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School officials expected knife, not gunsThu, 08/10/2006 - 3:32pm
By: John Munford
Friends come to defense of WHS student online Authorities at Whitewater High School were caught off guard Monday when four firearms and 150-plus rounds of ammunition were found in the car of a straight-A student who had never been in trouble before. Also, they expected senior Robin Kittrell only to have a knife, according to the information from an anonymous tipster that was received by a school official in June after school was out, said school spokesperson Melinda Berry-Driesbach. Meanwhile, an online poster at The Citizen.com claiming to be one of Kittrell’s friends joined several other Whitewater students in defending his character but not the action he took. One poster, whose online handle is Matted, said that Kittrell had the guns in his car “for some months, maybe more, in school and out, school and summer.” “Were he going to use them to kill, he had PLENTY of opportunities,” the post continued. “And yes, he is paranoid, and he has a hero complex, but he planned nothing.” Sheriff’s detectives searched Kittrell’s home but found no written evidence that he was planning to attack the school. They also seized his computer so the hard drive could be searched for evidence. The initial search of Kittrell revealed that he had a butterfly knife in his pocket, but the tipster was wrong in alleging that another student would also bring a knife, officials said. That student was searched but no weapons were found, Berry-Driesbach said. After the knife was found on Kittrell, officials decided to search his car and that’s when the guns were found in a large case in the car, officials said. Because of the tip, school administrators had Kittrell under surveillance from the time he drove onto campus, officials said. Administrators waited until students were in their first period classes before calling Kittrell to the office, which was part of the reason students didn’t have awareness of the incident, school officials said. Kittrell was charged with seven counts of possession of a weapon on school property and one count of possession of a concealed weapon. Chief Magistrate Charles R. Floyd denied bond, so Kittrell will remain in jail for the time being. Though Kittrell was a member of the WHS band and attended band camp on the school campus before school started back up, school officials did not confront him then because the tip was specific about the fact that Kittrell planned to bring a knife to school on the first day of class, Berry-Driesbach added. Berry-Driesbach noted that Stallions didn’t even know Kittrell personally, which was largely due to the fact that he stayed out of trouble. He was also a “high achieving student,” she said. Still, the system’s policy is to investigate all tips, and that’s exactly what happened in this case, Berry-Driesbach added. “You have to investigate everything because you never know,” Berry-Driesbach said. The tip initially came to the school system’s safety director, C.W. Campbell, Berry-Driesbach said. He passed the information to Stillions, she added. Officials praised the tipster for passing along the information, as that was the only way school administrators would have found the weapons. One Web poster defending Kittrell griped about all the mudslinging against the student. “Robin is a close friend and is one of if not the nicest and most chivalrous people I know,” user johnnycakes wrote. “He would never hurt anyone unless he or others were being endangered by a malicious force. Robin has never and would never display violent behaviors.” Web user sthrngrl wrote: “I saw him as the guy who always opened the door for me, lent me extra change when I didn't have enough for a coke, always gave me gum before class, every day, and when he was not there he left some the day before for us. If he ever saw anyone being picked on, especially girls, he would politely ask the person to stop. He watched out for people, and he was a polite gentleman for a change.” login to post comments
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