Friday, September 15, 2006

William Cornell and Shawn Sturtz

Just a couple of mixed up kids?

I don't think so.


GREEN BAY -- Authorities said that William Cornell and Shawn Sturtz amassed a cache of guns, ammunition, bombs and other gear at their homes that they apparently planned to use at some point at Green Bay's East High School. Police said the boys wanted officers to shoot them in the process.

Police Chief Craig Van Schyndle said that officers who found the materials also found suicide notes by the two, and it appears that something was going to happen in the very near future.

..."Sturtz and Cornell were long-time friends, hated school and had been depressed over the past couple of years. They feel they did not fit in with others at school. Sturtz was described as obsessed with pain and death," Green Bay Police Capt. Lisa Starr said Friday morning at a news conference.

She said both long had been fascinated with the Columbine shooting incident.

...At the news conference, Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt said what could have been a "terrible, terrible day" was thwarted. Schmitt is asking the district attorney to find out where the boys' parents were and how much they knew.

Brown County District Attorney John Zakowski said he will look into that, but can't charge parents with being ignorant.

Even though Sturtz and Cornell didn't carry out their plan, they are getting what they wanted -- attention.

Do they enjoy being revealed as bad people?


I hope, with help, they are able to discover the immorality of their actions.

I also hope that they are imprisoned for a long, long time.


It's important to remember that a scheme to murder was thwarted.

Sturtz and Cornell were NOT planning a little high school prank. Their punishment must reflect the seriousness of their plot.

15 comments:

Don said...

I think if they find out that these stockpiles were in the houses they lived in along with their parents, their parents need to be prosecuted for negligence of some kind. Responsible parents need to exercise their right to search their teenagers things and know what is going on with them. They can't know everything, but this is definitely something the parents should have known about, if it was planned under their roof.

Mary said...

I agree that parents can't know everything that their kids are doing.

But how could any parent not know about all those weapons?

That's stuff that was brought into the home. A kid could hide one gun, but not a stockpile.

Especially since Cornell and Sturtz were supposedly so depressed, I would think that their parents would be checking their rooms regularly to make sure that they weren't in possession of any weapons or drugs that they could use to harm themselves.

I think there should be some accountability on the part of the parents.

Anonymous said...

I also believe that kids will be kids and that it doesn't help that the media blows every part of this ordeal out of proportion. I don't know the family personally, but I do know that if I put my shoes into their feet all of your negative feddbacks and comments sure as heck aren't helping matters. Look at what happened at VA Tech. That man was seriously psycho and had a paper trail showing that he was seriously mental!! Cornell, Sturtz, and Netwall had a completely clean history. Has anybody heard of the hobby hunting? Accountability of the parents? So when your kids go behind your back and smoke pot or drink a beer underage should you be held responsible? Again, a remark like yours', Mary, is what is making these matters worse!!!

Mary said...

What?

What did I say that's "making these matters worse"?

Anonymous said...

First off, think back to when you were a child...havent you ever felt down and low? like your whole world was crashing down on you? The last people you ever want to tell if youre going to tell is your parents. I've done research and there was no suicide notes and did you look at the picture of the "stockpile of guns"?? Did you notice the ORANGE TIPS?? Yea..deff not real gun. If this was so serious why wernt the events that night @ the high school canceled? Or how about the way the cop carried those weapons out? (IN A BOX...THE TIPS POINTING IN EVERY DIRECTION) If anything these CHILDEREN need some theraphy thats all. Being lonely and depressed, you don't need to be charged with anything and for that now there sitting in a jail cell all by themselves. What is that helping? It's not. The point is nothing happened, and nothing was going to. You don't have something planned like this for years and years. Something would of happened already.

Mary said...

Cornell and Sturtz have shown that they're a threat to society.

They're where they should be.

Anonymous said...

Anyone can be a threat to society Mary. You can walk into someones house and make a story up. These kids are being set up. Theyre trying to make an example out of them. Everyone makes mistakes in life. These were kids probably just fantasies and lost in their videogames. This whole "plot" which was never put on paper anyways...was never going to happen. This story needs to end. Those KIDS should be let out. It's a sad story....

Mary said...

It's a sad story.

I agree with that.

Much of the rest?

No.

Anonymous said...

Well Mary, what would you like to see happen to these childeren? What if it was your child? Brother,sister, cousin, uncle,aunt a good friend? Put yourself in those shoes....I feel bad for these people. You seem so bitter.

Mary said...

I'm not bitter.

I said it's sad. I think it's extremely sad, as well as dangerous, that some people are so lost.

I don't want to see these children become the next Seung-Hui Cho.

I don't want to see any family lose a loved one because some high schooler dreams of taking his place among infamous mass murderers.

My opinions aren't rooted in any bitterness. They're grounded in concern for the innocents and the need to hold people accountable for their actions.

Anonymous said...

umm...well we dont see eye to eye at all.

I pray for those poor kids and their families.

Hopefully the trial will be fair.

Mary said...

I pray for them, too.

Anonymous said...

Speaking from experience (I've been in the home), the Sturtz home is pushing (if not over) 100 years old. It is a multi-family unit, and I'm certain that even the owner of the home does not know all of its secrets. It's quite possible for an inquisitive young man to find hiding places for a cache of weapons. Perhaps not an arsenal, but it would certainly be possible to hide quite a bit in a large house of that age.

Anonymous said...

explain to me the "cache of weapons"...from what I read if you have your story right the guns were in Cornell's home. which by the way all looked pretty fake to me...orange tips. This story is so old...whats going to happen to those boys?

Mary said...

Yeah, you're right.

It's really old -- 10 MONTHS OLD!

Even if there's still something to follow here, I'm not following this story at all anymore.