Officials look back on incident that put Burlington in headlines around the world
By Jason Arndt
Editor
Before sunrise 20 years ago, Mayor Jeannie Hefty remembered waking up to a phone call, which put the City of Burlington on the map for an unfortunate reason.
Hefty, in her first tour of duty as mayor, said the call came from city officials about a plot to kill at Burlington High School.
“I received a call, I believe it was very early in the morning and they told me we had this threat, we want you know about it,” she recalled, adding the call came on Monday, Nov. 16, 1998.
The plot to kill was initiated by five Burlington students and targeted school administrators and their classmates. Two of the students who were initially involved dropped out of the plot and were never charged.
The three remaining suspects were 15 and 16 years old at the time.
Jordan Rose, Kirk Warren and Chase Robertson were initially charged with conspiracy to commit murder, but all eventually pleaded no contest to reduced charges of second-degree recklessly endangering safety and were sentenced to probation. Attorneys for the accused convinced a judge to bar some of the evidence that was obtained during the initial interviews with the students due to police procedural errors. That ruling led to the reduced charges, according to news reports at the time.
According to the Nov. 18 edition of the Burlington Standard Press in 1998, the boys reportedly plotted to take over Burlington High School – the building that is now Karcher Middle School.
They planned to hold as hostage, and eventually kill, then-principal Jose Martinez, assistant principal Dick Peterson and police liaison officer Mark Johnston. The plan was to then target students and teachers they did not like.
When word started spreading around the Burlington area, Hefty recalled seeing panicked residents, and felt it was imperative to bring the community together immediately.
“It was so jarring for our community, but it was history,” said Hefty, who called a community meeting at the high school that evening.
“I can say that our biggest goal was to bring the community together and also explain to them what had occurred, where we were at, and what we are looking for in the next couple of weeks,” she said.
Anonymous tipster
Johnston, who retired from the Burlington Police Department in 2012, never found out who tipped off his colleagues on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Two decades later, Johnston still believes the anonymous tipster saved dozens of lives, noting the five teenagers had a concrete plan.
“I have no doubt in my mind that this incident would have taken place, had it not been for a certain individual, and to this day, I don’t know who that person is that came forward with that information.”
To read the full report, including a sidebar on how school security has changed since 1998, pick up a copy of the Nov. 15 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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