By LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / May 2, 1999

HAHNVILLE – Two St. Charles Parish students were arrested this week forallegedly making terrorist-like threats, and that has spurred a rash of rumors and caused school attendance to drop noticeably, according to police.

As a direct result, school security has been beefed up with extra deputies in an effort to quell rumors of other possible threats.

Capt. Patrick Yoes of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office reported thata 15-year-old Luling male has been charged with terrorizing, based on an April 27 warrant that claimed the boy made several threatening statements to students and faculty members at Hahnville High School.

The exact nature of the threats was not revealed, but students and faculty took it seriously enough to contact authorities.

In addition, a 13-year-old St. Rose male was charged with terrorizing,based on an April 27 warrant that claimed the boy made several threatening statements to students and faculty members at Albert Cammon Middle School.

Both came in the wake of the deadly school shootings in Littleton, Colo.

Rochelle Touchard, spokeswoman for St. Charles Parish Schools,emphasized, “If not for students coming forth, then we might have had another Columbine.”She stressed that the school system administration is warning that making such threats will not be tolerated.

“I don’t think these students have a clue as to what can happen to them.

It’s a serious threat,” she said.

Meanwhile, parents calling schools and the school board office are being told the basic facts of the arrests and emphasizing an increase in school security is in place.

Round-the-clock security measures have been put in place at Hahnville High, Destrehan High, Albert Cammon Middle, Eual Landry Middle, Harry Hurst Middle and J.B. Martin Middle School, Touchard stated.Touchard said a wave of such copycat-type threats is sweeping America, and noted one arrest of a student in Scotlandville, two in Denham Springs, one in Lafayette and nine in Livingston Parish for making terrorist-type threats, all in the past week. Several students at Raceland Junior Highwere also arrested this week, according to news reports.

“It’s crazy! It’s really sad,” she said.

Yoes, on detail at Hahnville High School, noted the lower-than-usual attendance and said the two arrests in St. Charles Parish were made”given the atmosphere that exists, they felt nothing would be taken lightly.”He also commented the arrests were not done with undue haste and added, “We didn’t rush. We made a thorough investigation.”Meanwhile, Yoes emphasized there is no reason to believe any of the rumors and said: “The only problem is a lot of uneasy people. It’s gottenblown up so out of proportion.”

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