Horror of Connecticut shooting reminds of local tragedy

NEWTOWN, CT (KTRK) -- Friday's events in Connecticut bring back memories of a devastating attack on a local elementary school more than 50 years ago. A father detonated a bomb at Poe Elementary School, killing himself and five students and teachers.

It's been more than five decades since Houstonians dealt with the horror and disbelief of an attack against the most innocent of victims in what should have been the safest of places, students at an elementary school.

It was September 15, 1959, when an ex-convict, 49-year-old Paul Orgeron showed up on Poe's campus, his five-year-old son in one hand and a suitcase packed with dynamite in the other. He was angry that he couldn't enroll his son in school because he didn't have the proper paperwork.

When he detonated the homemade bomb, it killed Orgeron and his son, along with two other students, a teacher and a custodian. Eighteen others were hurt, including two students who lost limbs.

On the 50th anniversary of that dark day, a ceremony was held at both Poe and Kolter elementary, a school named for teacher Jennie Kolter, who died trying to protect her students.

We spoke with her son on that day. William Kolter was chief resident at Hermann Hospital the day of the bombing and remembers having to pronounce his mother dead.

"By the time I got over there, the kids that needed to go to the hospital had already gone and that when I found mama on the ground with a sheet over her, so I had to pronounce her," he said.

It was a lasting and terrible memory for a man who lost his mother to the actions of a madman. And those who survived that horrific day at Poe Elementary so long ago are among the few who understand how the victims and their families in Connecticut are feeling right now, as this unthinkable nightmare plays out.

And they are no doubt wondering again how anyone could target the most defenseless among us with such evil abandon.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more National/World »

national/world, melanie lawson

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HISD teacher shows fifth graders horror film in class

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Fifth grade students at an HISD school got a break from class to watch a movie, but what they saw has at least one mother angry and her son scared.

Houston ISD says the teacher made a mistake. The movie was shown this week at Shearn Elementary on Houston's south side.

'Insidious' looks like a freaky movie, even for adults. Entertainment Weekly calls it a haunted-house movie that has some of the "most shivery and indelible images in any horror film in decades."

Rated PG-13, parents are "strongly cautioned" against their children watching it.

"I couldn't believe what he was telling me. From school -- he's in fifth grade," parent Mary Baker said.

So you can imagine Baker's horror when her 10-year-old son, Kyle, came home, saying he watched it at school.

"I think it was a very poor choice for a teacher that was educated. He knows better, and it affected my son horribly," Baker said.

Baker says a teacher at the school let her son's class -- a group of 10- and 11-year-olds -- choose between a funny and scary movie, and 'Insidious' was one of their options.

"He was physically sick," said Baker. "He was throwing up last night until almost midnight. Then got in my bed and ended up sleeping with me the rest of the night."

A spokesperson for HISD confirms the teacher showed the PG-13 movie in class without approval. They added that their policy is that "any film shown in class must be approved by the principal. As a result, the teacher will be reprimanded and an apology letter will be sent home to parents."

Other Shearn parents agree.

"Do you let your student watch horror films?" we asked parent Guadalupe Gil.

"No I don't," she said.

"So I wouldn't feel comfortable," parent Heather Mouton said.

The teacher made a mistake. Baker just hopes now he's learned his lesson.

"Kids are affected, they're affected. It affects them. The little things count - even movies," Baker said.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

houston isd, local, sonia azad

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