Hastings | Criminal Podcast | Forensic Files

Jake Bullington: I've always been a jumpy person, even before this, where loud noises,
sudden noises, just make me jump out of my skin, but especially that, where it's deathly
silent and then all of a sudden there's glass falling next to us. That was a very, very loud noise.
That really just, I think, everyone was too scared to scream, but it was definitely people
... shifted in their seats quite a bit, as far as being scared quite a bit. Phoebe Judge: This is Jake Bullington.
Back in 2010, he was an eighth grader at Hastings Middle School in Hastings, Minnesota.
He was in math class on a Monday morning when the principal came on the loudspeaker and
announced that the school was going into lockdown. He and his classmates assumed it was a drill.
They had drills all the time. His teacher locked the classroom door, turned off the lights and told the students to hide
in the corner. Jake Bullington: And that's where I was like, "Oh, here we go. Another one of these darn state-regulated lockdown drills."
We would usually giggle and whisper to each other. And the teacher would be like, "Hey, shut up."
And then that would be the end of it. It would be 10 minutes would go by. All the principals would walk around and check all the doors and make
sure they're all locked. And then, that would be the end of it. It would probably take 10, 15 minutes total, and then we'd go right back to class.
Phoebe Judge: But there was something about the way that his teacher was acting that made
Jake think something might be really wrong. Jake Bullington: It was almost like, I think it was like a paralytic kind of fear in her
eyes that just looked like, I knew that this was not ordinary behavior from a math teacher
to be doing. I thought maybe someone had done something offensive that had made her angry or something,
but moving with motivation towards the door. Once she turned around from closing the door, I knew there was a sense of panic that had
set over the classroom. Phoebe Judge: Jake's teacher told the class that this drill was going to be different
than other drills. She kept calling it an 'enhanced lockdown drill.' Jake Bullington: She said something along the lines of, "They're going to start coming
around, banging on the windows and trying the locks and everything. And they're going to really test the durability of the doors and the windows."
As to explain why someone might be trying to break the glass or trying to break in the
door. Because I think she knew, at the time, that there was someone in the building with a gun.
Phoebe Judge: There was someone in the building with a gun, a gun that would end up malfunctioning.
This is a look at the minutes and hours inside a school where someone with a gun was running
loose, and the impact that day continues to have on a student who had no idea that gun
wouldn't fire. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. Jake Bullington: We were sitting there for a very long time, but when we started to hear
people running through the hallways and loud voices and yelling outside in the distance,
I think that's when it became even more real and very frightening. And we were using textbooks to just hug, I guess.
And maybe, who knows what that could, it was, like, to stop a bullet or something.
Even when I was in eighth grade, school shootings were not something that was unheard of in
America. So I think we had heard about this type of thing on the news. And were trying to imagine ourselves in this position.
Phoebe Judge: Where was your teacher sitting or hiding? Jake Bullington: She was sitting behind all of us, up in a desk.
She wasn't properly hiding. And I remember, I'd keep looking back at her like as if she's crazy, because she's not
hiding as much as we are. She was just sitting there, watching. When I knew that there was someone in the hallway trying to cause me harm, I guess,
is the way I'll put it, was when he used the butt of his revolver to try to smash the glass
out of the door, to unlock the door from the inside. That's when — Phoebe Judge: Yeah, take me through that a little more.
It's quiet for a long time, and then you start hearing things in the hallway. What kinds of things are you hearing?
Jake Bullington: Like I said, people running through the hallways, someone angrily yelling,
and then eventually, I heard someone try the door knob, try to kick the door. And then eventually, someone hitting the glass really, really hard.
And it never got to the point where glass was really, really falling, because it was
the security glass where it has those small metal bars within the glass. But there was definitely some glass dust, I guess I could say, that fell to the ground
near me because I was in such close proximity. And some of my classmates were in such close proximity to that door.
Emma Oelkers: You are looking at this door, and there's glass everywhere. The guy had broken this glass window that's in the door.
So we're like, "Oh my god, someone's going to try and get into the room." Phoebe Judge: This is Emma Oelkers.
She was in the classroom with Jake that day. Emma Oelkers: And our teacher held up this piece of paper on a notebook, whatever, saying
"Maybe they're testing the windows." And then at that point, I think we're like, "What is she thinking?
That's going to cost the school a lot of money. They're not testing the windows."
Jake Bullington: She said that a few times. "Don't worry, they're just testing it.
This is OK. I knew about this ahead of time," kind of things, where it's like, I knew that was crap,
but I think I believed it at the time because I wanted to believe that I was safer than
I was. Mark Zuzek: My name is Mark Zuzek. I'm in my 18th year as principal. I started here in 1998.
I grew up one block away from the campus that I'm principal at, so this community means
a lot to me. Phoebe Judge: Here's what Principal Zuzek learned. Around 10 a.m., a student walked into a science class and pulled out a loaded .22-caliber
handgun. He told everyone to get on the ground. His science teacher said, "Let's stay calm.
What can I do? And how can I help you?" And that worked. The student left the classroom, and the science teacher initiated the school's lockdown procedure.
Mark Zuzek: We called 9-1-1. And on this really nice day in April, we locked the building down, and we were looking for
the student. Phoebe Judge: The student walked through the hallways trying to get into other classrooms,
breaking windows in the process. But most of the doors were already locked. At one point, he encountered school staff in the hallway, pointed his gun at them and
said, "Bang." One staff member told police that he'd heard a click and believed that the student had
pulled the gun's trigger, but no bullets came out. Mark Zuzek: Ultimately, the police did encounter the youngster — encountered him really,
as he was running out of the building. He knew that the police were en route, and he exited the building.
And he was taken into custody, largely without incident. As he left the building, there was a squad car sitting right there.
There were police waiting for him to leave the building through any opening. And he was taken into custody.
Phoebe Judge: The student was 14 years old, an eighth grader. Emma says she sort of knew who he was, and Jake didn't know him at all.
Principal Zuzek didn't want to discuss anything specific about him, but newspapers reported
that he was relatively new to the school and had told police he'd felt bullied. The next step was to check inside every single classroom and make sure there were no other
suspects or weapons. Mark Zuzek: And one of the most interesting moments of the day was when I was with an
officer and we entered a room, and we made sure that everybody in the room was OK and
that everybody was safe. And this kiddo from the back said, "Hey dad." And it was the police officer's son.
