Empty Nest
Sponsored section ►►page 20
&
Politics begin
New bills before state legislature ►►page 4
Gerhard plays Roswell
Guitarist at Ragamuffin Music Hall Feb. 8 ►►page 13
Alpharetta-Roswell
Revue News
January 23, 2014 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 32, No. 4
Police victims of ‘swatting’ hoax Fake 911 calls endanger They believe they have a police, residents By JONATHAN COPSEY jonathan@northfulton.com
JONATHAN COPSEY/staff
Thirty students at Elkins Pointe Middle School have completed a full year’s worth of schooling in one semester in a special pilot program. They celebrated Jan. 17 along with their teachers with a graduation ceremony and lunch courtesy of the Historic Roswell Kiwanis Club and Red Lobster.
Students get ‘on pointe’ in accelerated learning Older, lagging students given chance to graduate on time By JONATHAN COPSEY jonathan@northfulton.com ROSWELL, Ga. – When a student moves in from outof-state or out-of-country, or has family problems causing them to fall behind in their classwork, what are they to do? The answer may soon be available for all Fulton schools if the teachers at Elkins Pointe Middle School have anything to say about it. Called “On Pointe,” the program is accelerated learn-
ing, where students get a year’s worth of classes in 18 weeks – one semester. The goal is to get them back “on point” by the time they are sophomores in high school. “If they had continued on their normal path, they would have turned 16 in their freshman year of high school,” said Melinda Springman, principal of Elkins Pointe. “With this program, they should be able to graduate high school in three years.” The middle school stu-
dents will continue the program into high school, where their first year will be tailored to get them back up to speed and graduate by the time they are 18. “This is a really exciting opportunity for these kids to get back on point for high school,” Springman said. Thirty students are in the county’s pilot program at Elkins Pointe, with many getting straight A’s in their first
See GRADUATE, Page 9
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – North Fulton’s police departments were the victims of “swatting” Jan. 16. Swatting is a form of prank where the police get a call requiring a heavy SWAT response only to find out the call was fake. Jan. 16, Alpharetta 911 received a call about 4:30 p.m. from an unknown person claiming that a man, woman and child had all been shot at a residence on Carlisle Lane, in Country Club of the South. Additionally, the caller demanded $30,000 for the release of a hostage. Alpharetta transferred the call over to Johns Creek’s dispatch – ChatComm – who relayed it to their police. The call allegedly was traced to a Carlisle Lane residence. Dozens of police responded to the scene, ready for a shooter. They surrounded the home and set up surveillance sites and a command center. Many officers were armed with rifles and shotguns. After police had set up their perimeter, two women came out of the home. They told police no one was injured inside and that another woman was inside along with two children. The homeowner told police
violent subject to apprehend or an innocent victim to rescue. It’s a dangerous situation any way you look at it.” Kevin Kolbye Dallas FBI
there were no other people inside and was “understandably confused” about the police presence. Police searched the home and found no one else. Swatting is a national problem that is ostensibly a prank. The phenomenon is not unknown in North Fulton. Roswell police fell victim to the scam in April of 2013. In that incident, an 11-year-old girl was allegedly chatting online when she said she was going to kill herself. The person she was allegedly chatting with informed police who rushed to her home to find her sound asleep in her bed. The initial call turned out to be fake.
See HOAX, Page 24
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