School district responds to Buhach Colony fake shooting video

The Merced Union High School District’s administration responded Thursday to a YouTube video created by Buhach Colony High staff members that simulates a school shooting, the first reaction from district officials since the controversial video surfaced earlier this week.

Superintendent Scott Scambray declined comment Wednesday during a MUHSD board of trustees meeting, but said the district would issue an official statement Thursday.

Shortly after 3:30 p.m. Thursday, the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources, Stacy McAfee, released the following statement:

“Merced Union High School district immediately addressed the release of the school rivalry video posted by Buhach Colony and had it removed from the media site. We apologize for the impact the video has had on the community and want to ensure everyone that the district does not support or endorse school violence. The issue is being addressed through the personnel office.”

The video in question shows a group of Buhach Colony administrators, including Principal Steve Hobbs, engaged in a pretend battle with a group of students from rival Atwater High School. The administrators are wearing superhero costumes during the 2-minute “battle.”

The video ends with a campus security officer, Kathy Cometta, rolling up in a golf cart with a large toy gun. She feigns opening fire on the Atwater High students as a machine gun sound effect is heard.

The students fall to the ground, pretending to die. Cometta is then seen pretending to blow smoke from the gun’s tip.

The video was publicly condemned by multiple MUHSD trustees, including acting president Dave Honey, who called it “a big mistake.”

Officials said administrators in the video – ranging from teachers to administration employees and the principal – met with personnel officials Thursday. It’s unclear if any disciplinary measures were taken.

Trustee Ida Johnson said Buhach Colony administrators broke an MUHSD school board policy by bringing a fake gun on campus. “They did not follow policy because our policies state that they are not to have any weapons on campus, even fake ones,” she said.

Another trustee, Dora Crane, said she’s confident the incident with the rivalry week video will lead to some district policy changes. She confirmed personnel met with administrators Thursday.

“I’m confident they are making the corrections needed to make sure nothing like this happens again,” Crane said. “I want to assure parents that we are working on it, not just at the site level but at the district level. We need to make our apologies, we need to take care of it internally, look at our policies and then move forward.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2014 at 8:57 PM with the headline "School district responds to Buhach Colony fake shooting video."