Violence in Our Schools

August 1, 2002 through July 31, 2003

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To report a threat of school violence before the instigator has a chance to act on his/her intentions, please contact Speak Up at 1-866-SPEAKUP (that is 1-866-773-2587)

I would like to thank all of the Survivors and others who have contacted me with information about school violence.  I really do appreciate the help, for without their help, several of these occurrences would not be here.

One other thing I would like to ask of those who read over this list of tragedies is this: If you can provide me with any more details of any of these incidents, I would greatly appreciate the information. Or, if you know of another violent act at a school that is not on this list, please forward that information to me as well.  The link to my e-mail is above.

Muree Christian School, Muree Hills, Pakistan

Monday, August 5, 2002

Six people were killed and two were wounded when four masked gunmen stormed the Murree Christian School today.  The school is located 35 miles north of Islamabad.  Those who were killed included two security guards, a receptionist, a cook, a carpenter and a bystander.  None of the 150 students or staff members were injured.  Guards exchanged gunfire with the five attackers before they fled on motorcycles.

Neung  Dong Church Elementary School, Seoul, South Korea

Wednesday, September 4, 2002

Last night, a 53-year-old man with mental illness, identified only as Hwang, heard voices.  They told him he would be killed unless he killed others.  Today, Hwang responded to those voices by attacking the children at the Neung Dong Church school.  Wielding two knives, Hwang yelled threats at the students as they ate lunch in the school's canteen before he started slashing them.  Nine students were wounded, some stabbed several times and most suffered facial wounds.  Bang Eun-kyung, 36, walked into the canteen and she cried out to Hwang, "Take me instead, you lunatic!"  A church official called police and they were able to subdue Hwang with tear gas.  The school is located in the Gwangjin district of Seoul.

Source: BBC News - South Korean Children Knifed

Karns High School, Knoxville, Tennessee

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

Just before 4 p.m., a school bus made its routine stop at the corner of Woodsmith and Ellesmere.  A 14-year-old girl got off the bus, threw down her backpack and got back on the bus with a wooden handled steak knife in her hand.  She approached another girl, but the girl's sister moved in between the two and was stabbed in the head and chest by the knife-wielding girl.  Many students exited the bus from the emergency exit to get away from the knife-wielding girl.  The young instigator fled the scene and ran to her home.  The wounded girl was treated at Children's Hospital.  Deputies arrived at the home of the knife-wielding girl, took her into custody and charged her with aggravated assault.

Source: WATE Channel 6 - Karns High School Student Stabbed on Bus

An Islamic School for Girls in Lahore, Pakistan

Friday, October 4, 2002

The second act of school violence in Pakistan took place in Lahore today as gunmen fired on a girls school.  One student was injured in this attack.

Source: CBC News - Gunmen Fire on Girls School in Pakistan

Page Middle School, San Antonio, Texas

Friday, October 4, 2002

Around 8:15 a.m., before the ringing of the morning bell, eighth grader and 13-year-old Elizabeth Rangel beckoned several classmates to her between two cars in the teacher's parking lot.  She gave them her personal belongings, including her jacket and ring.  Then she pulled out a 9mm handgun.  Most of Elizabeth's friends were startled and ran away, as Elizabeth fired one shot into her left temple.  Saturday morning, at 3:59 a.m., Elizabeth was pronounced dead at Wilford Hall Medical Center.

Benjamin Tasker Middle School, Bowie, Maryland

Monday, October 7, 2002

Following the sniper shootings of seven other (adult) individuals in the Prince George's County, six of whom died, starting the previous Wednesday, a sniper shot and critically wounded Iran Brown, 13, in the chest this morning just after his aunt dropped him off for school.  His aunt heard the gunshot, and saw her nephew fall to the ground.  She rushed Iran to Bowie Health Center and he was later transported to Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C.  John Allen Muhammad, 43, and John Lee Malvo, 17, were arrested as they slept in their car on Thursday, October 24 for the sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C. area.

A Koranic (High) School in the Chlef Region of Algeria

Tuesday, October 15, 2002

Muslim fundamentalists raided a Koranic school today and forced 14 students to line up against a wall.  The Muslims then opened fire, killing 13 of the future imams.  All of the students were between 14- and 20-years-old.  The last one was seriously wounded and was able to flee.  The Algerian government blamed this violent act on the hard-line Armed Islamic Group.

Source: BBC News - Algerian Islamic Students Shot Dead

Friedensschule (Peace School), Waiblingen, Germany

Friday, October 18, 2002

A teenager boy wielding a pistol and wearing a bullet proof vest seized four sixth-graders and held them hostage for nearly seven hours this afternoon.  The 16-year-old, identified only as Marcel, walked in and sat down in a second-floor computer room around 2:30 p.m. of Friedensschule and moments later he stood up and pulled out the pistol.  He warned the students to remain calm and then gave a mobile phone number to a teacher.  Marcel sent her and all but the four sixth-graders out of the room, making them close the curtains before calling police.  Around 7:30 p.m. he released one hostage in exchange for a pizza.  He released another sixth-grader for a cell phone and a chance to call someone.  Marcel told police, via cell phone, that he wanted 1 million euros and a getaway car.  After he let the remaining two hostages go, he was arrested, about 9:20 p.m. After his arrest, police said the weapon was an air pistol.  Waiblingen is near Stuttgart.

Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Monday, October 21, 2002

At 11:20 this morning, Huan Yun Xiang, 36, walked up to the sixth floor of the Menzies building on the Clayton campus of Monash University with four pistols and a knife strapped to his body.  Monash University is a huge college with over 50,000 students.  For foreign students, failing a course can result in deportation.  Huan, from China, is a well known fourth year honors politics student but had trouble learning the English language.  Even though Huan hadn't mastered English he still would have had to pay his accrued university fees and there are few job prospects for Asian workers with poor English language skills.  Huan's way out of this predicament was to bring violence to his alma mater.  He opened fired inside an economics tutorial classroom, killing Steven Chan and William Wu, two of his fellow classmates.  His bullets also struck Laurie Brown in her stomach and leg, Lee Gordon-Brown (a Monash lecturer) in the arm and knee, Leigh Huynh in her leg, Daniel Urbach in his shoulder and hand and Christine Young in the face.  He was tackled by students and was arrested by police when they arrived. 

THOSE WHO DIED:

THE INJURED:

A High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Wednesday, October 23, 2002

This morning as students arrived for class, a mother, 36, used a butcher knife to stab two random female students.  The students were injured in this rare parental attack.

Source: National School Safety and Security Services web site

University of Arizona College of Nursing, Tucson, Arizona

Monday, October 28, 2002

One week later there was another shooting at a university, this time in America.  41-year-old Gulf War veteran Robert Stewart Flores Jr. walked into Professor Robin Rogers office on the second  floor of the nursing school building this morning and killed her with one of five handguns he was carrying.  Robert then went up to the fourth floor and entered a classroom at 8:40 a.m. while the class was taking a critical care exam.  Students initially believed he was just late, but Robert started talking to the professor, Cheryl McGaffic, telling her "he was going to give her a lesson in spirituality" before firing two rounds into her chest. He stood directly over her as he shot her in the head. Cheryl was an ethics teacher who studied the relationship between health and spiritually in seriously ill patients.  Robert then turned to Barbara Monroe, another instructor in the classroom.  He asked her if she was ready to meet her maker.  She said yes and then he shot her three times.  Robert had failed a pediatric nursing class and was struggling in a critical care class.  Fellow students said he came across very aggressive with a lot of issues with being angry.

THOSE WHO DIED:

Lincoln High School, Jersey City, New Jersey

Tuesday, October 29, 2002

Shortly after classes began, about 8:30 a.m., a 15-year-old male student was shot one time in the abdomen and wounded inside Lincoln High today by a 15-year-old male classmate who was showing him a .380-caliber handgun when it fired.  The shooter left the scene, a basement hallway, but was found hiding in a locker 20 minutes later.  He was arrested and charged with attempted murder and various other accounts.  The motive is being investigated, however some students said that it involved a girl.  While police characterized the shooting as a dispute between the teens, Superintendent of Schools Charles Epps Jr. said the gun accidentally went off while the shooter was showing it off.  The wounded boy was in stable condition by the end of the day at a local hospital.

Tulsa School of Science and Technology, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Thursday, October 31, 2002

At about 3:00 p.m. this Halloween, a security guard, employed by Pinkerton/Burns Security, fired a shot at 18-year-old Jermaine Cox, a student who had been expelled for improperly touching a female.  The security guard missed and the bullet hit another student as he left the school across the street.  The events started at a nearby convenience store with an altercation by Jermaine who made a threat against  the security guard.  According to the guard, Jermaine reached into his pocket for a weapon and that is when the he fired a shot.  He missed his intended target and hit a 15-year-old male student.  The bullet shattered the student's cell phone in his pocket and that a piece of the phone caused a superficial wound just under his eye.  The wounded student was treated and released from  the hospital.  The Tulsa School of Science and Technology was formerly McLain High School in North Tulsa.

St. James (Elementary) School, Liberty, Missouri

Thursday, November 7, 2002

Mandeep and Jaswinder P. Singh were arguing earlier today.  Jaswinder threatened to kill her and their children. Mandeep had a friend drive her to the school to get the children.  Jaswinder followed, around 12:40 this afternoon, and confronted her outside in the parking lot. As the two adults argued, their 9-year-old son Kawaldeep moved in between them.  Jaswinder, 41, shot and killed his fourth-grade son with a shot to the head and wounded his wife during the shooting.  He fled in his Jeep Cherokee and called a friend saying he shot his wife and son and needed his friend to get his passport and meet him at the Amtrak station so he could leave the country.  His friend called the police and talked Jaswinder into meeting him in front of a bar along Southwest Boulevard.   Jaswinder was arrested 35 minutes later in his Cherokee as he waited for his friend to arrive.

Number 1 High School, Changde, China

Monday, November 11, 2002

With guns being hard to acquire in China, would be instigators must resort to other weapons, including food poisoning.  He Zhaohai and Tang Bixin added a strong rat poison to the breakfasts severed this morning at Number 1 High School in Changde.  The cousins were feuding with the school over a catering contract had hoped to coerce the administration into raising their pay.  193 students and teachers ate the poisoned food and became very sick.  He and Tang were arrested a month later.

