Angry Parent of Swine Flu Student Tries to Shoot School Principal

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Reported by the New York Daily Times in NYC:

School Superintendent wrestles to the ground and disarms gunman at South Orangetown Middle School

BY SAMUEL GOLDSMITH, ALISON GENDAR AND RICH SCHAPIRO 
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Updated Tuesday, June 9th 2009, 2:36 PM

A school administrator wrestled a gun-toting former NYPD cop to the ground Tuesday after the crazed dad barged into a Rockland County school, furious his son got the swine flu, cops said.

Schools Superintendent Ken Mitchell grabbed the weapon away from Peter Cocker after taking him down in his office in South Orangetown Middle School in Blauvelt.
Cocker was enraged that his son had apparently contracted the swine flu, police and neighbors said.

The 37-year-old former Bronx policeman never made it past Mitchell's office.
"It was an incredible bit of bravery and heroism," said Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner. He described Mitchell, a former hockey player, as a "slight guy, very unassuming."

Mitchell's proud family said he did exactly what they expected.
"I'm not surprised that he was able to do this," said Mitchell's brother-in-law Tom Burns, 43. "He's just always someone who, no matter what the circumstances, is going to get the job done."

Gun drawn, Cocker strolled into the school past a security guard's station about 11:30 a.m. The unarmed security agent called cops and in minutes, a SWAT team and several police units converged outside.

When the officer got to Mitchell's office, they found the door had been barricaded and heard the sounds of a "violent struggle," police said.

The officers blasted through the door with a shotgun.

By that point, Mitchell, 55, had already gained the upper hand.

Cocker was slapped with a host of charges, including criminal possession of a weapon and kidnapping.

Burns said Mitchell told him that Cocker was "complaining about the information they put out regarding the swine flu."

The takedown ended a horrifying period for scores of parents, who arrived at the school after reports of the incident surfaced in the early afternoon.
Nervous students remained holed up in their classrooms as teams of cops scoured the building.

"It's very scary," said Eleanor Klepper, whose two daughters - in grades 6 and 7 - were in the school at the time. "It's scary not knowing, not hearing from your kids, and it's scary that someone got in like this."

Cocker, who worked out of the 50th Precinct in the Bronx, joined the force in 2003 and left a year later. His neighbors in Tappan described him as a hothead who has been embroiled in a fiery custody battle with his son's mother.

"He's a psycho," one neighbor said. "He blames the school for his kid's swine flu."

A Peter Cocker with the same date of birth was arrested in June1997, in the Bronx and charged with assault, harassment, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. He eventually pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.

rschapiro@nydailynews.com

With News Wire Services

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/06/09/2009-06-09_school_superintendent_wrestles_to_the_ground_disarms_gunman_at_south_orangtown_m.html

 

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Re: Angry Parent of Swine Flu Student Tries to Shoot School Principal

Reported by Newsday.com on Long Island:

NY School superintendent wrestles gun from ex-policeman in office, lauded for 'bravery'

JIM FITZGERALD | Associated Press Writer
10:33 PM EDT, June 9, 2009

BLAUVELT, N.Y. (AP) ? A former New York City police officer walked into a suburban middle school with a handgun Tuesday but was wrestled to the floor by the district superintendent, who wrenched the weapon away and pinned him until police knocked down a door and arrested him.



No one was injured at South Orangetown Middle School in Blauvelt, a bedroom community and hamlet of Orangetown about 20 miles north of New York City, authorities said.



The gunman, Peter Cocker, was arraigned Tuesday on six felony charges, including kidnapping, criminal use of a firearm, burglary and coercion. Supervising Assistant District Attorney Dominic Crispino told the judge Cocker threatened the superintendent with "deadly physical force" and threatened to shoot him "in the heart."



Cocker, the parent of a student in the district, told Justice Paul Phinney his revolver wasn't loaded and he never intended to hurt anyone. He asked the judge to let him go home to his family, but the judge ordered him held without bail.


Cocker, 37, walked into the school at about 11:45 a.m., brushing past a security guard, who saw the gun in Cocker's hand and made an emergency call, police said.

Once inside the school building, Cocker headed to the South Orangetown Central School District's administrative offices, which are located on the campus, and confronted district Superintendent Ken Mitchell, barricading the two of them in an office, police said.



A SWAT team and several police agencies sent units to the 800-student school, which was locked down. Officers tried to negotiate with Cocker, but when they heard the sounds of "violent struggle" they used a shotgun to blast their way through the office door, police said.



Authorities said that Mitchell had talked to Cocker to calm him down before wrestling him to the floor and taking the gun.



