[9/12/03] Mississippi may want to rethink its law that allows people up to age 21 to remain in high school in light of two crimes this school year at Vicksburg High School, said Vicksburg Police Chief Tommy Moffett.

Moffett made the comment in an address to the Vicksburg Rotary Club Thursday. He said he had planned to talk about the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, but his mind was changed by the shooting near Memorial Stadium Wednesday afternoon that left a former student dead and a current student jailed on capital murder charges.

“What … I say here may not ring popular, but it is actually from the heart,” said Moffett, who took the chief’s position in October 2001.

“We had, basically, two lives lost, the young man who took the life and the young man who lost his life,” he said.

Moffett also referred to a bomb threat at Vicksburg High last month that delayed the start of school.

A 20-year-old ninth-grader was charged in that case.

In Wednesday’s shooting, both of the young men were 20. The student was in the 11th grade.

“Legislation exists that gives everybody an opportunity to get a high school education,” Moffett said. “I feel we need to take another look at that.”

He said the present law that says a person must be in school until he or she completes high school or until age 21 allows 20-year-olds to be in classes with youngsters who are much younger.

“The disruption, simply by the influence based on the age difference and the maturity based on the age difference, I personally think that should be considered,” Moffett said.

He also said there was an unspecified incident at a junior high school involving people who were 17 or 18 and some who were 14 or 15.

After the meeting, Moffett said the Vicksburg Police Department and the Vicksburg Warren School District will meet to decide what, if any, security changes will be made at the school.

He said some initial changes were made for Thursday, but he declined to identify them.

“I prefer to keep those under my hat,” he said.