Source: The Associated Press - China Arrests Two on Charges They Put Rat Poison in School Food, Sickening 193 Students and Teachers

J. J. Pearce High School, Richardson, Texas

Monday, November 11, 2002

During the school's Veterans Day assembly, a 15-year-old girl was stabbed in the abdomen in an upstairs restroom.  The girl said she was attacked by two other females just before 10:00 a.m.  Police investigated the attack and found inconsistencies throughout the story.  The next day, the girl changed her story, stating she had stabbed herself with  a kitchen knife she brought from home.  The knife went a little deeper than she thought it would.  The girl was upset with her mother, who tells her what to do.  The girl had transferred to J.J. Pearce from a Dallas high school three weeks ago.

Ambler Avenue Elementary School, Los Angeles, California

Thursday, November 14, 2002

Shots originating on the grounds of Ambler Avenue Elementary School wounded a 12-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man across the street this evening.  The shooting took place after 5:00 p.m. while dozens of school children and employees were on the campus for an after-school event.  The boy and the man were wounded in the torso.

Scurry-Rosser High School, Scurry, Texas

Friday, November 15, 2002

Around 8:30 a.m. this morning, 18-year-old Anthony "Tony" Cipriano walked into his former school with a can of gasoline hidden in his backpack and a shotgun.  He went to the office and asked where the former principal was.  The secretary informed Tony that the school has a new principal.  Tony left and started spraying the gasoline all over the halls.  He ordered students into the cafeteria, poured the gasoline around the perimeter (and even splashed some of the students) and attempted to burn the school to the ground.  Principle Richard Sneed intercepted Tony and shoved the gun up into the air.  He then wrestled Tony to the ground, with the help of teachers Dan Taylor and Virgil Crow and two football players, Matt Cooper and Cody Smith.  They held Tony, who weights 300 pounds, there until the police arrived.  When the police arrived, Tony informed them he had left bombs in schools in nearby Crandal and Kaufman.  All three school districts conducted searches, but no bombs were found.  Tony was suspended from the school two years ago by principal Travis Stodghill for stealing a teacher's car.

Casal de l'Angel (Middle School), Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain

Monday, November 18, 2002

An armed man wearing a ski mask charged into the Casal de l'Angel school and held a classroom of 25 preteens and their teacher hostage this afternoon, around 3:00 p.m. GMT.  He was armed with a knife.  The abducted children were 11 and 12 years old.  The motive appeared to be money as he demanded a 1 million euro ($1 million) ransom to help his family out of dire financial straits.  Two hours of this hostage situation passed before the knife wielder released 16 of the children.  An hour later, a policeman dressed up as a pizza delivery man brought in a pizza and overpowered the instigator. Police initially reported the man to be about 25-years-old, but later verified he was only 17.  The instigator was also a former student of Casal de l'Angel who was expelled last year. Hospitalet de Llobregat is an  industrial town south of Barcelona.

Hoover High School, Hoover, Alabama

Tuesday, November 19, 2002

In a feud that had been going on for months, two 17-year-old boys continued to provoke each other today. This morning as classes changed from first period to second period, a fight of words and blows broke out between Rickey Reynolds and Sean Joyner in the hallway.  Rickey pulled out a kitchen knife and stabbed Sean to death.  Rickey was arrested by the school resource officer, but promised to attend anger management classes and was released on bond a short time later.  He didn't follow through on his promise and so he was arrested again, where once again he made the same promise and released to his parents.  On August 5, 2003, Rickey lost a hearing for youthful offender status.  This moved his case into the adult criminal court system.  His first trial, in March 2005, was declared a mistrial by Circuit Judge Mac Parsons when the jury couldn't reach a verdict after one and half days of deliberation.  Rickey's new trial is set for January 23, 2006.  In the new trial, Ricky was convicted of reckless manslaughter.  In February 2006, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Mac Parsons sentenced Ricky to 20 years in prison.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths; NBC 13 - Jury Selection Begins in Hoover High Stabbing Case; The Birmingham News - Ex-student's Retrial in Slaying Postponed; Columbus Ledger-Enquirer - Former Hoover Student Gets 20 Years in Fatal Stabbing

South Oak Cliff High School, Dallas, Texas

Friday, November 22, 2002

Yesterday a 14-year-old boy was involved in a fight.  He came to school today with a gun, whether it be for protection or revenge is unknown.  As the boy was arriving at the school this morning, his opponent from yesterday's fight noticed him.  He went to an assistant principal and told him that the boy might have a gun.  The assistant principal went to talk to the boy, but he fled the school on foot, going along Alaska Avenue.  Several students, including 15-year-old Glynco Clark, pursued the boy and tackled him in front of a house.  As the group held the boy down, he managed to fire off five shots.  One of the bullets lodged just behind Glynco's heart.  He was taken to the hospital where doctors said it was a miracle the bullet didn't penetrate the heart.  The young shooter was arrested by the police.  Also today, at Roosevelt High School in Dallas, a 16-year-old male student was walking home when someone in a car shot at him as it drove past.  He wasn't injured and ran back to the school.  Both of these incidents happened off campus, however, since the South Oak Cliff incident began on campus and moved off campus, I am counting that in my stats.  I added the Roosevelt information to show that more than one school in a town can be affected by school violence on the same day.

