On Saturday, the Wootton Common Sense, Thomas S. Wootton High School’s newspaper gave their account of the events of last week’s arrest of a fellow student. Alex Ye, who was charged with a misdemeanor for threatening mass violence on April 18. The Rockville teen had written a 100-page plus “memoir” that included scenes of shooting students at a high school and an elementary school.
The newspaper article was written by Elizabeth Mehler and Maria Sofronas. It credited law enforcement at local and federal levels for their intervention. They cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act that keeps personal information shared in mental health sessions private. But noted Ye’s case was the exception since he was considered someone who could do harm to himself or others. Mental health professionals at the school reported him to the police in 2022, according to the article.
The writers also pointed out how far communities have come in addressing mental health issues since the Columbine shootings.
The article quoted crisis center school counselor Daniella Bienstock, “In this case what’s awesome is that folks at school, and also (Ye’s) mental health professionals, and it sounds like some peers who they were in treatment with, recognized that something was really wrong, acted on that duty to warn and the authorities still did their best to maintain his confidentiality, while also putting the steps in motion to try to get him help and make sure he doesn’t have access to our community.”
While a potential tragedy was avoided, the writers stated there was concern about the lack of communication from Wootton’s administration on the day of the arrest. Students and staff learned of Ye’s arrest in a Washington Post article published around noon on April 18. School administrators did not inform the community until 7 o’clock that evening.
The writers share that many in the school remain shaken but were reassured that systems in place managed to protect the lives of the students and staff. As Social Studies teacher Christopher McTamany remarked, “What was supposed to happen happened.”
To read the rest of the Wootton Common Sense account, click here.
