Police Called to School Because ‘Math Symbol Looked like a Gun’

A discussion among students at Oberlin High School in Oberlin, La.,
about a mathematical symbol led to a police investigation and a search
of one of the student’s homes, according to the Allen Parish Sheriff’s
Office. On the afternoon of Feb. 20, detectives investigated a report
of terroristic threats at the school, where they learned that a student
had been completing a math problem that required drawing the
square-root sign. Students in the group began commenting that the
symbol, which represents a number that when multiplied by itself
equals another number, looked like a gun.

www.miamiherald.com...
www.sacbee.com...
www.katc.com... content=link&ICID=ref_fark



the offending square root sign , ... proving guns don't kill people ,
..... mathematics does .



despite an extensive search
police couldn't find this square root symbol , but ....
.... the square root of zero .... is ZERO

Meanwhile , BOM , .... Bureau of Meteorology is now getting nervous !

a reply to: radarloveguy

Have we lost our way? It's almost impossible to believe that nobody in the group had the good common sense to calm the panic. Were they a remedial class? Did these guys miss every maths lesson in their hysterical lives? Have they never picked up a calculator?!

“The student used extremely poor judgment in making the comment, but in light of the actual circumstances, there was clearly no evidence to support criminal charges,” the department wrote, adding that the school board had been contacted to determine any disciplinary action for the student. Read more here: www.miamiherald.com...=cpy

Jesus! A bunch of morons report a student for doing their maths homework. Let it sink in a moment. Now he's facing a 'thought crime' disciplinary after being investigated by the police.

The kids who reported it should be the issue here. They should be forced to attend extra-tuition in maths, common sense and how to cross a busy road. Dopes.

Something is massively, deeply wrong when kids panic over a maths symbol, police take it seriously and innocent students get disciplined for studying.

a reply to: radarloveguy

Nothing wrong with the education system there at all.

Absolute, non irrefutable, stupidity on the part of not only the student, but the police department.


Might as well investigate the kid who chewed a gun out of a pop tart.

What the hell is wrong with law enforcement?

a reply to: EternalSolace

Who called the cops? It's possible the frigging teacher is a stupid as the rest of them.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Citizens must defend their constitutional rights to openly
carry forward the remainder of Mathematical symbols .

minus is not a bullet . plus is not a ninja star . equals is not a bazooka .

This must be an early aprils fools joke, no way there is so much stupidy.

Although, I could not find what the student said. Probably something along the line "I deal with those guns (root sign) everyday"...

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
a reply to: radarloveguy

Nothing wrong with the education system there at all.

The kids are being failed if they're so paranoid and uneducated to have done this. To be fair, they're great examples of the success of propaganda! If we wanted to create a society of jittery sheep, this is what we'd get.

ETA -

originally posted by: radarloveguy
a reply to: Kandinsky

minus is not a bullet . plus is not a ninja star . equals is not a bazooka .

Comedy line of the week

a reply to: radarloveguy

Clarity is needed..

"The whole notion that there was a SWAT raid over a math symbol is absurd," Hebert told PJM. "I got a call from a KPLC that they had a serious threat of a shooting at the school, so we went to the house to verify. There was no search warrant, we just sent two [deputies] to knock on the door," chuckled Hebert. "This is a small parish and everybody knows everybody and we found out very quickly there was no crime and no threat."

pjmedia.com...

Herbert is the Sheriff.

This is what happens when rumours are left to spread unchallenged.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Can't argue with you there.

I guess it comes back to simple living, once people looked out for each other, our civilization is built on people working together for a common goal.

In this current stage of society people have forgotten the simplicity of success.

Our lifestyles have now bread selfishness and contempt, money rules and has replaced the need for mutual reliance, money in fact has people pitted against each other in search for more and more of it. On this path we are screwed, and ironically we will back to working together to rebuild back to where we inevitably are now,i guess that's our cycle till we break free.

a reply to: Kandinsky

It harks back to some woman on a plane causing disruption because she accused someone of writing in arabic, when it was in fact, math equations he was working on.

for the love of god, when will this insanity cease. I've given up hoping, and now I'll just protect myself from the idiots with loud words and lawyers.

originally posted by: radarloveguy
a reply to: Kandinsky

Citizens must defend their constitutional rights to openly
carry forward the remainder of Mathematical symbols .

minus is not a bullet . plus is not a ninja star . equals is not a bazooka .

Somewhere in Pi, is the determination of a specific person to commit a specific act, being an infinite irrational number.

BAN THE PI!!!!111

Really? You guys can't figure out why stuff like this is happening? People are scared and on edge.

Kids are scared to go to school. Parents are scared for their kids. Teachers are scared. The police are scared due to the backlash of them not doing enough to stop the guy from shooting up the high school.

The event in the OP was a week after the shooting. We don't know what the particular student said because it wasn't included in the article, but we do know that people are scared and on edge right now. You can't joke around about this in a school anymore than you can joke about blowing up a plane when you are in an airport.

originally posted by: kaylaluv
Really? You guys can't figure out why stuff like this is happening? People are scared and on edge.

Kids are scared to go to school. Parents are scared for their kids. Teachers are scared. The police are scared due to the backlash of them not doing enough to stop the guy from shooting up the high school.

The event in the OP was a week after the shooting. We don't know what the particular student said because it wasn't included in the article, but we do know that people are scared and on edge right now. You can't joke around about this in a school anymore than you can joke about blowing up a plane when you are in an airport.

NO PI FOR YOU....

Has to be the worst justification post ever for such a monumental load of crap... Writing square root is fear causing.

Are we back to the times when infinity was the realm of god alone, and anyone trying to discuss it was drowned? jesus...

a reply to: badw0lf

We don't know what the kid said. Maybe during the discussion, he said "I've got a couple of "square roots" at home, maybe i'll bring one of my "square roots" to school tomorrow."

Do you think its okay to joke about bringing a bomb on a plane while you are waiting in line to get on the plane?

a reply to: badw0lf

At a stretch Pi certainly does look gun like .

My recommendation is to preface all math
symbols with wholesome words i.e Apple Pi
Sweet potato square root .. etc

originally posted by: verschickter
This must be an early aprils fools joke, no way there is so much stupidy.

in America these days. you better believe there's that much stupidity. this isn't a surprise to me just sad. I made the decision last year to begin immigrating to another country because I felt there was no hope for America to right its listing hull any more and that she was going under.

a reply to: BASSPLYR

I agree. I'd love to live someplace like Canada where I can go to a mall or a movie theater or a church or an outdoor music concert, and my kid can go to school without worrying if there's going to be a shooting today.

a reply to: badw0lf

That symbol looks scary. More scary than an AR-15. I shall wait 3.14 seconds before calling the police.

originally posted by: Chadwickus
a reply to: radarloveguy

Clarity is needed..

"The whole notion that there was a SWAT raid over a math symbol is absurd," Hebert told PJM. "I got a call from a KPLC that they had a serious threat of a shooting at the school, so we went to the house to verify. There was no search warrant, we just sent two [deputies] to knock on the door," chuckled Hebert. "This is a small parish and everybody knows everybody and we found out very quickly there was no crime and no threat."

pjmedia.com...

Herbert is the Sheriff.

This is what happens when rumours are left to spread unchallenged.

Doesn't look like many people read this so I'll re-post.