Source: Dallas Morning News - South Oak Cliff Student Wounded

A Kindergarten in Wuchuan City, Guangdong, China

Monday, November 25, 2002

Just over a month ago, Huang Hu opened up a kindergarten for the people of Wuchuan City.  Unfortunately, his business soon failed due to bad management.  Huang, 29, blamed his failure on a rival kindergarten.  Last night (Sunday, November 24), Huang sneaked into his rival's kitchen and placed Dushuqiang, a highly toxic rat poison, in the table salt.  This morning, cooks used that same table salt to cook porridge for breakfast.  Two kindergarten teachers and 70 children fell seriously ill from eating the infected porridge.  They were rushed to the hospital and treated. Huang was arrested and sentenced to death on December 17, 2002.  Just seventeen days later, on January 3, 2003, Huang was executed in Zhanjiang City, south of the Guangdong Province.

Source: China.org.cn - Kindergarten Poisoning Perpetrator Executed

Osborn High School, Detroit, Michigan

Monday, December 2, 2002

At 9:45 a.m. this morning, a 15-year-old male student bent over to pick up a pencil in his English class when his 9mm handgun fell out of his pocket and shot a bullet into his left thigh.  He managed to sneak the gun into the school by entering through an unlocked staff door in the rear of the building.  The main entrance to the school does have metal detectors.  The teen told police he brought the gun to school because he was being harassed and threatened by a group of students.

Chingford Foundation (High) School, London, England

Wednesday, December 11, 2002

After a fist fight and a chase across a playing field, 12-year-old Rashid Femi collapsed to the ground. He was taken to the hospital and died on arrival.  The boy he was fighting with was devastated over Rashid's death.  Rashid had a hole in his heart corrected via surgery in February 1995 and a leaky heart valve fixed in April 1999.  Doctors said the 12-year-old died of natural causes.  On a brighter note, Chingford Foundation was where soccer great David Beckham once roamed the halls as a pupil.

Source: BBC News - Boy Dies After "School Row"; BBC News - "Row" Boy Died of Heart Failure

Wind River Middle School, Carson, Washington

Thursday, December 12, 2002

Two students were injured today at 4:40 p.m. by flying glass when 13-year-old Tony Fiske fired one shot from a rifle into a gym window.  Tony then committed suicide.  His body was found later today in a wooded area across the road from Wind River Middle School.  

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

A High School in Tapton, South Yorkshire, England

Friday, December 13, 2002

Unfortunately, Friday the 13th ends up being a bad day for somebody somewhere.  Today it was two students and a deputy headmaster at this school in Tapton.  A gang of three boys, who did not attend classes at the school, grabbed two students around the throat and robbed them during lunchtime.  The deputy head of the school quickly intervened, but needed hospital treatment after being punched and kicked by the  trio.  The trio, all about 15 years of age, stole a wallet and cash before fleeing the scene.

Source: BBC News - Headmaster "Outraged" at School Attack

Englewood Technical Preparatory Academy (High School), Chicago, Illinois

Monday, December 16, 2002

Basketball team captain and star player Maurice Davis was shot and killed today as he tried to protect his sister from two other male students.  Maurice was 18 and is sister was 17-years-old.  She was wounded in the leg.  According to reports, the sister and the shooter had fought earlier today inside the school. This shooting occurred around 3 p.m. this day in the Windy City.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

A Jewish Seminary in Otniel, Isreal

Friday, December 27, 2002

Two Palestinian gunmen entered the dining hall of the Jewish seminary in Otniel and opened fire.  They killed three people and wounded eight others.  Security forces arrived in a timely fashion and killed one of the gunmen before gaining control of the school.  Otniel is south of Hebron.  The attack is believed to be in response to yesterday's raids on Palestinians by the Israelis in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that killed eight people.

Source: CBC News - Settlement Attack Kills Three Israelis

Montezuma Elementary School, Los Lunas, New Mexico

Friday, January 17, 2003

A 20-year-old custodian worker used a blunt object, and deadly force, to end the life of 28-year-old occupational therapist Carolyn Rustvold today.  Carolyn was locked out of her classroom in a portable building when she was attacked by the custodian.  She taught motor skills to developmentally challenged children at the school. Her husband reported her missing this evening at 11:30.  Her body was found ten miles away near Belen, New Mexico on March 10, 2003.  The custodian worker was charged with an open count of murder and tampering with evidence.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths; National School Safety and Security Services web site

Mango Elementary School, Fontana, California

Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Around 7 a.m. this morning, a teacher found 50-year-old school district maintenance worker Daniel Moore hanging from a gazebo at the school.  Daniel had recently been accused of child molestation.  No students saw the crime scene.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

A Middle School in Olive Hill, Kentucky

Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Also today, a hostage situation developed in the Bluegrass State.  A 12-year-old boy used a small handgun to peacefully leave his second floor classroom.  He walked into another classroom and asked for a male classmate, also 12, to join him in the hallway.  The instigator led his hostage at gunpoint into the hallway and held him there until the school's resource officer arrived and intervened.

