8A

Thursday, February 20 2014

LaFollette Press

Thursday, February 20 2014

9A

Nov. 8, 2005: THE DAY OF THE SHOOTING

12:30 p.m. Cousin
Carden Russell sees
Bartley when he
comes to school
late. We said Hi
when he came in,
but did not talk.
He acted normal,
Russell said.

Noon Bartley
arrives at Campbell
County High School
late.

KENNETH BARTLEY:
His day in court
A timeline of events in the Campbell
County school-shooting trial
Information compiled from court documents, police records
and Press archives.
GRAPHIC: Brent Schanding/Beth Braden

12:10 p.m. Aaron

Crowley, classmate
and friend, does
not see Bartley
until he comes to
school late. He hears
Bartley tell the math
teacher he had
woken up sick that
morning. Bartley
looks depressed
and has a very pale
face, according to
Crowley. He doesnt
ask questions
because questions
make Bartley angry.
Bartley tells
Crowley, I snorted
a Xanax 10, and
shows them to
Crowley.

Lunch Bartley
and Crowley eat
lunch together.
Crowley then sees
Bartley speaking
to student Daniel
Hamblin. Crowley
goes on to his
fourth period class.
Hamblin and another student, Preston
Young, wrestle with
Bartley and realize he has a gun.
Young asks about
the gun. Kenneth
told us that he

brought it to trade
for some Oxycontin
pills, Hamblin said.
Bartley tells Young
its a 9-mm. Young
and Hamblin decide
to tell Principal Gary
Seale about the
weapon. The investication would reveal
the gun was a .22
caliber.
1:38 p.m.
Hamblin and Young
tell their teacher
that Bartley is carrying a gun and
they need to talk
to Principal Seale.
Seale isnt in, so the
two go to assistant
principal Jim Pierces
office after speaking
with Susan Phillips,
the school resource
officer. Pierce checks

the master schedule on a computer

to see which class
Bartley was in.
1:40 p.m. School
Secretary Sherry
Brown stops Faye
Comer, CCHS bookkeeper, in the hallway and tells her to
lie low because
there is a rumor of
a student carrying a
weapon on campus.
1:45 p.m. Bartley
reports to keyboarding class taught by
Anna Castleberry
and begins a conversation with fellow student Nathan
Roberts. Kenneth
came up to me
and started talking
about what all I was

going to do after
school, Roberts
said.
1:45 p.m. While
in keyboarding
class, Bartley shows
the gun to a classmate, Trent Shane
McCullah, who tells
him to get rid of it.
Bartley then shows
off some pills and
says he is going to
trade the gun after
school.
1:45 p.m. Bartley
asks Castleberry
why she missed
school the previous
day. I dont like it
when you have a
sub. Im glad you
are back, he tells
the teacher. The
school resource

officer arrives in the

classroom and tells
Bartley they need to
go to the office and
make sure he signed
in to school when
he came in late.
Bartley appeared
nervous, according
to reports. He kept
saying, What do
you want? Susan
Phillips said.
1:50 p.m. Pierce
calls to the guard
shack to ask Seale to
return to the office.
1:50 p.m. Bartley
takes a seat outside
the office while the
school officer briefs
Seale and Pierce
on the situation.
Assistant Principal
Ken Bruce arrives,

and the three

discuss the issue
in Pierces office.
Phillips talks in the
hallway with janitor,
Tim Phillips.
Bartley is taken into
the office. Pierce is
seated at his desk,
Bartley is seated in
front of Pierce. Seale
is in the chair next
to Bartley. Bruce is
near the door. When
the gun is taken
out, Seale is shot
first and takes two
bullets, followed
by Bruce and then
Pierce.
Witnesses near the
office report hearing between four
and seven gunshots.

Seale emerges from

the office and yells
that somebody
should call 911. He
also asks for a rope.
2:11 p.m. The first
911 call with reports
of three gunshot
victims is received.
Pierce, who is bleeding from the mouth,
is found holding
Bartley down.
Susan Phillips takes
over, and Pierce is
helped into a chair
by JROTC instructor
Col. Knud Salveson.
2:20 p.m. Seale
announces a lockdown over the PA
system, according
to student Jessica
Phillips.

