Principal Put On Leave For Not Reporting Student Who Wrote 'Death Notebook' Targeting Classmates

A high school principal in Trussville, Alabama, has been placed on leave after he failed to report a student who wrote an anime-inspired "death notebook," targetting 37 classmates he allegedly planned to kill.

The now furloughed principal of Hewitt-Trussville High School, Tim Salem, was reportedly aware of the disturbing notebook after it was discovered in 2021. However, the police and the school resource officers came to know about it only last week while investigating another incident involving the same student, as per the NYPost.

The ordeal came to light after an investigation began when the unidentified student reportedly made a verbal threat against an unnamed individual on Sept. 16. The police then determined that the principal, a teacher, and a counselor at school were all aware of the "death notebook" written by the same student in which he allegedly listed the names of 37 classmates and included ways for murdering them.

"The notebook was based on the Netflix series "Death Note" where a person can imagine someone's death and supernaturally make it happen – for example, the person in the notebook might be eaten by ants, hit by a bus, hit by a ladder, drowning, etc," Trussville City Schools Superintendent Pattie Neill said in a statement.

However, the book in question was confiscated and the ordeal was reportedly dismissed "as a fantasy" after it was discovered in October 2021. Salem did not report the incident to the officials nearly for a year.

"It was determined at that time by the principal and counselor and based on the information available that the notebook was fantasy and no further action was necessary other than confiscate the book and monitor the behavior of the student," Neil added.

Salem was placed on administrative leave Tuesday after the parents, furious about the incident, accused the school of putting their kids' lives at risk by not taking adequate steps to handle the ordeal.

Meanwhile, Salem admitted that he had made a mistake by not involving the school resource officer in conducting a threat assessment after the incident, Local Today reported.

According to Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat, the same student has made threatening remarks "at least 30 different times" at school. After the latest threat, the student involved was suspended and is currently undergoing counseling. The investigators who searched his residence could not find anything except his father's handgun, reports said.