Source: National School Safety and Security Services web site

A High School in Providence, Rhode Island

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

A senior in his last semester of school fired a .22-caliber gun into the cafeteria's ceiling after an assistant principal broke up a fight.  The 12-grader was arrested and no one was injured.

Source: National School Safety and Security Services web site

A High School in East St. Louis, Illinois

Tuesday, January 28, 2003

While fighting with two other girls in a school hallway, a 14-year-old female was cut twice on the side of her face.

Source: National School Safety and Security Services web site

A Middle School in St. Paul, Minnesota

Thursday, January 30, 2003

Today, two male teenagers were taken into custody after they stabbed a 14-year-old in her shoulder.

Source: National School Safety and Security Services web site

A High School in Jenks, Oklahoma

Thursday, January 30, 2003

Also today, a male student, 17, climbed to the roof of his school and threatened to kill himself with a .9mm semiautomatic handgun.  The assistant principal joined him on the roof and the boy eventually surrendered to police.

Source: National School Safety and Security Services web site

Kingsland (High) School, Hackney, England

Monday, February 3, 2003

Police and paramedics were called to Kingsland School today to save the life of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed, kicked and punched by several of his classmates.  The boy was transported to the Royal London Hospital where the paramedics said he was in serious but stable condition.  The police charged three 15-year-olds and three 14-year-olds with violent disorder and public order offences.  One of the 15-year-olds was also charged with causing grievous bodily harm.  All six of the juvenile delinquents are scheduled to appear before a Thames Youth court on February 11.

Source: BBC News - Six Charged Over School Stabbing

A High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Monday, February 3, 2003

Around 9:30 a.m. this morning, a fight broke out in a hallway on the third floor of the school today.  When the fight was over, six students had cuts on their hands and face from a box cutter.  One female student that was injured required 58 stitches.

Source: National School Safety and Security Services web site

Iver C. Ranum High School, Westminster, Colorado

Wednesday, February 5, 2003

Two students began arguing this morning at 8:40 a.m. in one of Ranum's second-floor hallways.  One of the students was a 14-year-old ninth-grade male student carrying a small semi-automatic handgun.  The argument spilled outside the building onto the south courtyard.  The boy called his opponent out, and when he did, the instigator opened fire. He fired off at least four shots before fleeing the scene. School Resource Officer Mike Rucker, who heard the shots, chased the teenager for three blocks before catching him in Kiwanis Park.  No injuries were reported in this shooting.

Source: 9News - Shooting outside Ranum High School, school in lockdown; Denver Post - Shots Fired at Ranum High School, no injuries reported; Denver Post - Shots fired outside school

Grover Washington Jr. Middle School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Thursday, February 6, 2003

Forgoing traditional school violence weapons, a 13-year-old seventh grade boy tried to kill his math teacher by pouring cleaning fluid into her fruit juice.  Carol Cook, 43, fell ill immediately and drover herself to a hospital, where she was treated and released.  The boy was suspended and later expelled from the school.  He was charged with attempted murder, assault and recklessly endangering another person.

Source: Yahoo! News - Cops: Student tried to murder teacher

Wilcox Central High School, Camden, Alabama

Monday, February 10, 2003

A 16-year-old female showed her fellow classmates a steak knife this afternoon as they were waiting for the buses to arrive.  She then threatened 16-year-old Ashley Carter and called her vile names.  Ashley did the right thing by walking away from the girl, unfortunately the girl grabbed Ashley and stabbed her six to seven times in the upper body.  Ashley died from her wounds.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

Livingston High School, Livingston, Alabama

Wednesday, March 5, 2003

This morning, two 17-year-old boys were fighting in the cafeteria.  One of them pulled a knife and stabbed his opponent in the chest.  The wounded boy, Sedrick Daniels, was rushed to the hospital where he died.  The instigator fled the school, but was later apprehended and charged with murder.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

