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Teenager used his shop class to build bomb that killed him
Lori Culbert Vancouver Sun
Fourteen-year-old Erik Goetzinger used the shop class at his Parksville high school to construct the pipe bomb that killed him, the RCMP said Tuesday.
And the curious teen got the black powder for the pipe bomb from his 21-year-old brother, who police say believed that his younger sibling needed the explosive for a school project.
Although it is against the law for anyone under 18 to be sold or given gunpowder, Parksville RCMP Sergeant Randy Churchill said it is unlikely charges will be laid against the older brother because he did not know why Erik wanted the substance.
"There has been more than enough harm done and anything further would be needless at this time," Churchill said.
Goetzinger built the bomb on Monday and later that day went home to set off the deadly device with a friend.
Both the RCMP and the principal at Ballenas high school say the shop teacher had no idea Erik was making a rudimentary bomb in class.
"The teacher didn't know. He's got 23 kids," principal Darryl Craig said. "It would be pretty tough to monitor it that closely."
Erik got a piece of pipe from his shop class, welded the ends closed and put a hole in the pipe. He took the device home and filled it through the hole with the black powder given to him by his brother.
Erik and a friend then used a gasoline trail as a fuse, but the explosive went off before Erik could take cover. He was killed instantly.
Although many young people experiment with pipe bombs, police officers and educators in Parksville say there is no evidence that Erik had done this before.
However, they say the bomb he constructed was more powerful than most homemade devices because of the ends being welded and the gasoline.
The boy's mother, Lene Goetzinger, spoke to The Vancouver Sun about her son on Tuesday, but did not want to comment on where Erik made the bomb or how he got the black powder.
Craig does not believe rules need to be changed or anyone needs to be disciplined at the school, saying it would be difficult to prevent this from happening again.
He said shop students have access to pieces of pipe and must practise welding skills, and added a teacher couldn't know if a student had an ulterior purpose for something they made in class.
"I guess the best option we have is just with reminding the kids that this kind of building weapons is unacceptable," Craig said.
It is not clear how many students in the shop class knew what Erik was doing, but one friend went home with Erik to light the device in the woods beside the Goetzinger family's attractive home on the outskirts of Parksville.
That second boy, who is also 14 and was in Erik's Grade 9 class, was dazed by the blast but was not injured.
Churchill said he hopes this tragedy will encourage students to reason with each other.
"The answer lies with the youths themselves. Usually there is knowledge of this going on at the time. If friends can step in and say: 'Hey this is dangerous, there are consequences here,' " Churchill said.
Erik had been making a tiny ornamental cannon in shop class, and Churchill said the boy had told his older brother that it was a real cannon and therefore needed the black powder to make it work.
"It was a fictitious story created for [the brother] to believe it was for a school project," he said.
Bruce Graves, a licensed gunsmith and ammunition salesman from rural Errington, sold the black powder to Erik's older brother about a week ago. He has been a customer for the last three years, and told Graves he needed the explosive for a miniature cannon he made when he was a teenager.
"He's been in here about once a year, roughly speaking, for a pound or two of powder for his cannon that he likes to play with once and again," said the owner of Graves' Enterprises -- Guns, Powder and Primers.
He said Erik's brother did not indicate he planned to give the powder to a younger brother.
Graves has a handful of youths trying to buy black powder each year, mainly to build fireworks for Halloween. However, he said he requires identification and refuses to sell it to anyone younger than 18.
Black powder is usually bought by members of gun clubs, who use it in some guns or in small cannons that fire objects such as oranges or batteries, he said.
Graves doesn't think stronger laws are required to prevent a similar tragedy.
"I've told [customers] you have to treat this the same as live ammunition, in other words it has to be locked up," he said.
"The more rules you make, and the more weird they seem, the less they will follow them."
Meanwhile, an area where Erik liked to sit at the high school has been turned into a make-shift monument. Students have left flowers and messages, which will be given to his family on the weekend, Craig said.
A funeral is being arranged for the Grade 9 student, possibly for next Wednesday.
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Slowpoke Rodrigo...he pack a gon...
"That which binds us together is infinitely greater than that on which we disagree" - Neal Knox
I'll see you at the TFL End Of Summer Meet!
