ONTARIO, Calif. (AP) — An 18-year-old student authorities say had researched school shootings and had an arsenal of guns at his home was charged Wednesday with planning to attack a Southern California campus.

Sebastian Villasenor of Eastvale was charged with five counts of attempted murder and one count of attempting to make criminal threats, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. He remained jailed.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had a lawyer to speak on his behalf. The DA’s office said it didn’t have information on whether Villasenor had representation but added that a lawyer would appear or could be appointed at his scheduled Thursday arraignment.

Investigators discovered that Villasenor “had every intention of carrying out a school shooting at the Ontario Christian High School” in Ontario, city Police Chief Michael Lorenz said at a news conference.

Ontario is 46 miles (75 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.

Villasenor, who didn’t have any criminal record, was arrested on Saturday after a classmate reported he “had been showing signs of being fixated on school shootings and had access to weapons,” the chief said.

School Principal Ben Dykhouse said he was grateful to God, the police and to the student “who was brave enough to say something when they saw something that was off.”

The police chief said Villasenor was “obsessed” with school shootings, researched tactical supplies and how long it would take police to arrive at the school and was in the process of choosing a date for his attack.

Police who went to Villasenor’s home found seven rifles, two revolvers, another handgun and a shotgun along with more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, Lorenz said.

Although he didn’t have a “hit list,” police believe that Villasenor was focusing on five Ontario students as intended victims and “contemplated” a sixth victim, based on interviews regarding his social interactions with the students, the chief said.

Lorenz said investigators determined that Villasenor wasn’t “bullied or harassed” but had difficulties “forming relationships with other students and in his social interactions.”

Lorenz said investigators believe Villasenor may have planning a shooting around April 20, which is the anniversary of the 1999 attack at Columbine High School in Colorado that left 15 people dead, including the two shooters.

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Undocumented Student Action Week, aimed at building greater awareness of and support for policies bolstering undocumented student success, returns to Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) with workshops, webinars, films, discussions and more beginning Monday, October 16.

MSJC is celebrating its 7th annual Undocumented Student Action Week as part of a joint effort originally led by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, the Foundation for California Community Colleges, the Community College League of California to support and empower students such as Daisy Torres, who was brought to this country as a 6-year-old from Honduras.

“I am a highly ambitious woman with big dreams for my future,” said the MSJC Business administration major. “I am working towards transferring and obtaining my bachelor’s degree and plan to work for a financial firm or cooperation. I am passionate about inspiring others like myself to pursue their dreams and goals, to not let their status define who they are.”

MSJC seeks to achieve diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility throughout the institution and works to remove barriers to higher education. MSJC supports undocumented students so they feel welcome, can complete their educational journeys, and land jobs that lead to financial stability.

The President’s Alliance on Higher Education and American Immigration Council estimates there are more than 408,000 undocumented college students nationwide, with Immigrants Rising placing the number at up to 70,000 in California. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipients alone, many of whom are working, supporting their families while excelling at California’s community colleges, will contribute more than $460 billion to the U.S. economy this decade, according to the Center for American Progress.

Following are details about MSJC events, all of which are being held either virtually or at the San Jacinto Campus, 1499 N. State Street.

• Monday, October 16: Hear My Story. Hear from members of the UndocuCommunity at MSJC as they share their stories in this virtual presentation. Visit the Hear My Story webpage via this link (https://www.msjc.edu/undocudreamers/story).

• Monday, October 16: Yosimar Reyes Talk & Student Reception. From 1 to 2 p.m. at the San Jacinto Campus. Yosimar Reyes is a nationally-acclaimed Poet and Public Speaker. Born in Guerrero, Mexico, and raised in Eastside San Jose, Reyes explores the themes of migration and sexuality in his work. The talk will be held in the Library; a reception will follow at 2 p.m. in Room A200.

• Monday, October 16: Opening Celebration. From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the San Jacinto Campus Quad. Food, live music, and an introduction to the Hear My Story virtual exhibition.

• Tuesday, October 17: Film Screening and Discussion – A Million Miles Away. A biopic about Jose Hernandez and his path from a farm worker to becoming an engineer and an astronaut. In person at the San Jacinto Campus, Room A200 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Tuesday, October 17: UndocuAdvocate Workshop. From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the San Jacinto Campus, Room A200. This event is designed for campus administrators, faculty, and professional staff. Registration is required as space is limited.

