Information concerning Hominy High School ' hit list' headed to Osage County DA

Hominy Police there say they've found the author of a threatening note left in a high school classroom that some are calling a hit list. <br/><br/>School officials say the note listed the names of

Friday, December 2nd 2005, 10:00 am

By: News On 6

Hominy Police there say they've found the author of a threatening note left in a high school classroom that some are calling a hit list.

School officials say the note listed the names of several students, but wouldn't be specific on what kind of threats it contained or whether the author was a boy or a girl.

The News on 6's Heather Lewin went to Hominy Friday and explains how the school handled the situation and why some parents are upset.

Hominy school superintendent Russell Hull: "First thing, you wanna think those type of things are not going to happen in a small, tight knit community like Hominy." But after school officials discovered a note threatening other students lives, they realized they had to take it seriously.

Russell Hull: "We can't take a chance, cause it's our job to go protect our kids." The note was found the day before Thanksgiving vacation. Hull says the school waited until the following Monday to take action and two more days to tell police. He has taken some criticism for waiting to get authorities involved, but Hull says often the school can conduct its own investigation more effectively. "We can talk to kids without their parents, we can search their lockers without search warrants, and as long as it doesn't get to be a big panic situation, kids will divulge information to us." But when they couldn't get to the bottom of it, they handed it off to Hominy Police, who found the student they believe is responsible and turned over the case to the district attorney.

Although the investigation is over, school officials aren't taking any chances with safety. They've added additional security measures and say police will be monitoring after school events as well. Authorities say kids need to know this type of behavior is not a joke and will be investigated as a crime. While certainly not an everyday occurrence, these so called hit lists have turned up in schools around the country.

Hull thinks it's all about getting noticed. Russell Hull: â€œIt floors me why anybody would even say anything like this, but because in today's society, I think sometimes it's attention and kids don't realize that's negative attention, not positive attention.â€

It's not yet clear what charges the student may face. The Osage County DAâ€™s office will decide whether an arrest will be made. If that happens, the student will likely get a long-term suspension from school.