Thursday, 4:30 PM
Athol middle school students in trouble over threat
By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff
Two students at a central Massachusetts middle school will be charged with disturbing the peace for their roles in drafting a disturbing list -- titled "People to Kill" -- that was discovered by a teacher and turned over to police this week.
The list, created by two eighth-grade boys at Athol-Royalston Middle School in Athol, included about 15 names, school principal John Doty said Thursday. Most of those named were students, but the list also included two teachers. One of the names on the list was simply "Mom," the principal said.
Athol police were called to the 500-student school to investigate after a teacher confiscated the list from a group of students passing it around on Wednesday. By yesterday morning, the students involved had been identified and suspended from school, Doty said. Police said they planned to charge both students, probably Friday.
Peter Buck, the school-based police officer who led the investigation, declined to describe how the students explained their behavior, but said that based on the investigation, he does not believe the boys ever intended to commit violence.
"I don't think they understood completely what they were doing" in making the list, he said.
Police Sergeant Christopher Casella said police determined it would be safe to keep the school open, because the list did not constitute a specific, credible threat by someone with means, motive and opportunity to carry it out.
