Superintendent calls big brother who told ‘hero’

This month Alaska marks the 14th anniversary of the tragic events of Feb. 19, 1997. It’s also a month where we could have easily seen these deadly events repeated at a middle school in the Mat-Su Borough.

Evan Ramsey was 16 the day he took a gun to Bethel Regional High School, killed two people, injured two more and changed his and hundreds of other lives forever.

As Ramsey’s story unfolded back then we learned that a friend had loaned him — and taught him how to use — the Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun he brought to school on the bus and used in the murders that day. We learned that at least a dozen students had known about his deadly plans for two weeks or so, but took no action to stop him. In fact, and sadly, two other students actually helped him hatch his plan.

Instead of telling school administrators or police who might have stopped Ramsey, some students brought cameras to school on the day of the shooting while others watched the gruesome scene from the library’s balcony — as if the events were staged as entertainment.

Ramsey’s family history includes an October 1986 incident where his father Don Ramsey showed up at the Anchorage Times office armed with an AR .180-223 rifle, a .44 Magnum revolver and more than 210 rounds of ammunition because the newspaper had refused to print his letter to the editor. The boy’s father took hostages that day, but eventually surrendered to police and was paroled a few weeks before his son shot and killed his high school principal and a fellow student.

Alaska may have been spared a repeat of this tragedy Thursday at Teeland Middle School when a 13-year-old stole a gun and brought it to school. He was arrested that night and jailed at the Mat-Su Youth Facility, charged with theft, weapons misconduct and second-degree terroristic threatening.

Mat-Su Borough School Superintendent Ken Burnley said the actions of one young man — whose name we may never know — likely prevented a repeat of the deadly actions the community of Bethel endured in 1997.

“His big brother is kind of a hero,” Burnley said.

He said the Teeland Middle School student facing charges in the incident did not bring the weapon to school for some harmless purpose, such as a demonstration about how to properly clean a gun. (Though we do know one Palmer High student who in the 1970s did bring her shotgun on the school bus for a presentation about gun cleaning.)

School district spokeswoman Catherine Esary said the district learned about the gun after school Thursday when a student told his parents about the incident.

All the police, zero-tolerance school policies and metal detectors in the world can’t do as much to prevent such incidents as this one student who was brave enough to tell his parents the truth — regardless of the consequences.

Whether it’s guns in schools, illegal drugs or bullying, students themselves have the power to stand up, speak out and create a school culture where everyone is safe and can focus on learning.

Our hats are off to this boy who told his parents and likely prevented what might have been another school shooting. You were right to tell your parents. You were right to put the safety of others ahead of the consequences awaiting your brother.

We hope other students in our community will be inspired by your example to speak out rather than remain silent bystanders.