After the endless stream of stories about white women (and men) abusing emergency resources in order to use police as their own personal People of Color Removal Service, it’s refreshing to hear about a white woman using 911 for its actual purpose, with a sprinkle of social media sleuthing. Such is the story of Koeberle Bull, a New Jersey mother of three who woke up Oct. 17 to a hideous and hateful Facebook message from a man named Dylan Jarrell, whom she’d never met.
Bull did what people do these days: She posted a screencap of the vulgar message.
But posting to social media didn’t feel like doing enough.
It was the most hateful message she'd ever received in her life and it left her fearing for her kids.
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Thinking he was local, she called 911.
But Jarrell, who turned 21 on Saturday, wasn’t anywhere near Bull’s home in New Jersey. Though he’d blocked her on Facebook, Bull’s friends quickly tracked his profile down to Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, about 25 miles west of Lexington, almost 700 miles away from her home in Lumberton. So Bull decided to go one step further and called authorities there.
"Something in the back of my head was like this isn't right, like something's not sitting well," Bull told WKYT.
And thank cheeses she did. Kentucky State Police considered Bull’s call to be credible, and on Thursday, they caught Jarrell in the nick of time—literally.
(P)olice caught Jarrell as he was leaving his driveway. According to the police report, he admitted to sending the messages. During that time, it was revealed that Jarrell had been questioned before in May by the Federal Bureau of Investigation over threats to a school in Tennessee.
He allowed officers to take his phone and examine it in an off-site location. During that investigation, officers discovered an internet search for ‘how to conduct a school shooting.’
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During a search, police said evidence was found that confirmed the threat was "valid and imminent." Evidence includes a firearm, more than two hundred rounds of ammunition, a Kevlar vest, a 100-round high capacity magazine, and a detailed plan of attack.
“This young man had it in his mind to go to schools and create havoc. He had the tools necessary, the intent necessary and the only thing that stood between him and evil, between him and school doing evil is law enforcement,” said KSP Commissioner Rick Sanders.
Jarrell, who was also a suspect in a previous shooting threat, was prepared to attack schools in both Anderson and Shelby counties, and classes and activities within both school districts were closed as a result. Though KSP has yet to name a motive, Jarrell lived in Anderson County, where he got his GED after attending Shelby County schools through ninth grade.
Back in New Jersey, Bull remains quite shocked by the whole thing.
"I would hope that someone would, in the same situation, just do the same thing. Because, obviously, you never know. It could be an idle threat or it could be the next mass shooter," Bull said. "It's our future. These kids are our future, my kids, the kids of Lawrenceburg and Anderson County, and we have to give them a fighting shot."
The would-be school shooter entered a “not guilty” plea on Monday to charges of second-degree terroristic threatening and harassing communications, and is currently being held on a $50,000 bond. He may face additional federal charges.
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