• Wednesday, October 18: Healing Space with Mayra Barragan. From 5 to 7 p.m. at the San Jacinto Campus, Room A200. A healing space workshop led by mental health professional Mayra Barragan.

• Thursday, October 19: UndocuMixer. San Jacinto Campus, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. A professional networking opportunity for students, faculty, and professional staff.

• Friday, October 20: Family Night & Loteria. San Jacinto Campus, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. An honest, UndocuCulture-centered presentation with immigrant families to address common fears and anxieties.

Students and the general public also are invited to visit a Dulce Ibarra Art Exhibit at the San Jacinto Campus Gallery. Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Statewide events include an October 17 Zoom webinar from 5:30 to 7 p.m. sponsored by the I Can Go to College (I CAN) campaign and titled Students Striving and Thriving, which will detail educational opportunities provided by the California Community Colleges for undocumented students and their families. Registration is now open. Additional webinars will be taking place daily throughout the week. Information and registration are available online.

For further information about MSJC events, please email dreamers@msjc.edu, or visit the college’s Undocumented Student Action Week website.

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FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — The gunman who killed three people and wounded six others as he fired randomly while roaming his northwestern New Mexico neighborhood was a local high school student and his victims include a 97-year-old woman and her daughter, police said Tuesday.

Investigators were still trying to determine a motive for the attack by Beau Wilson, 18, in the Farmington neighborhood where he lived. They say he opened fire Monday, killing Gwendolyn Schofield, her 73-year-old daughter, Melody Ivie, and 79-year-old Shirley Voita.

Witnesses and police say Wilson walked through the neighborhood a short drive from downtown Farmington spraying bullets until police arrived within minutes and fatally shot him. Two police officers were among the wounded.

“The amount of violence and brutality that these people faced is unconscionable to me,” Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy said. “I don’t care what age you are, I don’t care what else is going on in your life, to kill three innocent elderly women that were just absolutely in no position to defend themselves is always going to be a tragedy.”

Deputy Police Chief Baric Crum said Wilson was indiscriminately shooting at vehicles, but that some rounds also hit homes.

Dowdy said investigators do not believe Wilson knew anyone he shot.

“We’ve discovered nothing that leads us to believe that the suspect knew” the victims, he said. “We’re pretty confident in that this was completely random.”

In November, after he turned 18, Wilson legally purchased at least one gun used Monday, police said. He carried three firearms in the attack, including an assault-style weapon.

Four officers fired a total of 16 rounds at Wilson, including one of the wounded officers, said San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari.

Mayor Nate Duckett said Tuesday that the Farmington officer and state police officer were treated for their wounds and released from a hospital.

Authorities began receiving reports of gunshots at 10:57 a.m. and the first officer arrived at 11:02 a.m., police Chief Steve Hebbe said Monday in a video statement. Three minutes later, the gunman had been killed.

Joseph Robledo, a 32-year-old tree trimmer, said he rushed home after learning that his wife, Jolene, and their year-old daughter had sought shelter in the laundry room when gunshots rang out. A bullet went through his daughter’s window, without hitting anyone.

Jolene Robledo said they had just finished breakfast when she heard “pop, pop, pop, pop,” which she first thought was a car backfiring. She said they were going to run out the back door until she heard a man curse right outside, so she quietly shut the door and hid with her daughter between the washing machine and dryer.

“I mean it was crazy. I called my husband and he could hear the gunshots over the phone,” she said. “He was freaking out and I was like, ‘don’t hang up, don’t hang up!’”

Joseph Robledo said he jumped a fence to get in through the back door. Out front, he found an older woman in the street who had been wounded while driving by. She appeared to have fallen out of her car, which kept rolling without her, he said.

“I went out to see because the lady was just lying in the road, and to figure just what the heck was going on,” Robledo said. He and others began to administer first aid.

Neighbors directed a police officer toward the suspect.

“We were telling (the officer), ‘He’s down there.’ … The cop just went straight into action,” Robledo said.

Robledo’s own family car was perforated with bullets.

“We’ve been doing yard work all last week. I just thank God that nobody was outside in front,” he said. “Obviously, elderly people — he didn’t have no sympathy for them.”

