General Discussion

Boreal

(725 posts) Sat Aug 30, 2014, 06:18 PM Aug 2014

Maryland teacher gets disappeared for writing fictional book about school shooting [View all]

And I mean disappeared because he's been taken to some unknown location, outside of the area where he lives and it's a secret.

Writing fiction, even about school shootings, even if you're a teacher, is not a crime! This is scary.

CAMBRIDGE, Md.- He's a man with many names, and the books he has written have raised the concerns of the Dorchester County Board of Education and the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office.

Early last week the school board was alerted that one of its eighth grade language arts teachers at Mace's Lane Middle School had several aliases. Police said that under those names, he wrote two fictional books about the largest school shooting in the country's history set in the future. Now, Patrick McLaw is placed on leave.

Dr. K.S. Voltaer is better known by some in Dorchester County as Patrick McLaw, or even Patrick Beale. Not only was he a teacher at Mace's Lane Middle School in Cambridge, but according to Dorchester Sheriff James Phillips, McLaw is also the author of two books: "The Insurrectionist" and its sequel, "Lillith's Heir."

Those books are what caught the attention of police and school board officials in Dorchester County. "The Insurrectionist" is about two school shootings set in the future, the largest in the country's history.

Phillips said McLaw was taken in for an emergency medical evaluation. The sheriff would not disclose where McLaw is now, but he did say that he is not on the Eastern Shore. The same day that McLaw was taken in for an evaluation, police swept Mace's Lane Middle School for bombs and guns, coming up empty.

Dorchester County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Wagner said the Dorchester County Board of Education has taken its own action.

"We have advised our community that the gentleman has been placed on administrative leave, and has been prohibited from entering any Dorchester County public school property," Wagner said.

http://www.wboc.com/story/26367051/cambridge-maces-lane-middle-school-teacher-on-administrative-leave

129 replies

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Maryland teacher gets disappeared for writing fictional book about school shooting [View all] Boreal Aug 2014 OP

another article... Boreal Aug 2014 #1

Evidently the thought police have him. hobbit709 Aug 2014 #2

Very 1984. nt valerief Aug 2014 #4

Wow. Frightening. nt valerief Aug 2014 #3

That is scary! 951-Riverside Aug 2014 #5

OMG Boreal Aug 2014 #13

I checked and it says its still working its way through the courts. cstanleytech Aug 2014 #72

More here about what they did to him Boreal Aug 2014 #74

In addition to Boreal Aug 2014 #6

^^^^^^^ ReRe Aug 2014 #87

Something does seem to be fishy here marions ghost Aug 2014 #7

Pinochet's back! nt valerief Aug 2014 #8

+1 million Louisiana1976 Aug 2014 #104

Given the amount of children killed in recent shootings... Lancero Aug 2014 #9

BS tea and oranges Aug 2014 #12

Right on! Disappearing people is Kafkaesque. Louisiana1976 Aug 2014 #105

The books were two fantasies set 900 years into the future. pnwmom Aug 2014 #22

Wrong rpannier Aug 2014 #35

Whatever was in the writings certainly terrified them. Chemisse Aug 2014 #84

Is it possible he DID have mental-health problems, and they're protecting his privacy? ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #10

That was my first thought ... etherealtruth Aug 2014 #15

HIPPA, etc., was also my first thought. n/t ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #16

That would make sense ... there could be some horrid conspiracy,but ... etherealtruth Aug 2014 #17

Ocaam's Theorem. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #19

What theory? Boreal Aug 2014 #34

Did I say that? ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #36

That's why I'm asking Boreal Aug 2014 #42

That the man may possibly have been had a mental-health problem, when the LEO's encountered him. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #46

No, that the simplest explanation is usually the right one. Occam's Razor. n/t nomorenomore08 Aug 2014 #38

And what would the simplest explaination be? nt Boreal Aug 2014 #41

In this case, I'm not sure. Seems kind of sinister at first look, though. nomorenomore08 Aug 2014 #54

I think the simplest explanation, given the known facts, is that some concerned citizen pnwmom Aug 2014 #82

I certainly think the authorities overreacted here, to say the least. nomorenomore08 Aug 2014 #90

Yep. Simple fascism. nt valerief Aug 2014 #117

I don't see a large conspiracy Boreal Aug 2014 #96

I agree with all of that. nomorenomore08 Aug 2014 #98

The simplest explanation is that some idiot got suspicious after learning about the book, pnwmom Aug 2014 #85

That's life in a fascist police state. Louisiana1976 Aug 2014 #106

HIPAA not HIPPA. But I bet you're right. Laffy Kat Aug 2014 #79

Hmmmm...possible marions ghost Aug 2014 #18

One reason it ocurred to me is something that happened here, just this week. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #20

He published his school-shooting novel -- set 900 years in the future -- three years ago. pnwmom Aug 2014 #23

Yup. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #25

True. But so what. He's had three years to become a crazed school shooter, and yet pnwmom Aug 2014 #28

That wasn't what I meant. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #30

Anyone can claim "mental health problem." joshcryer Aug 2014 #56

None of us *know* that 'they found nothing'. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #60

Well, weapons wise. joshcryer Aug 2014 #64

I agree with you. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #69

The police acknowledged that their searches yielded nothing. n/t pnwmom Aug 2014 #80

Yielded nothing criminal, yes. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #92

They probably found a young man who was scared to death by their SWAT team, pnwmom Aug 2014 #103

A plausible scenario marions ghost Aug 2014 #113

We only have 897 years to prevent it then!!!! Waterboard that mfer! elehhhhna Aug 2014 #57

