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Four Students Arrested in Connection with Mowat Gang Initiation
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Four Students Arrested in Connection with Mowat Gang Initiation
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01/15/10 - 04:44 PM
Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen announced the arrest of seven Mowat Middle School students today, January 15, 2010. All seven were charged with Florida State Statute 874.05 Causing, Encouraging, Soliciting, or Recruiting Criminal Gang Membership, a 3rd degree felony.
Earlier today at Mowat Middle School, administration summoned the School Resource Deputy to the office to speak with a student who had facial injuries consistent with a fight. The student, William Patterson III, initially stated he fell in the school bathroom, but then admitted he had been beaten up. He further advised that he was beaten in order to be accepted into a gang.
Subsequent investigation and admission by participants revealed the beating was gang related and took place in a bathroom on campus. Students involved stated the beating was an initiation by members of the “G’s” otherwise known as the Gangster Disciples. Investigators also were told the incident had been videotaped by another student. It is not known at this time if this student was a member of the gang.
Arrested was: Dayven J. Moody, DOB 4/23/94, of 1516 Kentucky Avenue, Lynn Haven; Maurice Joquial McDowell, DOB 10/30/96, of 2816 Panama Avenue, Panama City; Jimmy Lee Daniel, 01/25/97, 2101 W. Hwy 390, Lynn Haven, Antonio Johnson, DOB 10/28/96, 3040 Clearview Avenue, Panama City, Terence Fortenberry, DOB 8/4/94, of 2517 Sarasota Court, Panama City, Robert D. Early, DOB 11/18/95, of 818 Bradford Circle, Panama City, and the victim, William Patterson, III. DOB 7/24/96, 233 Pine Ridge Drive, Panama City.
The investigation is continuing into this incident. The Sheriff’s Office School Resource Deputies in conjunction with Bay District School personnel will continue to be vigilant in addressing gang-related problems to prevent an escalation in these type of incidents.
David,
Guess you haven’t read all the feedback. Several of us have said just that. I do my part as a parent. Teachers have said they do what they can. All agree that the parents of these kids need to take the ball on their kid….I will do my part on these wanna be’s as well. If I see their stupidity, I’ll call the police. I could care less if they go to jail. My kids are respectful, hardworking young adults and I’m very proud of them. I’m very ashamed at the parents of these little morons. Call a shovel a shovel….The parents of these kids are an embarrassment to society. Kick them in the ### and you’ll see results.
Isn’t it odd…we can all point a finger to blame someone else, but no one has said “This is what I’m going to do to help with this problem.”
After working as a Police Officer in Montgomery during the height of the gang wars, maybe I can help a little.
1. It doesn’t MATTER if the gangs are “real” or “wannabes”, wannabes can be more dangerous than “real” gangs because they don’t know the rules, the limits, and the consequences.
2.You will NOT solve this problem by throwing cash at it. As long as kids feel gangs and gang activity are “cool”, we ALL have a problem.
3. Gangs are a replacement for a FAMILY, and a COMMUNITY. There are needs in these kids lives that are not being met. Kids NEED some sort of structure, they NEED to be told “no”. And they need to know YOU are serious when you say no.
4. Every group represented in the above comments has a tough, underpaid job. LIVE WITH IT. These kids are our future…effort will pay off more than money, and EVERYONE has to help.
there are no REAL GANGS in panama city! this is a BIG joke! these kids are flaw! comming from OKC “midwest city” i have seen alot of gang activity! this is not it. this is a joke. there are no crips’,bloods,folk nation (aka: GD’S OR G’S),ms13,or even latin dicsiples :aka: latin kings here just wannabe’s. tallahassee,miami,atalanta,L.A, oklahoma city/midwest city, ny,nj,louisiana etc yes there are gangs there, but not here. this was just a bunch of kids who saw something on that t.v show “gangland” and said i wanna be like them! and then they made themself’s look like retards at school and to everyone els. if these kids were in midwest city for one night they would cry for there mommies and piss there pants. with all the gun shots,drug selling and robberies,and stabings and beatings they would not last one night of true gang life at all!
I agree with some of what you all have said. I agree that the parents are responsible. You also have to remember that alot of these kids don’t have a good family life like you or I may have. I bet one if not both partents to these kids are or were in prison. They learn from what they have seen, and lived. “Gang” life for some of these kids is all they know. I’m not making excuses for these kids by any means. I have two kids in middle school and they tell me of things they have seen and heard and it is disturbing. The point I am trying to make is that these kids parents probably dont care. They may be proud that their kid is in a “gang”. I will say that after watching the video that these kids are “wanna be’s”. If it were a “real” gang then that poor kid that took the beating wouldn’t have just walked away.
In response to “timeout...