Col. Salveson and

Janitor Tim Phillips
tie Bartleys arms
behind him, while
Susan Phillips holds
him down.
Teacher Danny
Sheckles begins
administering aid to
Bruce.
Jacksboro Police
Officer Jason
Heatherly is the first
officer on the scene.
Bartley is brought to
him in the hallway
with his hands tied
behind him with
rope. Heatherly,
along with CCSO
Deputy Darrell
Mongar, takes
Bartley to the cafeteria to sit down.

2:30 p.m. Teacher

Patty Kilgore tells
her students
Jessica Phillips
included to move
into a back corner of
the classroom.
2:40 p.m. A
classmate of Jessica
Phillips answers his
cell phone and the
color drains from
his face as he is
told there had been
a shooting at the
school.
3:15 p.m. Director
of Schools Judy
Blevins announces
over the intercom
that theres been a
school shooting and
it may be a while
before the students
are released.

Center in
Dandridge. Bartley
is housed at the
center until he
becomes an adult.
(He is currently
incarcerated in
West Tennessee
at Northwest
Correctional
Complex in
Tiptonville.)

3:45 p.m.
Students who ride
buses are released.
4 p.m. Students
who drive are
released.
4:03 p.m. An
order is filed in juvenile court allowing
Det. Don Farmer
to take Bartley to
the Scott County
Detention Center.

8:25 p.m. Bartley

arrives at the
Richard L. Bean
Juvenile Detention
Facility in Knoxville.

Another order
is filed allowing
Farmer to transport Bartley to the
Richard L. Bean
Juvenile Detention
Facility. He would
later be housed at
the Mountain View
Youth Development

2005
START

HERE:

Nov. 9 Judge Joe Ayers recuses himself from the case. Mental health
teams are sent to the school. By Nov. 14, there are more than two dozen
counselors on hand to help students and staff process the tragedy. A
petition regarding Bartleys delinquency is filed in Campbell Countys
Juvenile Court by now-retired TBI agent Steve Vinsant.

ONE DAY BEFORE SHOOTING

Nov. 7, 2005 Kenny Bartley Jr.

visits his cousin Carden Russell, who later

says Bartley never talked about a gun or
showed him one.

Dec. 1 Survivors Jim Pierce and

Gary Seale visit the high school for
the first time since the shooting
after spending more than a week
at the University of Tennessee
Medical Center in Knoxville.

Nov. 29 A formal meeting of

the Campbell County High School
Relief Fund board is held. School
leaders meet with national and
state security experts.

Dec. 14
Country music
artist Sawyer
Brown holds a
benefit concert
at Campbell
County High
School.

Dec. 16 School leaders meet with the U.S.

Department of Education for a
facility analysis.

2006
Jan. 19, 2006 Jo Bruce, widow of Ken
Bruce, blasts the board of education for
a lack of increased safety and asks about
their future plans. She goes on to offer to
provide free parenting classes for parents
of out-of-control adolescents. It is an
area she is skilled in because of her work
as a family resource officer with the Oak
Ridge City Schools.

Jan. 26 A hearing that

would transfer Bartley from
juvenile to adult court is
postponed until March.

Nov 8 A memorial service is planned for

the one-year anniversary of the shooting.
Approximately 500 people attended.

Nov. 9 Bartley requests the

transfer hearing his attorney had
waived in April. The hearing is set
for Jan. 29, 2007. The trial is tentatively set for April 10.

Nov. 6
Jo Bruce sues
Bartley, as well
as his parents,
in civil court.
The case is still
pending.

Feb. 16 Tennessee
Gov. Phil Bredesen
holds a meeting about
school security at the
Jacksboro Middle
School library. School
resource officer ratios
are discussed, with

Nov. 2 Students at the

high school appeal to the
board of education via the
Paw Press to name the new
elementary school Ken
Bruce Elementary School.

Nov. 16 The board of education

fails to name the new elementary
school after Bruce, instead opting
for LaFollette Elementary School.
Board members said the reasoning behind the name would be
traumatic for students when they
asked who Ken Bruce was.

Nov. 28 Ken Bruces widow, Jo

Bruce, asks the board of education
to improve school security.

some suggesting the

ratio be set at one SRO
to every 200 students.
Late February Law
enforcement trains at
the high school in an
armed-intruder drill.

