School goes into lockdown over "Fresh Prince" theme

[Alidar Jarok]

Your sarcasm makes no legal sense.

[the G-man]

It made sense to me. Granted there is no such crime of 'armed copyright infringement,' but I understood each point being made, to the extent it was a joke about our overly litigious and overly regulated society.

[tomalak301]

Considering all the school shootings since Columbine, if I were the receptionist I would be uppity too. She did the right thing, even if it turned out to be a mistake. The times between when Fresh Prince was on and now are so significantly different that you can't be too careful.

[Gaith]

tomalak301 wrote:

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Considering all the school shootings since Columbine, if I were the receptionist I would be uppity too. She did the right thing, even if it turned out to be a mistake. The times between when Fresh Prince was on and now are so significantly different that you can't be too careful.

Couldn't she have, uh, gotten a second opinion before calling the cops?

[tomalak301]

Gaith wrote:

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Couldn't she have, uh, gotten a second opinion before calling the cops?

In hindsight, yes, but in the the moment is a completely different thing.

[Yoda]

19 years old and in high school LOL

[Locutus of Bored]

While the arrest seems like overkill, in defense of the receptionist reporting the message to police in the first place, this was not a ring tone of the actual Fresh Prince theme with music. It was just the student himself speaking the lyric “And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school” as a voice mail message. Not to pass snap judgments on a 19-year-old who's still in high school, but perhaps he's not the most articulate person, and I can easily see how "b-ball" and "people" could get mixed up in a poor sounding recording, especially when it's just spoken without musical accompaniment, which would make you question its seriousness. Plus, leaving a message with your intentions to shoot up a school or workplace is not unheard of for mass shooters. So, I don't blame her for taking precautions, especially in this day and age.

[Gaith]

^ They do sound similar, but that's not how the song starts, even the main part of the rap. Anyhow, given her shaky grasp of pop culture, did she make a good decision? Yes. Would taking one or two minutes to get a second opinion before calling in all sorts of police, diverting them from other places, and causing all sorts of alarm have been an even better decision? Yeah, I think so. Moot point, though.

[Locutus of Bored]

Gaith wrote:

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They do sound similar, but that's not how the song starts, even the main part of the rap.

The impression I got was that that was the only line on the voice mail message, not the entire song.

[CorporalCaptain]

"b-ball" vs. "people". Seems plausible enough. And then everyone goes into panic mode.

[sidious618]

Locutus of Bored wrote:

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While the arrest seems like overkill, in defense of the receptionist reporting the message to police in the first place, this was not a ring tone of the actual Fresh Prince theme with music. It was just the student himself speaking the lyric “And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school” as a voice mail message. Not to pass snap judgments on a 19-year-old who's still in high school, but perhaps he's not the most articulate person, and I can easily see how "b-ball" and "people" could get mixed up in a poor sounding recording, especially when it's just spoken without musical accompaniment, which would make you question its seriousness. Plus, leaving a message with your intentions to shoot up a school or workplace is not unheard of for mass shooters. So, I don't blame her for taking precautions, especially in this day and age.

Yeah, but why get all the facts and think things through when you can just blast schools for fun?

[Alidar Jarok]

Although can you think of an example where a mass shooter left a message before shooting?

I'm personally fine with the person from the school getting a second opinion with the police. But I do think (while the facts here are a bit murky, so I can't be certain), the police could have done a bit better of a job asking questions first and arresting second.

[Locutus of Bored]

Alidar Jarok wrote:

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Although can you think of an example where a mass shooter left a message before shooting?

Do you mean messages in general (which is what I was referring to) or voice mail messages specifically? Because if the former, Christopher Dorner's recent manifesto and kill list would certainly qualify. Plus, a few examples below from a quick search which include chat room messages, social networking messages, notes, and so forth.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...germany-letter

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/McKin...101040799.html

http://fox6now.com/2013/03/03/gunman...mass-shooting/

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/25/us/new...ghter-shooting

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/6...ge.html?pg=all

[JanewayRulz!]

Gaith wrote:

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^ Would taking one or two minutes to get a second opinion before calling in all sorts of police, .

Yeah... if it was a real threat then taking that 1 or 2 minutes could have been a death sentence for people in her school.

Once, when I was young and dumb, I joked with my Dad about carrying a bomb as we walked onto an SAC airbase in the 1970's. We were approaching the security checkpoint where the MP's were searching bags since the President was arriving.

I'll never forget his tone when he told me to be quiet... these men take their job seriously!

Obviously, so does the receptionist. Good for her.

The first responders supposedly arrived at Sandy Hook 20 minutes after the first shots were fired. If only someone knew Adam Lanza was on the way.

[Kirby]

This all could have been avoided if his ringtone just started with the "Yo homes, smell you later!" part.