Urban Pioneer Experiential Academy (High School), San Francisco, California

Wednesday, March 5, 2003

On February 24, 27 students and six chaperons left the Urban Pioneer Experiential Academy for an 11 day wilderness backpacking trip in Los Padres National Forest.  The school features an entire semester of physical challenges (rock climbing and wilderness excursions) and operates independently from the school district.  The group left the big city behind and went to the Arroyo Seco campsite near Big Spur in Monterey County.   They camped, in three groups of nine students with two chaperons, roughly three miles in to the wilderness.  On Tuesday night, the school chaperons left the students all by themselves as planned.  The solo, and last, night of camping was designed to build character.  The three groups of students were camped about a mile apart with the chaperons camping two miles away up on a hill.  It was a pitch dark moonless night.  A female member of A-Squad was celebrating her birthday with the group when Kyle Matthew Kriss, 19, and Peter Roy Chavez Jr., 18, two males not associated with the school in any way, came by.  A Marine recruiter told the two males they had to get in shape and get the marijuana out of their system.  For several weeks now Kyle and Peter had been coming to Arroyo Seco to get in shape by walking the trails.  Kyle and Peter had a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey with them.  The female birthday girl asked if she could have some of the whiskey.  Kyle and Peter agreed, and not only did the birthday girl take a swig, others in the group did as well.  One of the students pulled out a camera and began taking pictures of themselves with Kyle and Peter as a mini party broke out.  Not all in the group of nine students partook in the whiskey and the mini party.  Sarah DeNicola and two classmates were cautious of the two males and quietly left the group.  The trio went to B-Squad's camp a mile away for help.  By the time Sarah and her friends returned with B-Squad, the mini party had become chaos.  Kyle tried to get fresh with one of the co-eds from A-Squad by patting her bottom.  She punched him and threw a rock at his head.  By now Kyle was drunk and he left the campsite, heading up the trail.  He encountered the B-Squad students and challenged them.  At this time, most of the students began to scatter into the darkness out of fear of Kyle.  However, A-Squad students Mikhail Nikolov and Vladislav Bogomolny, both 17, defended the two outsiders.  Most of the students retreated back to B-Squad's camp to spend the rest of the night.  Mikhail and Vladislav stayed with Kyle and Peter and continued to drink the Jack Daniels.  In the morning, both squads headed up the hill to the counselors campsite.  As they moved up the hill, Sarah found the contents of her backpack inside a plastic bag on the trail.  As she continued along, she saw a backpack on the trail and thought it was hers.  As she inspected it, she realized it was Vladislav's.  The backpack was at the edge of 67-foot cliff.  When she bent down to pick up the backpack, Sarah looked over the edge and saw Vladislav lying at the bottom of the ravine by the river's edge.  She screamed and turned away.  She told her classmates what she had seen and they returned to cliff.  Some of them descended into the ravine and found Mikhail lying underneath Vladislav.  Both of the 17-year-olds had died on impact.  How the two boys fell remains a mystery, and school officials swear the boys had flashlights to navigate in the dark, but police reported the boys only had cigarette lighters to provide illumination.  When the students finally returned to A-Squad's campsite, they found all of their flashlights had been thrown over the bridge near the site. Police began to investigate their deaths to determine if they fell into the ravine, or if they were pushed into it.  A sheriff's deputy pulled over Kyle at 1:50 Wednesday morning outside the campground.  The deputy arrested Kyle for driving under the influence.  Peter wasn't charged.  The authorities held the two men and began to question them about what actually happened at the students camp. On Tuesday, July 1, 2003, the Monterey County district attorney's office filed misdemeanor charges against Kyle and Peter for providing alcohol to a minor.  Kyle and Peter cooperated with the sheriff's office during the course of the investigation. Citing horrible financial record-keeping and lack of accountability for funds, the San Francisco school board voted 4-3 to close Urban Pioneer Experiential Academy on Tuesday, August 26, 2003.  The school year would have began at the school the following week.  On Friday, September 26, 2003, Peter was sentenced to one month in jail while Kyle was sentenced to four months in jail.  The teens were given the option of home confinement and were also placed on three year probation.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle - 2 S.F. Teens Die During School Camp Trip; San Francisco Chronicle - Teens Died on Trip's Unsupervised Final Night; Monterey County Herald - 2 Men Who Gave Teens Alcohol Questioned; San Francisco Chronicle - 2 Charged in Fatal S.F. School Camping Case; San Francisco Chronicle - School Board Revokes S.F. School's Charter; Monterey County Herald - Teens Sentenced in Arroyo Seco Deaths

Britton Middle School, San Francisco, California

Friday, March 7, 2003

After excusing herself from class this morning, a 14-year-old girl went into one of the school's restrooms and hung herself with her shoelaces.  A teaching assistant went looking for the girl and found her.  Notes in her backpack and her diary revealed that the girl was suicidal.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

Clayton Ridge High School, Guttenberg, Iowa

Monday, March 17, 2003

Richard F. Hubbard, 17, walked into Principal James Whalen's office today and thanked his principal for listening to his problems.  Richard also said he'd reached a point where talking would no longer help and pulled out a .22 caliber rifle from underneath his coat and shot himself in the abdomen.  Richard is expected to recover from the self-inflected gunshot wound.

Source: Yahoo News - Iowa teen shoots self in school office

Lauderdale County (Middle) School, Meridian, Mississippi

Friday, March 21, 2003

Joshua Pearce, 15, obtained a handgun from a relative recently and today, he took the gun to school.  Just before classes started, he shot himself to death in a restroom of the technology building.  Police found a suicide note, however, it did not explain why Joshua killed himself.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

Eugene Butler Middle School, Jacksonville, Florida

Friday, March 28, 2003

A 12-year-old girl was late for class today.  As she searched for an administrator to sign her tardy slip, four boys grabbed her and dragged her into the boys restroom.  The four boys, 12- to 14-years-old, then attacked and raped her.  The four boys were arrested and pled guilty to lewd and lascivious behavior.  They were placed in a moderate-risk juvenile facility.