My goal as a teacher is to inspire, teach, protect and hopefully instill morals that will last a lifetime. Thank you! Thank you! As a parent my goal is the same. I guess we have to meet those who do not have the same values and morals head on!!
Thank you for keeping my child safe.
Bay County schools are so filthy you need to get a TB shot to enter Arnold High.
This is disgusting and parents should start suing the School Board for the filthy conditions their children have to enhdure with all the disease these cockroach hotels are breeding.
You need to vote in the half cent sales tax you cheap Bay County residents or quit complaining about the schools and your childs education they are receiving.
Teacher pay is an embarrasement in this county. Las Vegas Teachers start at over $40,000 a year and they are under $30,000 a year in Bay county with crummy Blue Cross coverage that costs the employee $700.00 a month for family coverage that has a $500.00 yearly deductable and other insane deductables!
You get what you pay for and in Bay County, it will be just a basic education for our youth not a first class education where every student has a computer and clean schools to walk into.
A lot of the schools here look like cockroach hotels and are filty.
What do you expect?
oldman: NOW you’re talking the right solution!
But first, the parents of these terds need to be educated with the same board!
Parents taking care of their kids? You’re kidding, right? Isn’t this what we have teachers for and the mall afterwards? Some parents don’t seem to be really involved in anything related to their kids anymore. yerpointis, you have the right idea but it’ll never fly with many of these people. And the kids know that they can’t or won’t be punished because the HRS, KGB, Child Services or whatever they call themselves now won’t allow it! Whatever happened to applying the Board of Education firmly to the Seat of Knowledge? We grew up with it in school and none of us were ever traumatized by it…we had a few days to reflect on the lesson but that was what it was there for and we learned. And what we got when we went home was worse! Now all we have is spoiled brats for everyone to have to deal with.
What a load of crap!!! Teachers under paid; legalize gambling will make it better; 1/2 cent sales tax will fix the problem…..bla bla bla.
The story is children/gangs….
PARENTS are the guilty ones here! PARENTS get off your a$$es and be PARENTS. Set the boundries for these little sh&ts; and hold them too it. KNOW who they are hanging with, KNOW where they go, what they are doing. HOLD them accountable for their actions. Teachers are there to teach and protect them during the school day…NOT before/after school. These kids are being STUPID, because they do NOT have INVOLVED PARENTS! When my kid was acting up in middle school, I took the time off from work and sat in the classroom to watch him and make him behave. He graduated High School and is making a terrific living. PARENTS: YOU MADE THE DECISION TO HAVE THE CHILD…NOW GET TO WORK!
So, if we were to go by Retired One’s line of thought, then Las Vegas and Buloxi do not have any gang activity because they all have legalized gambling and MUST be putting more money into their school system to keep their kids busy.
I call B.S.
retired one, that’s the same line of crap the Lottery fed everybody and look at the mess our schools are in now. Before the cursed lie called the Lottery came in the middle schools had sports activities like football teams, etc., bands and all kinds of activities for the kids. Now the schools do good just to stay open much less give the kids anything to do with their excess time. It’s about time people like you started looking at what’s really going on around you. Legalized gambling only means that what little money it does generate will only mean less coming out of the general fund. Tallahassee, no matter how much sewage they spew every election day, could care less about our kids and the schools they attend. That’s where the fault lies along with school boards too busy building their own little empires. Until that is corrected our teachers are never going to be paid right and our schools are still going to be nothing but dumps!
Teachers pay is way too low in this county and the schools do not have enough money to operate as a first class system.
The only ones to blame are Bay County Officials who cheap dog teachers pay,run dirty filthy schools full of ants and cockroaches,have dirty floors and classrooms,unpainted filty walls, and expect top notch students and schools?
You get what you pay for. Voters need to approve the half cent sales tax,demand the district double the janitors and school maintenance and raise teacher pay to at least $35,000 a year to start and give cost of living raises every year instead of every 3 or 4 years!
Legalized casino gambling would bring the needed revenue.
You get gangs when the schools look more like club houses than schools.
In response to ‘Worried Parent”. I did not intend for all parents to feel as if we’re babysitting kids. My goal as a teacher is to inspire, teach, protect and hopefully instill morals that will last a lifetime. I make a point to be outside as much as possible to protect each and every child. As far as prep time for classes, yes some of us use our planning for the right reason, but some do not. When I do not have meetings in the morning, during planning and the afternoon it affords me the opportunity to work closer with my student’s. Some teachers do not understand the importance of protecting our children the entire time they are on the campus. As I said before lets work together to ensure the safety of our kids and work with PTO, SAC and the teaching community to come up with solutions not blame….
I am a teacher and I have walked in your “shoes”.