And the emergency responders responded with such grace and dignity and professionalism.
But to remember that they, too, have children in these schools was just remarkable to me.
Phoebe Judge: Finally, after hours in lockdown, the middle school students were let out of
their classrooms. No one had been hurt. Mark Zuzek: In the immediate aftermath, meaning that day, as odd as it seems, you also have
to think about really pragmatic things. For instance, at the time, we had 1,350 kids, and they hadn't eaten lunch yet.
And they've been locked down, and now it's 12:40, 12:45. And how is it that we're going to get all of those kids through the cafeteria and get
them fed? Emma Oelkers: I remember the door opening. And then we got released to go down to lunch.
Phoebe Judge: I mean, who would want to eat? Emma Oelkers: Right. And that's the thing.
I remember going into the lunch room, and everyone's just sitting there. People aren't really eating.
Some people are, depending on what classroom you were in, and you look over and there are
some people who are hysterically sobbing. There are some people who are just going about their day.
Phoebe Judge: Terrified parents were showing up and taking their kids home immediately.
Jake says he distinctly remembers texting his mom on his flip phone — text messages
cost 15 cents each — and that she came to get him. After every student had gone home safely, Principal Zuzek and his staff got together
and made a plan. Mark Zuzek: We had a staff meeting where we went through the incident and what we knew
of our continued care plan that would start right away that next morning. Then we really relied heavily on parents to let us know if their
kiddo was still struggling. We talked about how natural it is that kids will regress.
For instance, there are kids that, because of this trauma, did not feel comfortable sleeping
alone. And so, they wanted a parent to sleep in their room or they wanted to sleep on the floor
in their parents' room. There were kids that it would be three weeks later and somebody would drop a plate, and
they would hear that crash on the floor, and it would be a trigger for the kiddo.
And so, keeping our ear to the ground and really trusting the judgment of parents and
helping kids during the day to deal with whatever's on their mind, it was really the good work
that our staff continued to do. Phoebe Judge: In spite of that, one of the most disconcerting things about the story
is that both Jake and Emma say that almost immediately, their classmates just stopped
talking about it. Emma Oelkers: No one talked about it. It wasn't something that people talked about.
Jake Bullington: Yeah. I think a big part of that was that was something that our class, as that grade decided, kind
of an unspoken rule of thumb, is to just not bring that up. I don't think I ever heard someone talk about it, of all of high school.
Phoebe Judge: That's totally surreal. I mean, that it would happen and then be this understood pact between eighth graders that
they were just going to move on. Jake Bullington: Yeah. I mean, thinking back on it now, it struck me, too, how quickly classes resumed and how
quickly everyone just agreed that that was, "Well, that was crazy. All right, now what's next chapter in math?"
So I think a lot of it was just willfully ignoring the fact that that had just happened
to us and a lot of repressed emotions and repressed memories. Phoebe Judge: I wonder if it feels like you couldn't talk about it or make a big deal
about it ... because no one got hurt, I mean, no one got shot. And so, it's like, ‘What's the big deal?
We were all OK.’ Jake Bullington: Right. Phoebe Judge: And that means that you can't...
‘Man up. It's not that big of a deal.’ Jake Bullington: Right. I think definitely the man up thing was very present and exactly that, everyone was fine.
So there was no motivation to talk about anything because of the fact that no one had been injured.
It was just kind of, ‘All right, well, it's fine. Let's move on.’ Phoebe Judge: We wondered what Principal Zuzek thought about this, about what Jake and Emma
said. It's not a criticism in any way, or even a conversation about the type of counseling
that was available for the kids. I guess, it's rather just a question about the fact that for these children, for these
students, who had grown up knowing about Columbine, that they felt like they didn't have
a right to talk about their trauma. Right? Because 'no one got shot at our school.'
I'm just thinking about that a little bit, not that the resources weren't there, but
even if the resources were there, 'Hey, keep your mouth shut. Everyone's seemingly OK.'
Mark Zuzek: Yeah. I could imagine that that might've been the case. I think one of the important messages at that time, and I deeply feel this now, everybody
has a right to their own feelings. And I think it's important that we not judge other people's feelings.
What I would be curious about is, how could we help kids to not judge their own feelings
if they themselves were feeling that they shouldn't still be, let's say that it's three
months from now, 'Well, I still shouldn't be struggling with this. I should have moved on.
I should be OK with this by now.' Those are hard feelings to deal with because frankly, I don't even know how we would know
that kids were feeling that way. Phoebe Judge: The student told police that he'd taken the gun from his house, where it
was in a locked cabinet. He found the key. Police eventually recovered three bullets from the school.
The bullets were .22-caliber bullets, but they were long bullets, the kind you'd use
in a rifle, and didn't fit properly in the gun. He was charged with five felonies: three counts of assault, one count of terroristic threats
and one count of criminal damage to property. Mark Zuzek: It must be apparent to everybody that you can't bring a gun to school and brandish
that weapon and threaten other people. And because the perpetrator in this case was a juvenile, the child had consequences legally.
And we still have the responsibility to care for and educate and care about the child.
Phoebe Judge: He was tried as a juvenile and placed in a long-term program at a juvenile
detention center. Jake Bullington is 20 now and a sophomore at Drake University in Iowa.
In December, he wrote an essay called, "Yeah, I'm Afraid of Guns." Jake Bullington: You know, the second semester here, a new semester just started here at
Drake, and I've walked into new classrooms. And I was reflecting on this, just how easy it would be for someone, just like what happened
in eighth grade, to happen again right here in my school. And so, I think it's struck a certain level of paranoia.
I mean, it's not always on the mind, but it definitely has its moments where it's just
like, 'Wow, this could really happen. And every single one of us in this classroom could die.'
It's just a little inkling in my mind that just keeps coming back when I walk into a
classroom, just even for a split second. I think that's a huge impact that I don't think me or any of my classmates really deserve.
[Melancholic, shimmery music.] Phoebe Judge: Criminal is produced by Lauren Spohrer and me.
Audio mix by Rob Byers. Special thanks to Alice Wilder, Chelsea Korynta and Russ Henry.
Julienne Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of Criminal. You can see them at thisiscriminal.com, where we also have a link to Jake's essay.
\ Criminal is recorded in the studios of North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC. We're a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the 13 best podcasts around.
Radiotopia from PRX is supported by the Knight Foundation and MailChimp, celebrating creativity,
chaos, and teamwork. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. Jingle: Radiotopia. From PRX.

