Irate camp counselor fires gun near school bus, police say

BY MARCELLE HANEMANN
The Daily News
Published/Last Modified on Friday, June 5, 2009 2:06 PM CDT


A summer camp counselor got upset, retrieved a gun and fired it off in the vicinity of a bus full of young campers in the Bogalusa High School parking lot Wednesday afternoon, according to the Bogalusa Police Department.

The incident occurred just after 4 p.m., said BPD Capt. Joe Culpepper. No one was hurt.

“I don’t think he aimed at the kids,” said Culpepper.

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Police arrested 18-year-old Joseph O’Berry, 324 Caswell Ave., and charged him with dangerous use of a weapon, a felony.

Police said O’Berry was a camp counselor for Camp Te Ca Towazi, the local chapter of Camp Fire USA, a nationwide organization that provides summer activities for boys and girls.

He was booked into the Bogalusa City Jail, and transferred to the Washington Parish Jail Friday for bonding.

Culpepper said it appeared the counselor had “gone crazy” while on the bus.

According to the police report, O’Berry said the people on the bus were “messing with him and he busted a cap,” said Culpepper.

“We received numerous calls that a shot or shots were fired,” he said. “Responding officers found a bus full of about 40 Camp Fire kids. A counselor had gone crazy, gone to his vehicle, returned with a weapon and fired a shot. He was mad for unknown reasons.”

The weapon, a handgun, was recovered, said Culpepper.

Camp Fire USA Towazi Council is currently under reorganization after the director resigned several weeks ago, camp officials have said. While the camp is ongoing this summer, the telephone number has been disconnected. An attempt to contact Board Member Leland White, whose number is listed for camp information, was unsuccessful as of deadline time.

Copyright © 2010 Daily News

Comments

    OC2LA wrote on Jun 16, 2009 2:12 PM:

    " FYI ....I highly doubt the running of a story about a man losing it with a gun around children has anything to do with any "ex director." Really, what kind of logic is that? Campfire has done damage to itself and the crediblity of the organization every step of the way with this "reorganization", mud flinging tactics, and now this. Obviously when children are endangered in this manner, it's newsworthy! Handle it like professionals, which you are not doing. Sounds like Campfire is chaos right now, Time to promote a safe and unified front! "

    MSman wrote on Jun 11, 2009 12:50 PM:

    " It should be common practice to FINGERPRINT people who work with children. A background can be done, but if the person doesn't share honestly, bad stuff can go undiscovered.

    Surely, someone knew this guy had a past. If he has been arrested so many times in past months, no one knew it?

    Could it be that there was a cover-up since he has a relative on the police force?

    Thanks to the mother for her sincere apology. You wrote on this forum with heartfelt remorse. Please get counseling for you and your family in this tragedy. "

    for curious wrote on Jun 10, 2009 4:07 PM:

    " I'm not defensive in the least. I'm simply stating a fact. Instead of the DN printing online stories they should have just contacted the board and taken care of it instead of dragging everything out. Our community already has lots of gossip and lots of negativity. We certainly don't need anymore. I understand there isn't a lot of news to report here but print the story and print the follow up, don't keep posting about it daily. Get it right. "

    curious07 wrote on Jun 10, 2009 11:51 AM:

    " FYI - Why are you so defensive? Show a little emphathy for the kids who were on the bus! They were scared! Yes, it is over and done, but CampFire should be ashamed of themselves for not checking into the history of these volunteers! Shame on you CampFire! The Daily News is doing follow-up because they are as concerned as we are about why this happened. Yes people, get you kids involved, but involve them with a reputable organization concerned about their safety! "

    FYI wrote on Jun 10, 2009 7:03 AM:

    " cont. from below..that they have have to keep bringing this story up. They must not have anything else to print. Or maybe they want the focus off of the Mayor for this week. I can list some story follow ups that are a lot more important than this if you need some pointers. Everyone complains that our kids never have anything to do and if you look around, this summer there are things everywhere for them to do. Quit complaining and get your children involved, they will love it. "

    FYI wrote on Jun 10, 2009 7:01 AM:

    " For HeartsBeat-if you're in NC, why would your child have been on the bus in the 1st place here in La?

    Second, a person can check out with a background check and everything can be fine. You can't control everyone, each person has free will over their own life and choices they make in it.

    Again I say why does everyone keep on harping on this? It's now over and done with. Could it be the "ex" directors stirring it up? The camp is running great and...... "

    HartBeats45 wrote on Jun 9, 2009 8:17 AM:

    " response to Babalu, This has nothing to do with taking a chance on someone. It is about properly conducting at least a local background check on those that you hire/select to work for you. Here in NC you can't even volunteer at the local schools without being checked. And for this young man to have had as many issues as he did and to be given the title of camp counselor is out of control and irresponsible on the camp's part! Thankfully my child was not on the bus. The camp would hear from me. "

    Atheist wrote on Jun 8, 2009 10:16 PM:

    " Of course nobody in Bogalusa heard of background checks. They just hire their relatives. "

    response to Babalu wrote on Jun 8, 2009 4:30 PM:

    " While I realize that this person had some serious "issues" to say the least, please don't assume that he was a JTPA worker. I am a former JTPA worker (for 5 summers through high school and college), and not only did I work hard at my jobs each summer, I also had the utmost respect for other people, and my employers while working for them. I now have a college degree, and a good paying job. I appreciate that JTPA took a chance on me, when other places here in town only hired relatives, or friends. :) "

    What the Heck wrote on Jun 8, 2009 11:21 AM:

    " I have to agree with the others, why is he even a counselor? Where is the background check? If he is the same 18 yr old Joseph O'Berry, that set fire back in Feb 09 to La Tech College, he should have been getting help! Now it is too late for the insanity plea which is what the "Mother" is planting. He has anger management & behavioral issues that jail time will help him work on. What if he would have killed someone in the woods/appartment? Don’t know the ages of the kid, but how will this impact them? Sad "

    Babalu wrote on Jun 7, 2009 2:11 PM:

    " Sometimes you can't make this stuff up. I guarantee that this was a JTPA job or somebody knew somebody to get this nut case a job with children. I would want answers from the local level all the way up to the national level as to how and why thiis occured. Ever heard of background checks and references, If he got the job over someone else, I would really hate to see their application. I guess he was absent the day the camp went over responsiblity, character and conflict resolution. "

    Admin wrote on Jun 5, 2009 4:34 PM:

    " To see previous comments click here:
    http://gobogalusa.com/articles/2009/06/04/news/breaking_news/doc4a284bf171212015965920.txt "

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