Alleged threat causes school lockdowns.Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-Guard Willamette High School Willamette High School is a school in Eugene, Oregon. Willamette, or "Wil-Hi," is located in the Bethel-Danebo area of west Eugene, and is the only high school in the Bethel School District. and a nearby middle school were locked down briefly Thursday when police received a report that a former student had threatened to bring a gun to campus and shoot people. Officers arrested 19-year-old Thomas Tyler Rinck less than 20 minutes later at a shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into a block away from the high school. Rinck had a small-bladed folding knife but no guns when he was arrested, Eugene police Lt. Jennifer Bills said. Police did not know what Rinck intended to do, she said. He was arrested for violating his probation for a previous misdemeanor misdemeanor, in law, a minor crime, in contrast to a felony. At common law a misdemeanor was a crime other than treason or a felony. Although it might be a grave offense, it did not affect the feudal bond or take away the offender's property. By the 19th cent. sexual abuse conviction, and on a new disorderly conduct disorderly conduct Conduct likely to lead to a disturbance of the public peace or that offends public decency. It has been held to include the use of obscene language in public, fighting in a public place, blocking public ways, and making threats. charge. He was being held in the Lane County Jail. Police were particularly concerned because the school resource officer stationed at Willamette High had heard from students that Rinck had recently been on campus with a gun, Sgt. Mike Gallick said. The students said he was trying to sell the gun, Gallick said. Police also had heard that Rinck had boasted about possessing some C4 military-grade plastic explosive plastic explosive n. A versatile explosive substance in the form of a moldable doughlike solid, used in bombs detonated by fuse or electrical impulse. Also called plastique. , Gallick said. He also allegedly threatened his father with a knife last week, he said. Rinck lives in a trailer behind his father's home on Souza Street, near the school. Police searched both the trailer and the house on Thursday. They found no guns or explosives, Bills said. The incident began at 11:07 a.m. when school resource officer Steve Timm heard from a reliable adult that Rinck had threatened to bring a gun to campus and shoot people, Bills said. "He said that if anyone tried to stop him on his way to the school he would shoot them," she said. Willamette High and Cascade Middle School were locked down, meaning students were confined con·fine v. con·fined, con·fin·ing, con·fines v.tr. 1. To keep within bounds; restrict: Please confine your remarks to the issues at hand. See Synonyms at limit. to their classrooms as a security measure. Malabon Elementary School elementary school: see school. on Barger Drive was warned of the situation but was not locked down. "We restricted our call response and had officers clear from non-essential calls, and we flooded the area with law enforcement looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. him," Bill said. "Anytime you have someone threatening to go to a school with a gun, and the sources are credible, we take it seriously. We want our kids to be safe." Officers saw Rinck at the Echo Hollow Plaza shopping center and arrested him without any problems at 11:25 a.m. Officers concerned for his family's welfare entered the home on Souza Street, Gallick said. No one was home, and police later learned that the family was unharmed. Court records show that Rinck was sentenced to five years of probation after a July conviction for third-degree sexual abuse. |
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