SCHOOL SHOOTER (SHOOTING)
Script: Joe Wengert Idea: Christian Williams
This Draft: 2-12-08 (JK)
Graphics: Today Now! Intro as if we are coming back from
commercial.
INT. TODAY NOW STUDIO
TRACY
We're now continuing our coverage
of yesterday's tragic school
shooting at Olinda High School in
Tampa Bay, Florida.
SHORT VIDEO PACKAGE IN THE FULL SCREEN:
A special graphic for the shooting: Tragedy in Tampa Bay.
FOOTAGE: Ambulances outside of a high school. Police tape.
JIM
Community members there are
struggling to understand what drove
sophomore Bobby Knowles to open
fire on his fellow students,
killing seven, before turning the
gun on himself. They are asking,
"Could this disaster have been
prevented?"
SERIES OF PHOTOS: Bobby - a sullen looking high school
student doing normal "troubled kid" things like scowling at
camera, wearing a hood over his head.
GRAPHICS: A family court order listing Robert Knowles, Bobby
Knowles, Debra Knowles.
JIM (CONT'D)
The facts are still coming in, but
we have learned that Knowles had a
troubled past including repeated
conflicts with teachers, a
turbulent home life, and three
previous school shootings. And he
was often described as a "loner."
EXT. SIDEWALK
A teacher is interviewed.
TEACHER
Once he wrote an essay about how
much he hated all his classmates
and wanted to shoot them like he
shot last year's class. I thought
that was a red flag.
JIM
Earlier this morning we spoke by
phone with one of the students who
witnessed the shooting.
GRAPHIC: On the phone: Stacy Keller, Fellow Student
GIRL STUDENT
He always wore weird clothes and I
guess he shot a bunch of kids a few
times. No one really hung out with
him.
ALTERNATE:
GIRL STUDENT (CONT'D)
He always wore weird clothes and I
guess he shot a bunch of kids a few
times. But I never thought he would
do something like this.
ALTERNATE:
GIRL STUDENT (CONT'D)
(hysterical)
I was in Science when I heard shots
and screaming. Then my friend ran
in and she said, "that school
shooter guy from our English class
has a gun and he's firing it in the
lunchroom."
GRAPHICS: A map of the school. A red line traces Bobby's
route through the hallways.
JIM
Survivors say Bobby walked a
methodical path through the school,
far more precise than the previous
three times, suggesting he had been
planning his rampage for months--
some say perhaps as far back as his
last shooting.
GRAPHICS: Three previous routes then come up which are much
more tangled and jumbled (marked 2007, 2006, 2005.)
INT. TODAY NOW SET
Return to Jim and Tracy who look very somber. They are very
serious and thoughtful throughout.
TRACY
With us now is Sam Loyola from the
American Child Psychiatric
Institute.
INT. PSYCHOLOGIST'S OFFICE (GREEN SCREEN)
SAM - early 40s, academic looking, joins them via satellite
hookup.
SAM
Hello.
TRACY
Thank you for joining us on this
sad day, Dr. Loyola. From what we
know of Bobby so far, can you see
any warning signs that he was
headed toward tragedy?
SAM
In hindsight, some aspects of his
behavior may have been red flags.
We've heard a lot about Bobby's
"loner" persona: His lack of
friends, the other school
shootings, his failing grades.
TRACY
This morning, the Onion News
Network obtained some disturbing
poetry he'd written for an English
class last week.
GRAPHIC: A piece of paper with a poem scrawled on it.
TRACY (CONT'D)
It says: "I hate everyone in my
school. / Every single one. / In a
matter of days / they all will
pay."
SAM
Actually, I believe that entry is a
few years old.
TRACY (V.O.)
GRAPHIC: New poem quickly appears on screen: "In a few days /
the white tiles of my school / will be stained red / just as
they were thirteen months ago."
SAM
Yes, that's the poem from last
week. In retrospect, should Bobby's
teachers have recognized this as a
warning?
SAM (CONT'D)
It would have been very difficult
for teachers to know if that poem
was just standard adolescent
antisocial behavior, or a memory of
a previous school shooting, or
something they really need to be
worried about.
GRAPHIC: Logo for the American Child Psychiatric Institute.
Warning Signs: Poor grades. Lack of friends. Previous school
shootings. Violent drawings or doodles. Etc.
TRACY
We have some photos of Bobby
through the years.
PHOTOS: Several pictures of young Bobby.
GRAPHICS: Several pictures of Bobby clipped from old
newspapers. Headlines underneath say things like "Face of a
Killer" and "School Massacre."
PHOTOS: Back to normal photos of Bobby. Interspersed in this
series is one photo of Bobby just sitting on a couch. He
wears a black sweatshirt with a skull on it.
SAM
Some things in his body language
could suggest he was mentally
unstable.... like for example, how
he holds that gun there. And notice
his clothing. Dark colors and
symbols of death, like that skull
on his sweatshirt, are often used
by teens to express unhappiness.
FOOTAGE/GRAPHICS: Clip from a 2005 episode of Today Now
showing Jim and Tracy talking gravely with a picture of Bobby
on the screen. The footage is labeled 2005. NOTE: We will
try to use "Anchor Bio" footage for this.
JIM
As a parent or teacher, how can you
know at what point your child needs
help?
SAM
Communication is the most important
thing: Talk to your kids --
especially if they have a history
of multiple homicides.
JIM
Excuse me, we've just received some
breaking news. Police have just
discovered plans and a list of
targets Bobby had created in
preparation for another school
shooting he was going to carry out
in February 2009.
TRACY
Dr. Loyola, should Bobby's shooting
yesterday be seen as a warning sign
of that future shooting?
SAM
Possibly, Tracy. But yesterday's
shooting may also have been simply
a cry for help, not an indication
that he would become violent again.
JIM
Well, Dr. Loyola, thank you for
sharing your insight.
JIM (CONT'D)
When we come back we'll look at the
stirring memorial erected by
students outside of Olinda High
School. Stay with us.
THE END
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