Principal with Guns on School Lot Dismissed
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Posted: 2:01 PM Apr 18, 2008
Principal with Guns on School Lot Dismissed
A Wirt County Middle School principal who left two hunting rifles in a vehicle parked on school property has been terminated.
Reporter: Associated Press
Email Address: news@wsaz.com
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ELIZABETH, W.Va. (AP) - A Wirt County Middle School principal who left two hunting rifles in a vehicle parked on school property has been terminated.

The county school board voted 3-2 late Wednesday to dismiss James D. Hoover.

Superintendent Daniel Metz declined to comment on the decision.

Hoover was charged in October with two counts of unlawfully and feloniously possessing deadly weapons on educational facilities.

But Wirt County Circuit Court Judge Robert Waters later dismissed the charges, saying the case fell under an exception in state law involving unloaded weapons in locked vehicles.

Hoover told Division of Natural Resources officials investigating a hunting accident that a friend asked him to retrieve the weapons from the woods. Hoover wasn't involved in the accident.

Latest Comments

Posted by: charles sawders on Apr 22, 2008 at 07:01 PM

Let's see here, the principal did a responsible thing in removing the rifles from access to anyone who might stumble upon them. He was a threat to no one. He left them in his car, while he went to work. He violated no laws so of course he needed to be fired. Am I alone in thinking the school board is staffed by idiots?
Posted by: To Isaac on Apr 21, 2008 at 08:47 PM

Maybe you just need to read and enlighten yourself to the facts before you just decide to attempt to think. You may access the sworn testimonies from the incident or you may look on WSAZ as to the fact that the "friend" has been charged in the shooting. Their is no 'Chairman' involved with this. You truly are a misguided, uninformed, conspiracy driven rambler. From your post I can understand why you do not comprehend the issue with regards to policies and/or regulations. Try not to hurt your brain and leave the tough decisions to the people who actually know how to read and you may want to research the issue before you comment on public blogs.
Posted by: Wendy Weinbaum on Apr 21, 2008 at 01:31 PM

Wirt County Middle School owes an apology, a job reinstatement, and BACK PAY to Principal James D. Hoover. He did NOTHING wrong. The School "Board" is hysterically overreacting like a bunch of old women, and is VIOLATING the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution!
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