Incident at Baker High raises questions about school security and suspect
By Joe Hathaway on Friday, April 26th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY – A concerning incident involving a man with a long history of mental illness walking into Baker High School is raising concerns about school security and the potential threat of the man involved.
Baker City Police and Baker High officials say 20-year-old Joshua Fulfer walked into Baker High School after the school’s lunch hour on Thursday, April 25. Police say Fulfer walked into the commons area and began picking up and slamming down chairs and yelling
A couple teachers confronted Fulfer, who then ran out of the school yelling threats to teachers before finally being subdued and taken into custody by the high school’s School Resource Officer.
Baker School District spokesperson Lindsey Bennington-McDowell says Fulfer was unarmed and is known to school staff.
Baker High Principal Skye Flanagan sent a message to parents that said, in part, “We are thankful for quick intervention and the help of our School Resource Officer to keep everyone safe during the incident.” Flanagan says school continued normally after the incident.
Baker City Police Chief Ty Duby says Fulfer is also well known to police, having been arrested multiple times, including just two days prior on April 23 for a criminal trespassing charge.
Duby says Fulfer entered the school’s front doors, which are kept unlocked most of the day and especially during lunch hour as Baker High has an open campus, which means students are allowed to come and go as they please. Several Elkhorn Media Group followers and listeners expressed concerns about the high school’s unlocked doors, which is different from other schools in Baker City such as Brooklyn Primary or South Baker Intermediate, which have locked doors all day long.
“Things are supposed to be pretty secure when it’s not the lunch hour and I don’t think that’s the case,” said Chief Duby. “I think doors get propped open all the time and it’s a different animal at lunch time. My school resource officer says it’s a free for all.”
In a statement to Elkhorn Media Group about security concerns at Baker High, Bennington-McDowell wrote:
“The high school is set for security upgrades this summer as part of both our bond projects and other district capital investment. We will be reworking the front entry vestibule to be set up where you will be able to enter the first set of doors and then be buzzed through the second set. We have addressed and improved having the remaining doors at the high school locked, as that hasn’t always been past practice. We are also in the process of installing an upgraded camera system throughout the school, as well as vape detectors in the bathrooms; and those items will likely be completed prior to the end of this school year. Our School Resource Officer, Officer Parsons, also helps us keep the building safe.
Student safety is certainly a priority in the district, and we look forward to being on the other side of this current security work very soon.”
Chief Duby says he knows the school has gotten pushback from parents and students when discussing possibly closing campus during lunch.
“I’m sure they hear all the time, Baker’s always been an open campus, high schooler’s deserve some freedom and they love it,” Duby said. “It’s definitely a big topic.”
Joshua Fulfer was arrested for Disorderly Conduct for the incident at the high school. He was taken to the Baker County Jail where he was booked, then released to his mother.
Duby says police have had run-ins with Fulfer off and on for years.
“We’ve arrested him numerous times. We’ve had discussions about whether he’s mentally competent enough to know what he’s doing,” said Duby “He’s tried to assault my officers before and we take him to jail, but he’s usually released quickly like he was today.”
Duby says it’s frustrating because he says Fulfer had received professional help in the past but the same issues keep coming up with him.
“He keeps getting released and it makes me concerned for public safety. One day he may walk into someone’s house without permission and get shot.”