Late Oct. Judge

Shayne Sexton recuses
himself from the case.
Knoxville-based judge
Jon Kerry Blackwood is
appointed to the case.

Jan. 25 Hatmaker asks for

a continuance for the transfer
hearing. Judge Mike Davis
says no.

Oct. 18 Attorney Greg

Isaacs files a motion for
Bartleys post-conviction relief
claiming ineffective assistance
of his trial counsel.
Nov. 23 Prosecutors file
a counter motion asking the
court to dismiss the request for
post-conviction relief.

2010

2009

August The Bartley

family hires Knoxvillebased attorney Greg Isaacs
to represent Bartley.

May-June Tennessees Court

of Criminal Appeals denies
Bartleys appeal. Bruce Poston
files for the case to be heard
before Tennessees Supreme
Court, but the court denies it
more than three months later.

2008
March 24 Bruce
Poston files his
appeal with the Court
of Criminal Appeals.

2013

March 11 Tennessees
court of criminal appeals
upholds Blackwoods decision
to grant Bartley a new trial.

Aug. 9 Isaacs files

a motion to suppress
Bartleys hospital bed
interview with Deputy
Don Farmer from the
trial.

Sept. 3 The school zone

at Campbell County High
School is named Ken Bruce
Memorial Highway through
a bill by Rep. Dennis
Powers (R-Jacksboro).

April 15 Don
Farmer, the detective who questioned
Bartley in the hospital
right after the shooting, is arrested for DUI
while on his way to
work.

Mid-Oct. A petition signed by

approximately 159 people asking
that the DA refuse a plea deal
for Bartley is delivered to the DA.
One of the signers, Kim Potter,
wrote, My daughter was in that
office!!!! below her signature.

Feb. 7 Mike Hatmaker speaks

to the LaFollette Press about
Bartley. He says his client is sorry
for his actions.

Sept. 7 Bartleys
mother is released
from the civil
suit against her
son and her ex
husband.

July Blackwood hears the change of venue motion filed by Isaacs

and rules that the case will be tried in Campbell County, but the jury will
come from another area. Later, it is revealed that the jury will come from
Hamilton County in the Chattanooga area. The trial is set for Feb. 24, 2014.

2011

June Judge Blackwood hears the post-conviction

relief motion and later issues his opinion on the matter.
He grants post-conviction relief to Bartley, now almost
20. In his opinion, Blackwood acknowledges that he had
always been troubled by the last-minute plea deal the
day of the trial. The state appealed Blackwoods decision, and the discussion went to the court of criminal
appeals. A few days later, Isaacs files a motion asking for
a bond hearing for Bartley. He says his bail is excessive.

Oct. 20 Gov. Phil

Bredesen again visits
Campbell County during his campaign. He
tells attendees that
more funding for SROs
is necessary.

April Seale
announces plans to run
for state legislature.
His platform includes
improving education,
school environments
and school safety.

Feb. 5 Again, a seven-count

indictment is issued against
Bartley.

Jan. 9ish Five school resource officers are

designated for schools in Campbell County.

Oct. 15 An affidavit by
psychiatrist James F. Murray
is filed in court. His affidavit
says that Bartleys 2007 plea
was not knowingly entered
because of Bartleys previous
psychological issues.

Nov. 11 Bruces body lies in state all day before his

funeral. Initial reports estimate more than 4,000 attend.
Students are allowed to retrieve their belongings from the
school. The Bruce home is broken into during the funeral.
Former Gov. Phil Bredesen comes to Campbell County to
pay his respects.

Nov. 16 Bartley appears in court to be arraigned before Judge

Michael Davis from Morgan County. Bartley is represented by Mike
Hatmaker. Assistant District Attorney General Mike Ripley files a
petition to transfer Bartleys case from juvenile court to criminal
court. U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis gives a speech on the House floor in
Washington, D.C. about the shooting.

March 30 Bartleys
case is moved to adult
court after Hatmaker
waives the hearing
because the state had
probable cause.

Jan. 29 The transfer hearing

begins four days later and lasts
for several days. Proceedings
break until Feb. 2 when psychologist Diana McCoy can be
present and testify as a witness
for the defense. Bartley is again
transferred to criminal court.

