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blairmacgThis story This story is bugging the shit out of me.
"WBOC News has reported that the investigation concerns two books published by McLaw, using the name Dr. K.S. Voltaer, including one about a fictional, futuristic school shooting that becomes known for being the largest ever in the United States."
I've looked all over for information about it, and here's what I've found:
1. A school board member was concerned about the man's published books (one from 2011, one from 2013) to the school board.
2. The school board notified law enforcement.
3. Law enforcement discovered he not only wrote under a penname--which law enforcement and media then chose to report as "aliases"--but had legally changed his name in the recent past.
4. Law enforcement took the man into custody for a psych evaluation.
5. Law enforcement searched the school and the man's home for weapons and explosives. None were found, but they did find a map of the school where he currently teaches.
6. The man has not only been banned from school property, he has been removed from the area. Law enforcement says he does not "currently have the ability to travel anywhere."
7. A commenter on another article claimed there was "much more" to the story, including a "disturbing four-page letter" that had been written to the school board.
8. Law enforcement keeps alluding to other things, but won't mention any of them.
So... Three years ago, a teacher self-published a novel set 900 years in the future, and its inciting event is mass murder that takes place in a school on the other side of the continent from where the teacher actually teaches. He wrote a letter to the school board, the contents (and mere existence) of which are still being kept secret by officials. That, in combination with a name change AND penname, was enough to confine the teacher for at least three days, and ensure he cannot travel at all. And there remains some super-secret Big Reasons known only to law enforcement (and, apparently, a select few community members who were frightened enough to have a "Beware violence from this teacher!" talk with their children), that will make all of this sound far more reasonable than it does right now.
My take? The teacher did some research on how his novel's antagonist could pull off the school attack that gets his plot rolling. He had a map of the school because he happens to teach there. Concerned by what he'd seen while teaching last year, coupled with the more recent school shootings, prompted the teacher to write the school board about how easily a violent incident could happen at the school. And the school board freaked out. And law enforcement decided it was way better to freak out than risk "missing" something.
I could be wrong. There might be something very, very scary waiting behind the curtain.
I very much doubt it.
"WBOC News has reported that the investigation concerns two books published by McLaw, using the name Dr. K.S. Voltaer, including one about a fictional, futuristic school shooting that becomes known for being the largest ever in the United States."
I've looked all over for information about it, and here's what I've found:
1. A school board member was concerned about the man's published books (one from 2011, one from 2013) to the school board.
2. The school board notified law enforcement.
3. Law enforcement discovered he not only wrote under a penname--which law enforcement and media then chose to report as "aliases"--but had legally changed his name in the recent past.
4. Law enforcement took the man into custody for a psych evaluation.
5. Law enforcement searched the school and the man's home for weapons and explosives. None were found, but they did find a map of the school where he currently teaches.
6. The man has not only been banned from school property, he has been removed from the area. Law enforcement says he does not "currently have the ability to travel anywhere."
7. A commenter on another article claimed there was "much more" to the story, including a "disturbing four-page letter" that had been written to the school board.
8. Law enforcement keeps alluding to other things, but won't mention any of them.
So... Three years ago, a teacher self-published a novel set 900 years in the future, and its inciting event is mass murder that takes place in a school on the other side of the continent from where the teacher actually teaches. He wrote a letter to the school board, the contents (and mere existence) of which are still being kept secret by officials. That, in combination with a name change AND penname, was enough to confine the teacher for at least three days, and ensure he cannot travel at all. And there remains some super-secret Big Reasons known only to law enforcement (and, apparently, a select few community members who were frightened enough to have a "Beware violence from this teacher!" talk with their children), that will make all of this sound far more reasonable than it does right now.
My take? The teacher did some research on how his novel's antagonist could pull off the school attack that gets his plot rolling. He had a map of the school because he happens to teach there. Concerned by what he'd seen while teaching last year, coupled with the more recent school shootings, prompted the teacher to write the school board about how easily a violent incident could happen at the school. And the school board freaked out. And law enforcement decided it was way better to freak out than risk "missing" something.
I could be wrong. There might be something very, very scary waiting behind the curtain.
I very much doubt it.
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no subject
Date: 2014-08-28 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-08-31 03:15 pm (UTC)I mean, we writers always joke about what incriminating things can be found in our search results and the like, right?