states in his motion. Barker claims that Poole was not indicted on any act or conduct, rather for an alleged statement he made.

“Apart from the legal arguments, the notion of an ‘attempt to threaten’ is an absurdity,” Barker writes. “As a practical matter, how does a person attempt to make a threat? The mere concept is nonsense.”

Barker filed a second dismissal motion claiming the statute is unconstitutionally vague. A third motion filed requests that Poole’s bond be reduced from the current $75,000 as this is an unreasonably high amount for a misdemeanor charge.

(Tip credit to Gina)

UPDATE 04 October 2005

Poole walks free after charge dropped

On August 2, Clark County District Court Judge Brandy Oliver Brown dismissed all criminal charges against Poole and released him on two years of restrictive probation.

Brown agreed with Poole’s attorney, Brian Barker, who claimed the grand jury’s indictment failed to state a criminal offense. Barker argued criminal attempt would require an overt act on Poole’s part, something he says prosecutors failed to demonstrate.

Even Assistant County Attorney John Keeton was forced to concede the point. He told Brown there is no documented record of a conviction anywhere in Kentucky on a charge of attempt to commit terroristic threatening.

Simply put, there is no such crime as attempting to commit terroristic threatening.

Brown normally does not grant shock probation but did so in this case to maintain control over Poole. If he had served the last two months of his contempt of court sentence he would have been free and clear. By allowing him to get out of jail early, Brown can set restrictions on his freedom for another two years.

This is a bit disturbing to me. No crime was committed. Poole was on parole against charges that did not legally exist. He violated the terms of that parole and received criminal punishment for doing so. Now he is being monitored by a judge for two years for the crime of disobeying a judge while falsely accused by the state. Note that he did not commit any crime when he was originally out on parole, he just didn’t do what the judge told him to do.

Sorry, dweeb (regarding April 7, 2005 06:49 PM comment). The law really is a bit scarier than you had thought.

(Tip credit to CJ Hylton)

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