A little less than two years ago, four students from Osmond High School came to town to spend time with some of Nebraska's brightest students. However, they fired a pellet gun in the room breaking the sprinkler an
CORY MATTESON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Friday, March 7, 2008 6:00 pm
A note to the hundreds of Nebraska students in town this weekend:
Maybe you or your team won Friday, drained a crucial open shot and sported your school hoodie downtown while the losers hurriedly packed theirs away.
Or maybe you lost after a night of airballs and passes that hit more band instruments than teammates.
Whatever happened: Don’t take it out on the hotel sprinklers.
You could be looking at a $20,000 lawsuit.
A little less than two years ago, four students from Osmond High School came to town to spend time with some of Nebraska’s brightest students.
They were here for the state’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America leadership conference.
And, according to a lawsuit filed Feb. 29 in Lancaster County District Court by the Cornhusker Marriott, at least one came armed — with a pellet gun.
The four, their parents and their school district would all later be accused of being responsible for thousands in water damage.
The Lincoln police report from April 10, 2006, states a pellet from an air soft gun hit a fire sprinkler in Room 730, apparently jarring it loose.
Twenty thousand gallons of water later, the room was soaked.
So too were rooms below 730, as well as the Terrace Grill. The damage, according to the lawsuit cost $20,282 to clean up.
The lawsuit names the former students — Matthew Gerdes, Brady Ketelson, Craig Koehler and Mitchell Schultze — but does not accuse anyone specifically of firing the offending pellet.
And even though police responded, no tickets were issued. The incident was forwarded to the county attorney’s office, but no charges were filed.
Attorneys for the hotel declined comment. Osmond Public Schools superintendent Steve Rinehart said he received a summons, and forwarded it to the school’s insurance company.
“My knowledge of the whole case is very limited,” said Rinehart, who became superintendent earlier this year.
A parent of one of the students said he hadn’t received a summons yet, and believed the school was taking care of the matter.
Reach Cory Matteson at 473-2655 or cmatteson@journalstar.com.