ADAMS – Southland Public Schools officials were proactive when a report surfaced on a school bus full of students that violence was being threatened.

Friday, September 24, 1999

ADAMS – Southland Public Schools officials were proactive when a report surfaced on a school bus full of students that violence was being threatened.

According to a report filed with the Mower County Sheriff’s Department the incident allegedly occurred Sept. 14, but was not reported until Sept. 17.

Students riding on the bus reported a teenager remarked in a conversation with others on the bus, "We should shoot these little kids."

When the bus arrived at Southland Public Schools facilities in Adams, the information was referred to teachers and then principal Larry Croker.

On Sept. 17, Croker and a teacher met with the male juvenile, age 15, who allegedly uttered the remark, which some children took as a verbal threat. The youth denied making the statement.

The youth was described by eyewitnesses as sitting in the rear of the bus with other teenagers and having a cigarette tucked behind one ear.

The youth’s father was located and he told authorities his son does not have access to any guns at the family’s home.

Adams Police Chief Gordon Briggs was notified and the Sheriff’s Department was summoned to the school to review the incident.

The threat was not deemed to represent imminent or other danger to the Southland students, but a report was turned over to Mower County Patrick A. Oman for possible charges.