Source: ABC Action News - Mother of Girl Raped in School Bathroom to Sue School Board

Reagan High School, Austin, Texas

Friday, March 28, 2003

With him getting evermore controlling  in their six-month relationship, cheerleader Ortalla Mosley, 15, broke up with her 16-year-old football player boyfriend, Marcus McTear, yesterday.  Today at 4:20 p.m., as classes were wrapping for the day, Marcus began stabbing Ortalla atop a staircase, a staircase in which both fell down and ended up on the first floor in puddles of blood at Reagan High School.  Marcus and Ortalla were taken to Brackenridge Hospital for injuries sustained during the attack where Ortalla was pronounced dead at 5:11 p.m..  Emergency officials said wounds on Marcus appeared to be self-inflicted.  Marcus was charged with first-degree murder.

Source: Fort Worth Star Telegram - Teen charged in girl's slaying at school; Austin American-Statesman - Student killed at Reagan, ex-beau held; Austin American-Statesman - Mother feared her daughter was in danger 

Rolling Hills Middle School, Watsonville, California

Sunday, March 30, 2003

In May 2000, Joseph Raymond Ramirez was involved in a gang-related incident.  He was sent to prison and was out on parole today when he tried to rob two cousins at 6:40 p.m. on the athletic fields at Rolling Hills Middle School.  Joseph, 20, killed Ricardo Marin Guzman, 30, with a gunshot to his head and wounded Armando Tapia Guzman before fleeing the scene.  He fled the state as well and the trail went cold, until December 2004 when the FBI picked it up again.  On Wednesday, March 2, 2005, Joseph was arrested in Denver.  He was charged with murder, attempted murder and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution (not to be confused with lawful flight to avoid prosecution - sorry, just couldn't resist the joke).

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel - Suspected Killer Found in Denver Nearly Two Years After Shootings; CBS 5 - Suspect in 2003 Watsonville Murder Arrested in Colorado

Cardozo Senior High School, Washington, D. C.

Tuesday, April 1, 2003

In one of Cardozo's hallways two students from different "crews" (loosely knit gangs) bumped each other.  Words were exchanged between the two, which led to a fight.  The fight moved to a stairwell where a 15-year-old student shot a 16-year-old student in the left leg with a .22-caliber handgun.  A total of five shots were fired. The shooting occurred at 12:15 p.m.  The 15-year-old ran home after the shooting and then turned himself in to police.  The 16-year-old had just recently returned to Cardozo after a year's absence.  School authorities would not elaborate on the absence.  Cardozo does have metal detectors at it main doors, but not at the other 16 doors into the building.  The struggle and shooting was captured on the school's surveillance system.  Police did not release names in this incident.  On June 4, 2003, D. C. Superior Court Judge Hiram E. Puig-Lugo found the 15-year-old responsible for attempted second-degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and other weapons offenses.  Since he was charged as a juvenile, he could be confined to a juvenile detention center until age 21.  That determination will be made June 19.  The 16-year-old recovered from his wounds.

Source: Washington Post - Shooting in D.C. School Prompts Lockdown; District Schools Assess Door Safety; Washington Post - Student Responsible for School Shooting

Tomaree Education Center at Salamander Bay (High School), Port Stephens, Newcastle, Australia

Thursday, April 3, 2003

As students prepared for school to start at 8:15 this morning, a teenage boy arrived with a crossbow in hand.  He shot an arrow at a 15-year-old girl and it passed right through her chest and lodged itself in another girl's leg.  The first girl was rushed to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle where she was listed in critical condition.  Police arrested the boy at the school.  No motive for this attack was given.

Source: ABC NewsOnline - Boy Shoots Girl with Crossbow at School

Louisiana Technical College, Natchitoches, Louisiana

Monday, April 7, 2003

Calvin Joseph Coleman, a 22-year-old registered student (but had not been to his classes for weeks) opened fire in one of the electronics classrooms on Louisiana Technical College today.  Three students and an instructor were in the room, about 11:30 in the morning.  Calvin killed Terome Silvie, 32, with four shots from a handgun.  John Richardson, one of the other students in the room at the time, was injured in his leg with a bullet fragment.  Calvin then fled the scene in a car that was waiting for him.  He didn't get far as police arrested him, at his home, an hour after the shooting.  Police were not sure of the motive, but were confident that Terome was the target of Calvin's aggression.

Source: Dallas Morning News- Gunman Opens Fire in Louisiana College

Walnut High School, Walnut, California

Thursday, April 10, 2003

Just before lunch in a quad near the school's cafeteria 18-year-old Brandon Florez pulled a 9mm pistol from his sock and shot himself in the chest.  His classmates witnessed this suicide, which investigators say happened after Brandon and his girlfriend argued over an unknown topic.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