Downtown Farmington, a short drive from the neighborhood, has undergone a transformation of sorts in recent years, with cafes and breweries cropping up alongside decades-old businesses that trade in Native American crafts from silver jewelry to wool weavings.

Nick Akins, a middle school teacher and resident, said it’s a great place to live, with a mix of homes, short-term rental apartments and churches.

“You never think it’s going to happen here, and all of a sudden, in a tiny little town, it comes here,” Akins said.

On Tuesday, orange circles of spray paint still marked the ground where police had collected evidence. Authorities were using metal detectors to search the grass in front of one of the churches along the street where gunfire erupted.

As night approached Monday, dozens of people gathered at Hills Church, a few miles (kilometers) from the attack scene, to pray at the base of a tall metal cross. Lead pastor Matt Mizell talked about living in a “dark and broken world” but told the crowd there was still hope and asked God to provide them strength.

Politicians also weighed in about the attack.

Duckett said in a statement that the shooting “has left us reeling in anguish and disbelief.”

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement that she was praying for the families of those killed and that it “serves at yet another reminder of how gun violence destroys lives in our state and our country every single day.”

New Mexico enacted a red-flag law in 2020 that can be used to seize guns from people who pose a danger to others or themselves. Dowdy said relatives expressed concern about Wilson’s mental health when interviewed by police but that he didn’t have enough information at this time to further elaborate.

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat who represents the area in Congress, said in a Facebook post that “our beautiful Nuevo Mexico is not immune to the mass shootings that occur across the country — Every. Single. Day.”

“I praise the heroes who drove to danger to stop the violence. I pray for the quick recovery of the wounded and for the families of those we lost,” she said.

___

Lee reported from Santa Fe and Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press writer Terry Tang in Phoenix contributed.

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In new research in the journal Addictive Behaviors, public health researchers find that the prevalence of school discipline and school policing—core elements of the school-to-prison pipeline—predict subsequent school-average levels of substance use and developmental risk.

First author Seth Prins, PhD, a researcher at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and co-authors analyzed 11 years of data from 4,800 schools and more than 4,950,000 students in California. They found that the prevalence of exclusionary school discipline (suspension and expulsion) and school-based police contact predicted higher school levels of binge drinking, drinking, smoking, using cannabis, using other drugs, and violence/harassment. They found also that the prevalence of school discipline also predicted lower levels of reported community support, feeling safe in school, and school support.

“Our findings are surprising to nobody who has been on the front lines of the fight against the mass criminalization of kids, especially in communities that have faced systematic disinvestment in social infrastructure and enormous investments in policing,” says Prins, an assistant professor of epidemiology and sociomedical sciences.

Prins and his co-authors argue that school discipline is not developmentally appropriate or responsive (and may be harmful) to adolescent health and developmental need. Furthermore, they say, heavy investments in school securitization and policing divert resources from school and community supports and services that might address the root causes of student disciplinary and health problems.

According to a report by the ACLU, more than 10 million students attend schools with police but no counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker. And 90 percent of students in public schools experience staffing ratios for those positions that fail to meet professional standards.

According to a report by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, in 2019, of the 1.1 million adolescents ages 12-17 who needed substance use treatment, only 6 percent received treatment in a specialty facility, and fewer than 1 in 10 adolescents and young adults with a substance use disorder reported any past-year treatment.

Within this context of low treatment access, a 2019 study found that more than a third of adolescents who do access any mental health treatment access it only at school (they are disproportionately Black and low-income).

The latest study by Prins and colleagues builds on a study they published last year finding the schools with students who have higher levels of substance use and depressed feelings have a higher prevalence of school discipline and school-based police contact, and that schools with students who felt less safe in school and reported lower school and community support had a higher prevalence of school discipline. 

“We need to invest in kids, not cops. We need to prevent and treat substance use problems and the conditions that generate them, not criminalize and punish kids’ health,” says Prins.

Study co-authors include Ruth T. Shefner, Sandhya Kajeepet, Charles Branas, and Lisa Metsch at Columbia Mailman School; Mark L.Hatzenbuehler at Harvard University; and Stephen T.Russell at University of Texas, Austin.

Funding for the study was provided by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA045955, DA037801). The authors declare no competing interests.

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OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A 15-year-old sophomore opened fire at his Michigan high school on Tuesday, killing three students and wounding eight other people, including at least one teacher, authorities said.

Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said at a news conference that investigators were still trying to determine a motive for the shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, a community of about 22,000 people roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Detroit.

He said he was aware of allegations circulating on social media that there had been threats of a shooting at the roughly 1,700-student school prior to Tuesday’s attack, but he cautioned against believing that narrative until investigators can look into it.

Authorities didn’t immediately release the suspect’s name, but McCabe said deputies arrested him without incident within minutes of arriving at the school in response to a flood of 911 calls about the attack, which happened shortly before 1 p.m. He said the deputies also recovered the semi-automatic handgun and several clips the suspect used in the attack.

“He fired multiple shots,” McCabe said. “Somewhere in the area of 15 to 20.”

The three students who were killed were a 16-year-old boy and two girls, ages 14 and 17, McCabe said. Two of the wounded were undergoing surgery as of 5 p.m. and the six others who were wounded were in stable condition, he said.

McCabe said the suspect’s parents visited their son where he’s being held and advised him not to talk to investigators, as is his right. Police have to seek permission from a juvenile suspect’s parents or guardian to speak with them, he added.

McCabe said he wasn’t aware of any prior run-ins the suspect had with law enforcement or if he had any disciplinary history at school.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also spoke at the news conference, saying, “I think this is every parent’s worst nightmare,” while choking up.

The school was placed on lockdown after the attack, with some children sheltering in locked classrooms while officers searched the premises. They were later taken to a nearby Meijer grocery store to be picked up by their parents.

Isabel Flores, a 15-year-old ninth grader, told WJBK-TV that she and other students heard gunshots and saw another student bleeding from the face. They then ran from the area through the rear of the school, she said.

McCabe said investigators would be poring over the school’s video footage and looking through social media posts for any evidence of a possible motive.

A concerned parent, Robin Redding, said her son, Treshan Bryant, is a 12th grader at the school but stayed home on Tuesday. She said he had heard threats that there could be a shooting.

“This couldn’t be just random,” she said.

Redding didn’t provide specifics about what her son had heard, but she expressed concern with school safety in general.

“Kids just, like they’re just mad at each other at this school,” she said.

Bryant said he texted several younger cousins in the morning and they said they didn’t want to go to school, and he got a bad feeling. He asked his mom if he could do his assignments online.

Bryant said he had heard vague threats “for a long time now” about plans for a shooting at the school.

“You’re not supposed to play about that,” he said of the threats. “This is real life.”

School administrators posted two letters to parents on the school’s website this month, saying they were responding to rumors of a threat against the school following a bizarre vandalism incident.

According to a Nov. 4 letter written by Principal Steve Wolf, someone threw a deer head into a courtyard from the school’s roof, painted several windows on the roof with red acrylic paint and used the same paint on concrete near the school building.

Without specifically referencing that incident, a second post on Nov. 12 assured “there has been no threat to our building nor our students.”

“We are aware of the numerous rumors that have been circulating throughout our building this week. We understand that has created some concern for students and parents,” the administrators wrote. “Please know that we have reviewed every concern shared with us and investigated all information provided. Some rumors have evolved from an incident last week, while others do not appear to have any connection. Student interpretations of social media posts and false information have exacerbated the overall concern.”

McCabe said the incident with the deer head was “absolutely unrelated” to Tuesday’s shooting.

“That was a different incident, different student,” he said.

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All scholarship applicants were asked to write a brief narrative of their background and interests followed by an essay on their ideas for the future of the law, emphasizing how innovation and technology can enhance access to justice for all Americans. Applicants were judged on overall writing ability, argument presentation, and persuasion.

Third Year Harvard Law School student Jacob Kovacs-Goodman will receive a $1,000 merit-based scholarship based on his achievements and essay discussing technology and innovation in the traditionally outdated field of law. In his words: “The future of law will burn brighter, especially if lawyers agree to wade into unfamiliar waters and bring new solutions to bear on their cases. Which, given law’s self-perception as a problem-solving field, should be an easy sell.” Talkov Law President Scott Talkov remarked that he was “pleased to offer this scholarship to such a dedicated and ambitious law student.”