"He managed to pin him down, and right then the police were there and broke down the door to his office and took the man away," said Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner.



He called Mitchell's actions "an incredible bit of bravery and heroism." He described the superintendent as "not a very tall or aggressive-looking man. He's a slight guy, very unassuming."



Police said Cocker, who lives in Tappan, retired from the New York Police Department in 2004.



Orangetown police Chief Kevin Nulty said that a letter from the district regarding swine flu may have played a part in the incident. He didn't elaborate.



Parent Eleanor Klepper said the front door at the middle school is usually unlocked during the day and has a security guard posted there. Anyone entering must sign in.



District spokeswoman B.J. Greco couldn't explain how Cocker got past the security guard, but police commended the man's actions.

"I think the security guard did do the right thing," Nulty said, adding that the school and police followed an emergency plan developed in the wake of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.



"At no time do we believe a child was in danger," Nulty said.



The school was locked down until about 2:20 p.m. Parents could then pick up their children after signing for them.



Others schools in the district allowed no one in but would let people leave. Officials initially directed South Orangetown Middle School parents to go to the Sons of Italy Lodge, about two blocks from the school.



Klepper and her husband, Chris, were at the lodge before the lockdown was lifted and said they worried about their daughters, in grades 6 and 7, even though they were told immediately that they were safe.



"It's very scary," Eleanor Klepper said. "It's scary not knowing, not hearing from your kids, and it's scary that someone got in like this."



http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-school-lockdown,0,143134.story

 

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Re: Angry Parent of Swine Flu Student Tries to Shoot School Principal

Reported by the Associated Press:

Flu policy apparent motive in NY school attack

By DEEPTI HAJELA ? 3 hours ago
BLAUVELT, N.Y. (AP) ? The former policeman who authorities say took a gun into a suburban middle school and threatened a superintendent has a sick child and was apparently upset over the district's swine flu policy, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Peter Cocker, 37, was charged with kidnapping, coercion and burglary Tuesday after Superintendent Ken Mitchell wrestled him to the floor and took away his revolver, officials said.

Parents, police and politicians called Mitchell a hero.

B.J. Greco, spokeswoman for the South Orangetown Central School District, said the dispute apparently stemmed from a letter Mitchell sent to parents on Monday.

The letter said absenteeism was rising but the district was following Rockland County Health Department advice not to close schools.

Closing schools, he wrote, "cannot prevent the spread of this disease since it is community wide."

Greco said Cocker has a child at the middle school who is out sick but has not been tested for swine flu and won't be, under county guidelines. She said she did not know Cocker's specific complaint about the letter.

Mitchell, who has not spoken publicly about the confrontation, was not at work Wednesday, Greco said. His office is in the same building as South Orangetown Middle School, which is in the hamlet of Blauvelt about 22 miles north of New York City.

Counseling was being offered to children and staff, Greco said.

Chief Kevin Nulty of the Orangetown police force, whose jurisdiction includes Blauvelt, said Crocker stormed past a security guard Tuesday morning at the single unlocked door to the school. The security guard saw his gun and called police.

When officers arrived, they found the office locked and heard sounds of struggle, Nulty said. They tried to negotiate but when the noise seemed to become more violent, they shot the door handle and seized Cocker, who had been pinned to the floor by Mitchell, the chief said.

Meanwhile, the school was locked down.

"At first, I just thought it was a drill," sixth grader Caroline Klepper said Wednesday. The 11-year-old said pupils huddled in a corner of the classroom, away from the door and windows, scared but calm. School officials tried to reassure them by loudspeaker, she said.

Mitchell "did an outstanding job," Nulty said. Town Supervisor Thom Kleiner called Mitchell's actions "an incredible bit of bravery and heroism."
Cocker was a New York Police Department officer from 1993 to 2004, when he retired on disability. The NYPD would not give details of the disability or describe his assignments.

At his arraignment Tuesday night, Cocker said his gun had not been loaded. Police did not immediately return a call for comment on that claim Wednesday, but prosecutor Dominic Crispino said Cocker threatened to shoot Mitchell in the heart.

Cocker was orderedjailed. He did not have a lawyer and no plea was entered.
Outside the school, parents praised the superintendent. Caroline's mother, Eleanor Klepper, remembered Mitchell playing harmonica at a school event. "Now, he's a hero, too," she said. She added, however, that "Yesterday was terrible."

Tom Marren, a New York City police captain who has two sons in the school, said the superintendent did a "great, heroic job. It's an honor to have him."
___
Associated Press Writers Jim Fitzgerald and Colleen Long contributed to this report.

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