I do not want teachers “babysitting’ my child. I want teachers that care about the safety of my child. If that means “monitoring” between classes well that is part of your job. As far as “prep time for class” what is your planning period for?
If kids are being dropped off to early why has this not been addressed? Believe me I do not need a lesson on society…I see it everyday. I dont want you raising my child thats my job! I want you to step up and make changes that will keep my child safe.
I would like to know since when are teachers babysitters for parents in the morning before student’s should be on campus? Don’t knock teachers for the job we try to do for each and every child and parent before you walk a mile in our shoes. Remember our jobs don’t start at 8am and end at 3pm. Our job description by many of you would mean we work 24/7, and I can tell all of you that we do work these hours many of days, but remember that a parent’s job is 24/7 for as long as your child lives. In todays society many people just let things be, because that is what we are use to, we ALL need to make a change to better our society for tomorrow and the future. Stop laying blame on each other and for once come together as a community and let children know this is unexceptable behavior and drive them to better themselves for themselves… FOR ONCE!!!!!
Teachers are on campus and through-out the campus daily. Morning activities usually consist of meeting and prep time for class. Parents whose children do not ride a bus should look at drop off times closer to the start of school. Kids have been seen on campus between 6:30-7:30 when most buses don’t even start arriving until 7:50. Why should they be on campus so early? Remember that the fight took place in less than 2 minutes and I can say that atleast 5 to 6 teachers rushed to the restroom. When asked by the teachers what was going on NO-ONE and I mean NO-ONE would speak out. What does that say about those kids minding their own business but knew what was going on??? I guess the best way to solve this would be to allow only 2 restrooms to be unlocked for the student’s during the day. Administrators are ALWAYS by the bus zone and at least 3 adults are at the parent drop off in the morning and afternoons.
teachers were not in the bus loading zone at the time so then some of my friends and i were justgetting off the bus so we see a huge crowd so we went to see what was going on then we seen will faced messed up and everything so some kids idk who went and told the teachers
well i know “William” he doesn’t go by that tho. His step mom is also my history teacher.
after watching that video i have learned one thing. they are poser’s! they had two kids on their who looked like they should be at daycare punching this kids. and i do agree from below. where were the teacher’s? cuz when i went to mowat they were everywhere. and yes that bathroom was used alot for fighting and it looks like that is the same bathroom but the teachers should know about the fights in/near there by now. do i think they are TRUE gangmembers. but i do think they are misfit’s/wannabe’s at the school and have no stable structure at home or support
i happen to know every single one of these kids. they are either my bestfriends or a bestfriend’s friend. and this is unacceptable! i want to know where the teachers were during the incident?and in the video the other “Crowd” is just watching and smiling? this is stupid
i went to school with all these kids and now i am afraid to go back…..i have heard that some of the gang is still at school but they didnt do anything to william. i am not sure who they are. i never liked him he always was very annoying and continued to bother me daily but eventually he learned. the teachers could never get his attention and he skipped class a good bit. i do feel sorry for all of them but they needed what they got.
As a parent of a child at Mowat…
Where are the teachers when this is going on???????? Do the teachers not have to monitor the halls and bathrooms any more?? My child made the comment “fights happen all the time”!
I also have a problem with the way afternoon carpool is handled!! No “ADULT” supervision. Just wondering why teachers are not held responsible for the dismissal times???
they will end up learning the hard way as it always goes two ways (jail or death) they have no real way out unless they start now. i thank god i was involved in sports exp: wrestling (for mowat and mosley) they need to bring back sports for these kids so they have something possitive to do with them self’s rather then negative activities such as gang violence or whatever they may be doing to impact their life in a negative manor, possitive renforcement is key. watch it will spread, next they will find guns,drugs,and probaly more gang activity in the schools and more than likely retaliation on the person/kid who “told on them”. what they are doing is STUPID! what will they gain from it NOTHING! but jail time and parol hearings. but it still comes down to the parents for not “guiding” their kids down the right path or paying attention to their activities. they wanted to be gangster, well hope they like jail food and not being at home with their mommies.
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I am a parent to a child who attends a public school.His dad and I both are in his life. We are the ones responasable for him. Not the teachers.BUT i do know that the teacher must not do there work cause our son comes home with SO MUCH HOMEWORK we can not hardley have family time together Our evenings are spending 2 to 3 hours of “HOMEWORK” .So what are the teachers doing?? I also talk to other women on my job and they have the same problem SO much homework that there evening is spent doing HOMEWORK!! Instead of “FAMILY TIME” I had one mother ask her son..What do you do in class?? The answer ..we go over how to do our home work at home. So what are the teachers doing??Im doing my job >so are my co workers who have to go home and do “homework”