2007

Nov. 10 Local business leaders begin meeting to set up

funds for the Campbell County High School Relief Fund to assist
the victims and their families. Former director of schools Judy
Blevins said the principals acted appropriately in dealing with
Bartley the day of the shooting.

Nov. 14 School resumes with seven armed officers on guard.

Discussions on revamping school security begin. Attendance is 1,411 present out of 1,469 students total, though the number drops through the
week. Two bomb threats for the high school are received at WQLA radio
station. One call comes in at 6:34 a.m. The second comes in at 7:11 a.m. All
basketball practice is cancelled out of respect.

April 28 Jacksboro
Elementary School
is locked down after
reports of a gun. A later
investigation reveals
that an angry parent in
a custody dispute was
headed to the school.

July 27 Jo Bruce lobbies for

a tax increase to fund school
resource officers in schools.
She tells the LaFollette Press
that she worries the tragedys
significance is fading from
memory.

April 3 Jury selection in the

trial begins.

May 3 Bruces family

receives a settlement:
$3,886 for medical bills,
$7,000 for the funeral,
a lump sum of $64,859
paid to Jo Bruce and
$24,946 paid to his son,
Patrick.

Mid-June The Juvenile

Justice Foundation begins a
letter-writing campaign, asking
for leniency for Bartley. Letters
maintain he should be tried as
a juvenile.

April 7 Bartley pleads guilty

to second-degree murder
and two counts of attempted
second-degree murder. He is
sentenced to 45 years.

March 25 Hatmaker visits Bartley at the juvenile

detention facility and discusses the 45-year plea
offered by the state. Bartley, along with his parents,
reject the offer.

Aug. 3 Bartleys mother, Rita

Vannoy, asks the court to seal the
court records to protect herself and
the other parties in the case from
annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense.

July Judge Blackwood

denies Bartleys motion to
withdraw his guilty plea. Jo
Bruce calls new laws about
school resource officers a
step in the right direction.

2014

Jan. 24 Isaacs files a

motion to dismiss the case after the state
misses a deadline to provide videotape
of the interviews with Gary Seale and Jim
Pierce. The tapes were delivered to Isaacs
on Jan. 27; the motion was dismissed.

Oct. 4 Prosecutors file a motion to restrict any

expert testimony about Bartleys mental health
other than that of Dr. Diana McCoy. Prosecutors
also file a motion to substitute now-retired TBI
agent Steve Vinsant for Special Agent Jerry
Spoon, who is now assigned to the case.

Nov. 12 Bruce is buried.

Feb. 7 Blackwood
bans a suicide note by
Bartley from the record
and trial.

Jan. 31 Isaacs files a motion proposing instructions how to define

intoxicated for the jury, because
intoxication will be one of the ways
he plans to defend Bartley.

Nov. 13 Prayer
services are held
at both Campbell
County High School
and LaFollette Church
of God.

May 12 The first Ken

Bruce scholarships are
awarded to two
graduating seniors.

June 9
Bartley is
arraigned
in criminal
court.

April 11 Kenneth Bartleys

mother, Rita Vannoy, speaks to
the Press about her son. She says
he was a good child but lost his
way around 6th grade.

June 6 A grand jury indicts

Bartley on one count of first-degree
murder, two counts of attempted
first-degree murder, possession of a
firearm on campus and possession of
a schedule-IV controlled substance
for resale or distribution. Prosecutors
present evidence for two and a half
hours. The grand jury deliberates for
40 minutes. More than 100 names are
attached to the indictment as
witnesses.

May 16 The state counters the motion. A hearing is

set for later in the summer.

May 8 Bartley
moves to withdraw
his guilty plea.

May 25 Rita Vannoy asks for a summary

judgement in the civil case Jo Bruce filed against
the family. Rita Vannoy has no liability to the
plaintiffsas she did not live with Kenneth
Bartley, nor did she have the opportunity to
control the actions of Kenneth Bartley prior to
the shooting, court documents said.

Feb. 21 Jury
selection commences
in Chattanooga.

Feb. 24 The trial is

expected to begin at the
Campbell County Courthouse.
*SHADED AREA REPRESENTS
FIRST 24 HOURS AFTER SHOOTING

May 21 The Bartley

family hires attorney
Bruce Poston and discharges Mike Hatmaker.