One year has passed since Memorial Middle School shooting

A year has passed since the day Thomas Gregory White, 13, took an assault rifle to Memorial Middle School in Joplin, shot one round into the ceiling, then aimed the gun at Principal Steven Gilbreth.
Fortunately, the gun jammed, according to law enforcement officials. Currently, White's case has been sent to the Missouri Supreme Court to determine if it should be returned to juvenile court. Meanwhile, as an article by Jeff Lehr in today's Joplin Globe notes, White remains in jail as his classmates have gone on to eighth grade without him:

The boy, who was certified in December to stand trial as an adult on multiple charges, currently has no trial or hearing dates scheduled in Jasper County Circuit Court.

That’s because White’s public defenders last month filed petitions with the Missouri Supreme Court seeking either a writ prohibiting the local court from trying him as an adult or a writ remanding the case to juvenile court for a second certification hearing.

“Right now, we’re just kind of in a waiting game,” Brett Meeker, one of his public defenders, told the Globe on Monday.

Local proceedings are awaiting the decision of the state’s high court. Meeker said there is no scheduled date for that decision. The high court could ask to hear oral arguments, or it could issue a decision within a matter of days based on written arguments submitted by the defense and the Jasper County prosecutor’s office.

The prosecutor’s office has said repeatedly that it is prepared to go to trial. But White’s parents and his public defenders do not want the boy tried as an adult.

Meeker said the boy’s attorneys are hoping for an expeditious resolution out of concern for his educational development and his separation from his family. But if his case were to be adjudicated in juvenile court, the charges would not become part of a permanent criminal record. If he is convicted as an adult, they would.

In another article in today's edition, reporter Joe Hadsall interviews Gilbreth about the shooting:

He dashed toward the sound and found himself looking at the barrel of an assault rifle allegedly held by a 13-year-old student.

Gilbreth escorted the student outside, even as the boy allegedly pulled the trigger of his jammed rifle repeatedly. Moments later, Thomas Gregory White was taken into custody just south of the school. He remains in jail awaiting trial.

“I don’t ever stop and think about it, because I don’t want to dwell on it,” Gilbreth said. “But I’d do it again.”