Doubt it rpannier Aug 2014 #33

Whatever it is, these actions must have a writ, or Eleanors38 Aug 2014 #37

Law enforcement protecting black people? Really? nt valerief Aug 2014 #116

Where did my country go? Are we in the Twilight Zone or what? rickyhall Aug 2014 #11

They want us to blame it all on 9/11. Uh huh. blkmusclmachine Aug 2014 #14

Too many missing facts... ReRe Aug 2014 #21

They are available online. The school shooting novel, a fantasy set 900 years in the future, pnwmom Aug 2014 #24

Key word tooeyeten Aug 2014 #26

I'm wondering if this story is more about Blue_Tires Aug 2014 #43

Writers often use pseudonyms. What's so scary about that? n/t pnwmom Aug 2014 #45

Well, only because the story says "aliases" instead of "pseudonyms" Blue_Tires Aug 2014 #53

Remember how the media twists things. Someone used the word aliases quite deliberately, I bet. pnwmom Aug 2014 #59

matter Montecore Sep 2014 #125

There you go... ReRe Aug 2014 #63

Yep--and some under the pen name Richard Bachman--or as this article tblue37 Aug 2014 #83

+1 Ed Suspicious Aug 2014 #97

"who would even entertain the thought of writing a book about school shootings?" Boreal Aug 2014 #29

Oh, a few score screenwriters, a documentarian, others. Eleanors38 Aug 2014 #39

My bad... ReRe Aug 2014 #73

It's completely lawless Boreal Aug 2014 #76

Ummmmmm rpannier Aug 2014 #32

"Arsenal." What evidence of something, somewhere, somehow. Eleanors38 Aug 2014 #40

Stephen King wrote a great one Codeine Aug 2014 #66

Given the content of much fiction... malthaussen Aug 2014 #27

I think there may well be both more AND less to the story. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #31

+1 Blue_Tires Aug 2014 #44

I wasn't going to go there, but yes. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #47

Writers use pseudonyms all the time. Why would that make your eyebrows twitch? n/t pnwmom Aug 2014 #50

As I read the story, the a/k/a's weren't noms de plume. n/t ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #52

Right. That's what the accusers obviously want us to think. But the articles say pnwmom Aug 2014 #62

Pretty difficult to conclude anything else from this sentence: ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #68

I've learned enough by now to know how often articles get details wrong -- and then repeat pnwmom Aug 2014 #70

I agree with you about that. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #71

This other article says he had a legal name change 5 years ago, from Beale to McLaw. pnwmom Aug 2014 #78

I realize that's not the same as using an alias. ColesCountyDem Aug 2014 #94

It's one more sign of either very sloppy reporting or deliberately misleading statements pnwmom Aug 2014 #102

If it was recrimination, there will likely be a quiet settlement. joshcryer Aug 2014 #112

Kenneth Bulmer published under at least 15 pen names. Downwinder Aug 2014 #75

He teaches language arts and he's written novels under pseudonyms. Since when has that been pnwmom Aug 2014 #48

Authors use pseudonyms. I'm on my 3rd. And I know someone who had valerief Aug 2014 #118

If there's not more to it, there's a lawsuit waiting to happen. joshcryer Aug 2014 #51

Yeah, that guy ought to sue. Freedom of expression and all. Louisiana1976 Aug 2014 #107

Hmm. I wonder, I wonder, -- what teachers fantacize about... immoderate Aug 2014 #49

This is going to be one hell of a lawsuit. joshcryer Aug 2014 #55

In one of the articles Boreal Aug 2014 #91

Amazon isn't giving out an anonymous pseudonym without cause. joshcryer Aug 2014 #111

"Luke, we gotta get your mind right." Hoppy Aug 2014 #58

fwiw he's a 23 year old black man elehhhhna Aug 2014 #61

That'll do it. joshcryer Aug 2014 #65

Having the police go after him was like having his worst nightmare come true. pnwmom Aug 2014 #67

I agree, especially if he was exploring experimental narratives. joshcryer Aug 2014 #88

HIs next book will be VERY interesting. Imagine. elehhhhna Aug 2014 #114

Bingo! ReRe Aug 2014 #81

I like to think I can discover personality traits from the face. joshcryer Aug 2014 #89

With the settlement he gets from his lawsuit, he'll be able to quit tblue37 Aug 2014 #77

I hope that's how it works out for him Boreal Aug 2014 #93

You are seriously dreaming marions ghost Sep 2014 #126

This is the sort of case the ACLU is often willing to take, tblue37 Sep 2014 #127

I'm skeptical marions ghost Sep 2014 #128

His books can be purchased on Amazon, if anyone is interested in tblue37 Aug 2014 #86

I have not read the entire thread. Jenoch Aug 2014 #95

writers write Boreal Aug 2014 #99

True. Louisiana1976 Aug 2014 #108

Actually, he wrote the novel when he was a college student. I'm sure he had heard of a number pnwmom Aug 2014 #110

It's one of two novels about a repressive militaristic government and a tblue37 Aug 2014 #100

He was a student. A writer. He published under a psuedonym. Who though it was a good idea to Ed Suspicious Aug 2014 #101

^^^THIS^^^ valerief Aug 2014 #119

He published the book three years ago when he was a college student. pnwmom Aug 2014 #109

At least schools are equal opportunity police states. Trillo Aug 2014 #115

Update. Downwinder Aug 2014 #120

Notice how it says Boreal Aug 2014 #121

What exactly is the crime? ClarkeVII Aug 2014 #122

Thought crime nt Boreal Aug 2014 #123

look Montecore Sep 2014 #124

Okay, a different story has emerged Boreal Sep 2014 #129