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Student’s arsenal: Sniper rifle, ninja sword, 3 other guns, flex cuffs, 150 bulletsTue, 08/08/2006 - 4:34pm
By: John Munford
A Whitewater High School senior who brought two rifles and two handguns to campus in his car on the first day of school Monday had access to guns at his home with parental approval, according to Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department. Another deputy remembered the student complained often of being bullied while in middle school. Did Robin Kittrell, 17, of Carrollwood Drive in south Fayette County intend to take hostages or shoot anyone? “We don’t know if he had it in his gut to do it or not, but he definitely had it in his head,” Jordan said. Deputies also discovered 25 “flex cuffs” in a utility belt, plastic ties that are normally used by police to bind the hands of suspects when regular handcuffs aren’t available, Jordan said. “That was what scared me the most,” said the chief detective, alluding to the possibility that the student may have intended to take hostages during an attack on the school. Kittrell, a member of the high school’s first senior class, was charged with six counts of possession of a weapon on school property and one count of possession of a concealed weapon after deputies found the sniper rifle, another rifle and a revolver inside his 1991 Volvo Monday morning. Officials also found more than 150 rounds of ammunition and a black outfit including a hood and military-style pants. At his rural home, Kittrell competed with his father on the family’s shooting range, and his father told sheriff’s detectives that the straight-A student planned to go to West Point for a military career, Jordan said. The family lives on a 12-acre parcel in south Fayette County; Kittrell’s father works for the Federal Aviation Administration but was on leave this summer due to a health issue, Jordan said. Also found in Kittrell’s car was a pair of binoculars, a large “ninja” style sword at least three feet long and a belt that included two “speed loaders,” devices that are used to quickly reload a revolver with six shots, police said. Kittrell told detectives why he brought the weapons to school, but Jordan declined to divulge that information other than to say Kittrell’s story was “ludicrous.” Among the offensive gear found in Kittrell’s car was: • A .22-caliber Colt competition rifle; • A .30-cal. Carbine rifle; • A .38-cal. Colt six-inch revolver; and • A .22-cal. Colt competition semi-automatic handgun. All the guns had been owned by Kittrell’s grandfather, uncle and father, and they were taken from a gun safe at the family’s home, Jordan said. School spokesperson Melinda Berry Driesbach said Kittrell did not tell school officials why he had the weapons and other gear in his car. “To say that he planned an attack on the school would be pure speculation at this point,” Berry-Driesbach said. A search of the Kittrell home turned up nothing written in terms of any possible plans Kittrell had, but detectives seized his computer and will have it analyzed to see if it contains further evidence, Jordan said. The investigation began when school principal Greg Stillions got information that Kittrell had brought a weapon on campus, Jordan said. Stillions then called Kittrell to his office and had the student searched, turning up a switchblade knife, Jordan said. Campus officials then searched Kittrell’s vehicle where the weapons cache was found, Jordan added. “The safety of the students was never in question and never compromised,” Berry-Driesbach said. Sheriff’s detective Tommy Pope recalled meeting Kittrell when the teen was a student at Whitewater Middle School. Kittrell would often come to the school office to complain that he was being picked on, Pope remembered. login to post comments
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