Deadly prop
UPDATE: The Salt Lake Tribune reports Tuesday that school officials believed that the pistol being used as a prop in the play “was a harmless imitation.”
Craig Hammer, the Washington County School District’s executive director for secondary education, said Monday that the .38 caliber pistol that killed Tucker Thayer was offered to the school’s drama instructor by the parent of a student in the play. Hammer said that the parent didn’t tell authorities the gun was real.
EARLIER: A student stagehand for a play at a Utah high school was killed over the weekend when a gun being used as a prop in the production discharged. The Salt Lake Tribune says Tucker Thayer, 15, died after suffering a head wound when the gun, loaded with blanks, discharged. He was a student at Desert Hills High School in St. George, which was staging the play, “Oklahoma!”
Police say that even thought the gun was loaded with blanks, the weapon discharged close enough to the victim’s head that it resulted in a deadly wound.
The Deseret News reported that those putting on the play had received permission to use a gun in the production. St. George Police Sgt. James Van Fleet says that an adult was alloweed to bring the gun in a locked box to school in a monitored situation. “We’re trying to figure out how much access he had to it, what level of adult supervision was in place or should have been in place,” the sergeant said.
The Washington County School District issued a statement on Monday about the shooting:
“Washington County School District is troubled about the accessibility and use of an operable firearm on school property. The District’s ultimate concern is for the safety and education of our children. An investigation is underway in this case. The District will carefully consider our policies and procedures that apply in light of this tragic situation and take appropriate administrative action to ensure the safety of our students and staff.”
Do you think schools should be prohibited from using real weapons as props in theatrical productions?
November 18th, 2008 @ 12:53 am
This story made http://detentionslip.org. Check it out for all the wild headlines from our schools.
November 18th, 2008 @ 8:24 am
Considering that in most schools, bringing in a firearm results in expulsion, it is inconsistent to bring real firearms into the school. With today’s technology, a recording of a firearm discharging is likely to be readily available or could be made off-site by an adult.
November 18th, 2008 @ 8:46 am
We would never allow a fire arm on campus for any reason, peace officers excepted.
November 18th, 2008 @ 9:17 am
Of course this should be prohibited. There is no acceptable reason for a functioning firearm to be a part of a student stage show, or any public education function. Besides the obvious safety concern, a stage production is an exercise in make believe. Any number of techniques can be used to simulate or represent such a dangerous real world item. No drama club would use a low dose of poison for Romeo and Juliet. That would be ridiculous. This story is almost unbelievable. I honestly cannot fathom the chain of events leading to this tragedy.
November 18th, 2008 @ 9:32 am
Operable firearms are not necessary to achieve the dramatic impact intended in a gun scene. All of us can recall performances where realistic worlds were created by banging on metal sheets, knocking together wooden blocks, and more recently, by preprogrammed effects delivered via MacIntosh. A gun loaded with blanks is a very dangerous device and its use shows great disregard for student safety.
November 23rd, 2008 @ 6:43 pm
A tragic story.
A “daaaah” as far as asking if a real weapon capable of deadly force, should be available as a prop ! ! ! It is ridiculous and appalling to think that mature adults even considered this as an option.
I’m sure multiple prop options could have been found that would have been far safer…even a “starter gun” would have been a safer choice.
Total lack of thought and common sense. What an unnecessary tragedy.