In 2010, an eighth-grader brought a loaded gun to a middle school in Hastings, Minnesota. We speak with Jake Bullington and Emma Oelkers, two students at the school, and Mark Zuzek, the principal, about the hours in lockdown.

Read Jake Bullington’s essay, “Yeah, I’m Afraid of Guns.“ https://medium.com/middle-of-nowhere-center-of-everything/yeah-i-m-afraid-of-guns-249207f10b93#.8ucu7ev0s

Music in the episode: “Middle” by MADS “Pool” by MADS “Shower Scene” by MADS “Three Colors” by Podington Bear “Forgetfulness” by Ketsa

Criminal is a show about people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. Hosted by Phoebe Judge. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. https://link.chtbl.com/n33u0HsA

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We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander http://www.yssrs.com/.

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Episode transcripts are posted on our website https://thisiscriminal.com/.

Episode 37 originally published 2/18/2016 https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-37-hastings-2-19-2016

Brief Summary

Jake Bullington and Emma Oelkers recount their terrifying experience during a school lockdown due to an armed student in 2010.

Key points

The Teacher's Unusual Behavior. Jake noticed his teacher's fear during the lockdown, which felt out of place for a drill. This moment marked a shift in the atmosphere of the classroom.
A Day of Fear at Hastings Middle School. In 2010, Jake Bullington experienced a terrifying lockdown at his school when a student brought a gun. The incident left lasting impacts on the students involved.
The Aftermath of the Lockdown. After the lockdown, students returned to normalcy, but many felt the trauma linger. Jake reflects on the unspoken rule among classmates to not discuss the incident.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Oh, here we go. Another one of these darn state-regulated lockdown drills.

Jake's initial reaction to the lockdown drill.

0:58WatchNov 12, 2022

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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