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Noblesville Community Reeling After School Shooting Threat Friday

By Carter Barrett, IPB News | Published on in Community, Crime, Education, Law
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Noblesville community members and school leaders held a meeting Saturday to address a racially motivated school shooting threat made against Noblesville High School on Friday.

Lisa Sobek, a leader with the Noblesville Diversity Coalition, says people want to a place to share emotions and ask how they can foster community-wide change.

“Emotions are raw, and it is just very unfortunate – it’s discouraging, it’s frustrating,” Sobek says. “We want people to come here and talk about their feelings and open up and have an organic place where we can help people get through this.”

About 100 attendees were split into small groups to talk about racism in the community. A Noblesville schools spokesperson said in a statement the threat, written Friday in a bathroom stall, “involved ugly, derogatory racial statements.”

Janina Pettiford was one of the event’s speakers.  She says people must have honest conversations about race and, more broadly – see something to say something.

“I believe that the conversations were productive but now there have to be actions to back those conversations,” Pettiford says.

Pettiford also told attendees they must make sure nothing like the Noblesville West Middle School shooting happens again. In May, a 13-year-old student shot a teacher and classmate at the middle school. The shooter was sent to a juvenile program with Department of Corrections earlier this week.

In response to the shooting, Noblesville recently passed a referendum for $50 million to pay for increased school safety and mental health treatment in its schools.

After Friday’s threat, Noblesville Schools Superintendent Beth Niedermeyer says the district is discussing further changes in practice.

“So what do we need to do to be inclusive in all of our actions? How do we need to respond to certain situations?” Niedermeyer says. “And really giving our staff the education and background they need to be successful in those situations.”

Police detained Friday’s suspect, and the district is starting expulsion proceedings.

Noblesville High School classes will go on as planned Monday, but there will be an increased police presence. The school will also offer counseling sessions for students.

Indiana is one of five states without hate crime legislation – something Gov. Eric Holcomb has pushed as a priority in the upcoming legislative session.