An Alabama high school principal has been placed on leave after it emerged a student wrote a “death notebook” last year that named 37 classmates he allegedly wanted to kill — but no one reported it to cops.
Police and school resource officers said they were only made aware of the disturbing notebook – which officials said was based on the Japanese anime and live-action Netflix drama “Death Note” — last week after they started investigating reports that the same Hewitt-Trussville High School student had made a verbal threat against someone on Sept. 16.
During the probe, officers realized Principal Tim Salem, a teacher and counsellor had all been aware of the grim notebook for nearly a year after it was found last October, WVTM reported.
Salem was subsequently placed on administrative leave on Tuesday after furious parents accused the school of putting their kids at risk by not adequately dealing with the notebook ordeal and informing them at the time.
“I don’t feel safe in our school system,” one parent, Jessie Odell, raged. “We don’t want to end up with a Columbine.”
The notebook in question had contained the names of 37 students and included ways for them to allegedly be killed.
“The notebook was based on the Netflix series “Death Note” where a person can imagine someone’s death and supernaturally make it happen – for example, the person in the notebook might be eaten by ants, hit by a bus, hit by a ladder, drowning, etc,” Trussville City Schools Superintendent Pattie Neill said in a statement.
“It was determined at that time by the principal and counselor and based on the information available that the notebook was fantasy and no further action was necessary other than confiscate the book and monitor the behavior of the student.”
The student completed the rest of the school year with “no further disciplinary problems,” Neill added.
The superintendent said Salem had since acknowledged the mistake of not involving the school resource officer for a threat assessment when the notebook was first discovered.
“In hindsight, the SRO and central office administration should have been made aware of this book and TV series so the threat assessment protocol could be fully implemented,” Neill said.
“We understand that parents are concerned, we understand their disappointment and we are committed to improvement. School safety continues to be our 1st priority.”
In the wake of the investigation, Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat said Tuesday that the student responsible had allegedly admitted to making threatening remarks at school “at least 30 different times.”
Police searched the student’s home after the latest alleged threat but didn’t find anything except for his father’s handgun.
The student was suspended after the Sept. 16 threat and is currently undergoing counseling.
