“Principal at Omaha middle school is on leave; starter pistols were discovered in school office” news comment

Omaha World Herald Writer, Bob Glissmann, reports that Beveridge Magnet Middle School Principal, David Lavendar, is on leave after the discovery of starter pistols in the school’s office prompted an evacuation of students and faculty. It details that the school notified parents of the leave, ensuring them that leave is not due to related conduct with students. He also revealed that further details cannot be revealed at this time due to privacy laws. After explaining what the school did, the article talked about some of what police did to ensure there were no explosives or ammunition left in the building. At the end of the article, it notes that Michaela Jackson will serve as interim principal. 

I thought this press release, published only two hours ago, was a good way to reveal what little information the school could about the incident and procedures following it. They could have interviewed Michaela Jackson, whomever she may be since it didn’t tell us how she’s qualified to be the interim principal, to get a good idea of what she’s thinking or feeling. I did point out that the chief human resources officer for OPS was the one who sent the letter out to parents, making sure the letter was written in a way that did not alarm parents. He added in the student conduct, too, so there was no rumors about the leave.

Possible injuries in Mega City Mall explosion, the details behind it are still unclear

An explosion went off at Mega City Mall food court Thursday, December 5th, at 9:53 a.m. Police were at the scene of the incident only minutes later, arriving at 9:58 a.m. to evacuate and investigate.

Grandmother of two, Makaelyn Glienke, was in the food court buying candy when the explosion occurred. Glienke and her grandsons immediately ducked under the nearest table they could find to protect themselves.

“I didn’t have my glasses on, so I didn’t see exactly where the explosion came from. I was just glad I had my meds with me,” said Glienke.

A little further away from the food court, seasonal mall worker, 19 year-old Ellie Cropley, was getting Santa’s Workshop ready to open for the day when she heard the explosion.

“I saw people running, so I followed them to see what was happening. I immediately called my mom after I found out it was an explosion,” Cropley said.

A Mega City Theatre employee, Kristine Honomichl, was using the bathroom at the time of the explosion.

“The bathroom stalls began to fall down as I was using the restroom. This was just my luck,” said Honomichl.

At a press release right after the incident, Captain Ross Fuglsang assured the public that police are unsure if the explosion was due to electrical equipment or something more intentional at this time.

“We are working closely to make sure the investigation is timely and thorough,” Fuglsang said. “We will have more information this afternoon.”

They are trying to clear debris and get inside the building to investigate further and to see the extent of the damage done by the explosion.

“Our sympathy goes out to all the families impacted by today’s event,” Fuglsang said.

There is a second press release scheduled to be held this afternoon at 2 p.m. in the same space.