For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8 February 2024
The Uvalde Foundation For Kids
CINCINNATI (WXIX) - A student is being praised community-wide for putting others’ lives before his own to help thwart a planned Mariemont High School shooting. Zach Swallen says he was at work Tuesday when he got a call from his son, "Boom," who overheard a classmate talking about carrying out a mass shooting. Swallen immediately called the Mariemont Police Department to report the concern.
“It’s very admirable that he did that, and like I’ve said before: See something, say something, hear something, say something,” Mariemont Chief of Police Richard Hines said. “If we hadn’t gotten the tip, I think we would have had a very bad situation.”
As it turned out, that student, a 14-year-old, did have a detailed plan, including a hit list, to carry out a mass shooting at Mariemont High School, Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers explained Thursday.
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The Uvalde Foundation For Kids, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending school violence, announced Thursday evening that it will be recognizing the student with its National Student HERO AWARD.
Founder of the Uvalde Foundation For Kids, Daniel Chapin noted in the release that, "This is the second Ohio School threat, ended due to the diligence of students. This student who helped extinguish a possible threat to fellow students, represents the reality of how the climate of violence plaguing our nations schools & threatening student lives can come to an end - Not through gun control or more safety planning meetings; but rather through alert, caring students such as this young man who refuse to stand by when a potential threat stands against their friends. We will never know, but are foerl
The foundation also noted that the student joins other students from across the nation to have received the honors, including Casey Orloski, out of Ohio, recently granted the award after reporting a bullet in his schools bathroom which later proved as part of a school shooting threat against students & Ouachita Parish, Louisiana student, Aubrey L. Griffin who helped prevent a serious school incident by reporting a potential threat to her school authorities.
Ohio Student To Receive Student Hero Award
12 Year Old Louisiana Student Recognized As "Student Hero."
The Uvalde Foundation For Kids
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