Students stay home because after gang violence rumors

<p>Half of the students at a Clayton County high school stayed home or left early on Monday amid rumors of pending gang violence.</p><p>The rumors spread among Mundy's Mill High School's 1,900 students that gang members would try to retaliate for the death of senior Larry Bishop Jr., who was fatally shot at a house party on Saturday.</p><p>"I don't need no bullets in me," said Mundy's Mill senior Andre Davis, who was among the 1,044 students absent on Monday.</p><p>Lt. Greg Porter, commander of Clayton County's school resource officers, said his department did hear talk that "gangbangers" were going to "shoot up" Mundy's Mill to avenge Bishop's death.</p><p>Authorities could not substantiate the hearsay, but police stepped up vigilance at Mundy's Mill and nearby Lovejoy High School as a precaution, Porter said.</p><p>On Monday, more than a dozen county police cars patrolled the subdivisions surrounding Mundy's Mill. At least four extra officers were stationed at the school campus where one school resource officer typically is assigned. Even with the increased security, some parents pulled their kids out of school after hearing about the gang activity.</p><p>The increased vigilance comes just two weeks after Clayton officials decided to bring drug-sniffing dogs and hand-held metal detectors to high school campuses to crack down on school crime and violence.</p><p>In addition, Mundy's Mill principal Anthony W. Smith called for an "emergency" meeting this Thursday to talk with parents and community members about the gang issue.</p><p>The 52,000-student system has been wracked by several high-profile incidents during the past two months. Last week, two elementary school students brought a gun to school, police said.</p><p>Bishop was one of two Clayton County high school students who was killed in separate shootings last weekend.</p><p>Krystal Williams, a Forest Park High School freshman, died after being hit by gunfire outside a friend's birthday party Friday. Formal charges were expected Tuesday against four teenagers _ a 15-year-old, two 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old _ allegedly involved in Williams' death, said Capt. Jeff Turner.</p><p>Police also made an arrest in an earlier fight that they said led to Bishop's shooting. Mundy's Mill student Chimere Ananaba, 17, of Riverdale, was charged with battery Monday for cutting a rival gang member's face during a campus brawl.</p><p>Police say the deaths do not appear to be linked.</p><p>Michelle Williams, who will bury her 14-year-old daughter Thursday, said she hopes Krystal's death will be a "wake-up call" to other students: "When we were at the hospital I made some of them go back and see what it looked like to be shot, so that they could know it could be one of them next."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1d0c4d0)</p>