Flemington, NJ- A
Hunterdon Central
student held a teacher
and a fellow student at
knifepoint in a tutorial
room after school for
about 10 minutes
yesterday over a grade
that caused a loss of
scholarship for the
student.
School officials
said senior Jon P. Jung
took teacher, Victor
Milczek, and fellow
student, Lissa Smyth,
hostage around 2:30
pm. The situation was
later resolved by the
Raritan Police
Department lasting only
a few minutes with no
major injuries
reported.
Both hostages
were taken to Hunterdon
Medical Center and
treated for trauma after
their release.
Vice Principal
Evan Gsell noted school
would be in session
tomorrow. “Although it
was an unfortunate
event,” he said,
"Hunterdon Central is
still as safe as any other
school.”
Vice Principal
Gsell also said that the
school’s security board
would meet to discuss
if any changes if
necessary would be
made to the security
policy, however he was
confident that this was
an isolated event and
that the campus is still
safe.
Police Chief
Paddy O’Hara was the
officer in charge. “The
whole situation was
resolved rather quickly”
he said. Students were
evacuated immediately
after a parent notified
school officials of a
ruckus in the 700s wing.
School officials
released information
regarding his motive
saying that a low grade
on a chemistry final
exam caused John to
lose a lacrosse
scholarship to Johns
Hopkins University.
His anger was then
directed at teacher
Victor Milczek.
Kirstover Favre
was the expert
negotiator on hand. “We
communicated using the
school intercom system.
After a few minutes, we
were able to calm Jon
down and have him
surrender”.
Victor Milczek
never expected a
reaction like this from
Jon. “I’ve never been
threatened by a
student at Central” he
said. “Everything
happened so quickly”.
Mr. Milczek said he
will not teach today
and decided to
consider his return to
teaching considering
retirement options.
The other
student held hostage
was Lissa Smyth, a
peer of John. “I was
familiar with him but
not closely related” she
said. “He was always a
hot head”. Lissa did
not comment on
whether she would be
in school today. School
officials said John
never had a history of
violent disciplinary
action.
The parent who
alerted the school
officials of the incident
was Siobhan MeNann.
She was registering he
child for the upcoming
fall semester. She told
reporters that she will
still be enrolling her
child. She noted that
she talked with her
husband and child and
they still believe that
Hunterdon Central is a
very safe school
referring to their
original reason for
enrollment.
The student will
have a court session
next week where he
will be arraigned in
front of the honorable
Judge Karl Ngu. The
prosecutor will be
assistant D.A. Mathew
Barnes. Police officials
said John would be
charged with assault
with a deadly weapon
and reckless
endangerment which
could carry a 10 year
sentence.