Scholarship recipient Jacob Kovacs-Goodman is a Southern California native who graduated from Stanford University in 2013. He is now a third year law student at Harvard Law School where he is studying the intersection of law and technology. Jacob has demonstrated incredible discipline and enthusiasm both in and out of the classroom. His impressive accomplishments coupled with his outstanding essay on the future of law make him the ideal recipient for Talkov Law’s 2020 Future of the Law Scholarship.

After expressing his appreciation for being selected, Jacob humorously added that “remotely attending Harvard law school during the Covid-19 pandemic has been interesting. The Socratic method was occasionally interrupted by students whose cameras were off. One student had a bird on her shoulder. Another was cleaning his gun.”

The firm also selected Elizabeth Dayhuff as a runner up to receive a $500 merit-based scholarship. Elizabeth graduated from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in May 2020 and will begin her Juris Doctor education this coming fall.

Talkov Law Corp. was founded in 2020 by Scott Talkov. In just one year, the firm has grown to 6 attorneys and clerks serving clients from offices throughout California. Their lawyers practice real estate law, family law, business law, bankruptcy law, and trust & probate law. Talkov Law’s experienced attorneys specialize in representing all parties involved in these civil disputes by providing innovative solutions that help forge the future of the law. Applications are now open for the 2021 Future of the Law Scholarship online at: www.talkovlaw.com/scholarship

-Layla Christian Ong • Talkov Law Corp.

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When it comes to students, there are only two kinds of students. Those that like to study, like to learn new things, and enjoy the whole experience of being in school. They do their homework on time and with diligence. They start their projects early and finish them well ahead of time. Above all, they have developed good study habits that will see them prosper in careers of their choice. Then there are kids like my kids. They are allergic to homework. They consider studying beneath them and spend as little time as possible learning anything new. They spend all of their time playing video games on their cell phones, tablets, computers, Xbox, Playstation, you name it, any kind of gizmo that the tech industry has been kind enough to shove down our throats, they have it, and they use it. Sometimes many of these devices simultaneously.

When it comes to teachers, there are two kinds as well. Those that know how to teach, enjoy teaching even though they rarely have a student worthy of their skills, and they spend time with the students to help them understand different concepts. They have the patience to explain, as often as necessary, how to solve problems, and how to comprehend difficult subjects. Then some teachers mostly end up teaching my kids. Most of them are new graduates, with hardly a year or two of experience. They chose to teach not out of passion, but because they couldn’t decide on anything else. Some end up teaching a subject different from their field of study, like a Biology graduate having to teach Physics. Their favorite tool is Google Chromebook with Google Docs and Google this and that. They think that the best way to teach students is to direct them to a website with a database of problems and let them figure things out for themselves. They expect students, those that don’t even know how to brush their teeth (yes, my kids), to work out complicated concepts like Pythagorean Theorem and Quadratic Equations on their own, using their minds, and using their intelligence, however little as it may be. Talk about being extremely optimistic!

I have to give credit to my kids, though. They have figured out very quickly that, on these websites, each wrong answer is immediately followed by the correct solution and if they repeat their exercises long enough, questions start repeating, and they let the website answer its own questions. They score very high on their homework assignments, almost always an A, unless the teacher has specified that all they need is 80% to pass, then as soon as they hit 80%, they stop. When it comes to exams and quizzes, though, they fail miserably. Why? Because the questions don’t repeat so they have no way to “hack” the answers. The worst part about these computer-based studies is that the teacher never knows where exactly is a student struggling. The student is nothing more than a mere statistic.

Well, the students have nothing to worry about, though. Our schools don’t like to fail any students, because it cuts into the funding that they receive from the State. Schools have to show a high success rate and teachers have devised many ingenious ways of making sure that the students pass. For example, giving a 50% score even if the student does not answer the question in the exam, or making the final exam super easy and worth 500 points, so that each and every student scores very high on the final and everyone miraculously passes the class with flying colors.

Another criterion that is used to determine the amount of funding for the school is attendance. A lot of students miss classes as a fashion statement. Our school district has come up with the idea of Saturday school, where students show up and all they have to do is to spend a few hours playing games or doing nothing in particular. They just have to be present for the roll call and that improves their attendance. Schools get proper funding and everyone lives happily ever after.

I remember my professor used to say that schools have so much knowledge because freshmen bring none with them and graduates take none away when they leave. I never really understood his point until I started working with my kids and saw for myself the state of disarray that our schools seem to be in.

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