Teenager used his shop class to build bomb that killed him
Lori Culbert Vancouver Sun
Fourteen-year-old Erik Goetzinger used the shop class at his Parksville high school to construct the pipe bomb that killed him, the RCMP said Tuesday.
And the curious teen got the black powder for the pipe bomb from his 21-year-old brother, who police say believed that his younger sibling needed the explosive for a school project.
Although it is against the law for anyone under 18 to be sold or given gunpowder, Parksville RCMP Sergeant Randy Churchill said it is unlikely charges will be laid against the older brother because he did not know why Erik wanted the substance.
"There has been more than enough harm done and anything further would be needless at this time," Churchill said.
Goetzinger built the bomb on Monday and later that day went home to set off the deadly device with a friend.
Both the RCMP and the principal at Ballenas high school say the shop teacher had no idea Erik was making a rudimentary bomb in class.
"The teacher didn't know. He's got 23 kids," principal Darryl Craig said. "It would be pretty tough to monitor it that closely."
Erik got a piece of pipe from his shop class, welded the ends closed and put a hole in the pipe. He took the device home and filled it through the hole with the black powder given to him by his brother.
Erik and a friend then used a gasoline trail as a fuse, but the explosive went off before Erik could take cover. He was killed instantly.
Although many young people experiment with pipe bombs, police officers and educators in Parksville say there is no evidence that Erik had done this before.
However, they say the bomb he constructed was more powerful than most homemade devices because of the ends being welded and the gasoline.
The boy's mother, Lene Goetzinger, spoke to The Vancouver Sun about her son on Tuesday, but did not want to comment on where Erik made the bomb or how he got the black powder.
Craig does not believe rules need to be changed or anyone needs to be disciplined at the school, saying it would be difficult to prevent this from happening again.
He said shop students have access to pieces of pipe and must practise welding skills, and added a teacher couldn't know if a student had an ulterior purpose for something they made in class.
"I guess the best option we have is just with reminding the kids that this kind of building weapons is unacceptable," Craig said.
It is not clear how many students in the shop class knew what Erik was doing, but one friend went home with Erik to light the device in the woods beside the Goetzinger family's attractive home on the outskirts of Parksville.
That second boy, who is also 14 and was in Erik's Grade 9 class, was dazed by the blast but was not injured.
Churchill said he hopes this tragedy will encourage students to reason with each other.
"The answer lies with the youths themselves. Usually there is knowledge of this going on at the time. If friends can step in and say: 'Hey this is dangerous, there are consequences here,' " Churchill said.
Erik had been making a tiny ornamental cannon in shop class, and Churchill said the boy had told his older brother that it was a real cannon and therefore needed the black powder to make it work.
"It was a fictitious story created for [the brother] to believe it was for a school project," he said.
Bruce Graves, a licensed gunsmith and ammunition salesman from rural Errington, sold the black powder to Erik's older brother about a week ago. He has been a customer for the last three years, and told Graves he needed the explosive for a miniature cannon he made when he was a teenager.
"He's been in here about once a year, roughly speaking, for a pound or two of powder for his cannon that he likes to play with once and again," said the owner of Graves' Enterprises -- Guns, Powder and Primers.
He said Erik's brother did not indicate he planned to give the powder to a younger brother.
Graves has a handful of youths trying to buy black powder each year, mainly to build fireworks for Halloween. However, he said he requires identification and refuses to sell it to anyone younger than 18.
Black powder is usually bought by members of gun clubs, who use it in some guns or in small cannons that fire objects such as oranges or batteries, he said.
Graves doesn't think stronger laws are required to prevent a similar tragedy.
"I've told [customers] you have to treat this the same as live ammunition, in other words it has to be locked up," he said.
"The more rules you make, and the more weird they seem, the less they will follow them."
Meanwhile, an area where Erik liked to sit at the high school has been turned into a make-shift monument. Students have left flowers and messages, which will be given to his family on the weekend, Craig said.
A funeral is being arranged for the Grade 9 student, possibly for next Wednesday.
------------------
Slowpoke Rodrigo...he pack a gon...
"That which binds us together is infinitely greater than that on which we disagree" - Neal Knox
I'll see you at the TFL End Of Summer Meet!