The recent arrest of a 15-year-old Columbia youth on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder in two different shootings is not surprising.
“What you?re seeing is what we?re seeing around the country,” said Kenneth Trump, the president of Cleveland-based consulting firm National School Safety and Security Services.
Violence among juveniles is on the rise. The number of Maryland students found with knives and other weapons in schools in the 2004-05 school year has risen noticeably during the past five years.
In the 1998-99 school year, Maryland students brought 2,679 weapons to school. In 2004-05, that number rose to 2,845 ? a 6 percent increase. Meanwhile, the number of nonfatal school shootings nationally has risen from 52 in the 2004-05 school year to 85 last school year ? an increase of 63 percent.
“Nationally, there?s a spike in nonfatal school-related shootings,” Trump said.
In the Howard County case, Monti Mantrice Fleming, 15, of Columbia, is charged with the shooting of Shawn Powell, 18, who was killed in the 11200 block of Crystal Run on Aug. 26.
In another, Fleming is accused of attempted murder in a shooting incident Aug. 22 in the 10300 block of Nightmist in Columbia, in which the victim reported that he was shot in the leg after a confrontation with Fleming. Police have not released where Fleming got his gun, but Trump said juveniles usually get weapons from their families.
“You do have some robberies, but most kids steal from dad?s collection in the basement,” Trump said.
He said metal detectors are not necessarily the best way to keep guns out of schools across Maryland. Instead, he said, strong teacher-student relationships are more effective.
“The No. 1 way educators find out about weapons in school is from a kid who trusts an adult, finds out about a weapon and reports it,” Trump said.
The top three weapons brought into schools are razor blades, box cutters and kitchen knives, Trump said.
Schools with most weapons found
Anne Arundel
Meade High: 18
Old Mill High: 17
Old Mill Middle North: 13
Old Mill Middle South:13
Howard
Wilde Lake High: 13
Long Reach High: 10
Mount Hebron High: 7
Carroll
Francis Scott Key High: 7
Westminster East Middle: 4
Westminster West Middle: 4
South Carroll High: 3
Winters Mill High: 3
Harford
Edgewood Middle: 15
Edgewood High: 9
C. Milton Wright: 8
Bel Air Middle: 8
Baltimore City
Thurgood Marshall Middle: 19
Garrison Middle: 18
Highlandtown Middle: 18
W.E.B. DuBois High: 17
Walbrook High: 16
Chinquapin Middle: 15
Pimlico Middle: 15
Dr. Samuel L. Banks High: 15
Baltimore County
Old Court Middle: 17
Milford Mill High: 16
Parkville High: 15
Woodlawn High: 15
Source: Maryland State Department of Education
Total weapons found in schools (2004-05)
» Anne Arundel: 259
» Baltimore City: 570
» Baltimore County: 415
» Carroll: 41
» Harford: 108
» Howard: 97