John McDonogh High School, New Orleans, Louisiana

Monday, April 14, 2003

Three armed assailants stormed the school's gym this morning around 10:15 a.m.  They approached 15-year-old Jonathan "Caveman" Williams, who was sitting in the bleachers.  Using an AK-47 assault rifle, one of the gunman stood over Jonathan and shot him to death in retaliation for the murder of Joseph S. Clark High School student Hillard "Head" Smith, 18, last week.  Three female students were wounded by stray bullets in this attack.  One of the female students was shot through both legs, Trakeida Barracks had a bullet graze her buttocks and Michelle Brown was shot in her thigh. As the students fled from the gym, they trampled over a 16-year-old pregnant girl.  She was listed in good condition Monday night. The assailants fled the scene in a vehicle, which was spotted by Lt. Darryl Albert of the 2nd Police District.  He pursued the assailants until they stopped at 1522 N. Rocheblave Street and ran inside.  A woman who answered Lt. Albert's knock said no one had entered.  Police surrounded the house and used a police dog to find one suspect hiding under a bed and another suspect hiding in a closet.  Tyrone Crump, 17, and Herbert Everett, 18 were charged with first-degree murder. The woman who answered the door, 17-year-old Michelle Fulton, was also charged with murder after investigators determined that she helped plan the killing.  Larry Moss, who lives at the house, was arrested with accessory to murder after the fact.  Minutes later, police made another arrest in the body of Ralph M. Enclade, 19, near North Tonti and Laharpe streets after he was reported to enter a home with a gun.  Police found an AK-47 in the back yard.   Police were still looking for Steven R. Williams, 18, Raymond C. Brown, 19, and an unidentified man, the three suspected gunmen.  Police stated that even though Jonathan had nothing to do with the death of Hillard, he was the intended target the assailants were after and that the females were accidental victims. The school has metal detectors and security guards, however, a dilapidated home that sits next to school has a gaping hole in the plank fence that divides the two properties.  Police eventually caught Steven and Raymond.  Steven was found guilty of second-degree murder on Tuesday, April 12, 2005.  On Friday, August 26, 2005, Steven was sentenced to life in prison.  Later, police identified and arrested the third assailant, James Tate. James pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit second degree murder to avoid a trial.  He was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday, August 8, 2006.  On Wednesday, September 20, 2006, the remaining four suspects were sentenced to prison.  Raymond pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and received a nine year sentence.  Herbert and Michelle pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and each received a five year sentence.  Tyrone pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and was also sentenced to five years.

THE INJURED:

Source: Dallas Morning News - Four Students Shot, One Killed, at New Orleans High School; New Orleans Times-Picayune - 1 Slain, 4 Hurt at N.O School; New Orleans Times-Picayune - New Orleans Man Convicted in 2003 School Shooting; KATC Channel 3 - Second Defendant Gets 15 Years in John McDonogh Shooting Case; New Orleans Times-Picayune - 4 Plead Guilty in Killing at School

Fair Park High School, Shreveport, Louisiana

Monday, April 14, 2003

The third act of violence in a row at a Louisiana school also happened today, this time in Shreveport.  Around 10:30 a.m. students filed out of the art room in an auxiliary building at the school, en route to their next class.  Steven Green, 18, and Ronald Hill, also 18, stayed behind to help clean up.  Steven pulled out a small caliber handgun he claimed to have found.  He showed it to Ronald when it accidentally went off and struck Ronald in the stomach. Steven fled the scene, but his mother brought him back to the school later that day where he was arrested.

Source: The Shreveport Times - Student Shot at Fair Park; Security Plans Under Review

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Patrik Dvorak promised Sarka Halasova's family that she would be safe while she studied at the university in Sweden. Patrik, 27, began falling in love with Sarka, but she already had a boyfriend.  This week, Sarka's boyfriend traveled from their homeland in the Czech Republic for a visit.  When he arrived at her student room, he found his 24-year-old girlfriend strangled to death.  Patrik was nowhere to be found. However, he was caught shoplifting in Denmark, but the authorities didn't know about Sarka at the time and let him go.  On May 9, 2003, Patrik was arrested in The Hague, The Netherlands, when he tried to ride a train for free. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Source: A visitor to this site

Greenhill (Middle) School, Addison, Texas

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

Two days later, in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, a 12-year-old girl was found dead in a restroom at this private school.  Police and rescue personal responded to a 3:10 p.m. call of an unconscious person in a restroom.  Police found sixth-grader Sarah Marple-Cantrell with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  Sarah had written a suicide note, but wouldn't elaborate on its contents.

Source: Dallas Morning News - Girl Found Dead at Greenhill School; Questions Linger After Suicide at Greenhill School

Booker T. Washington High School, Houston, Texas

Wednesday, April 23, 2003

During lunch today, around 12:40 p.m., a 16-year-old male student was stabbed and slashed in his chest as he fought with another male student.  The slashed was nearly seven inches long and the teenager survived.

Source: Houston Chronicle - Student Stabbed in Fight at School

Red Lion Area Junior High School, Red Lion, Pennsylvania

Thursday, April 24, 2003

About 15 minutes before classes started this morning, 14-year-old James Robert Sheets found his principal, 51-year-old Eugene Segro, in the crowded school cafeteria.  James, an eighth grader, pulled a .44-caliber Magnum handgun from his backpack and fired one bullet into Eugene's chest.  After Eugene collapsed to the floor, and his classmates began to flee the cafeteria, James pulled out a .22-caliber pistol from his backpack and committed suicide with a shot to his head.  Eugene died while en route to York Hospital.  James died in the cafeteria. The school does not have metal detectors but does use security cameras.  According to classmates, school records and family, James's actions were a complete shock to them all.  Police said James procured the two guns, and a third, a .357-caliber Magnum, from his stepfather's gun safe.

THOSE WHO DIED:

Source : Yahoo News - Student Kills Principle, Self at School; York Daily Record - Red Lion Reeling from Two Deaths

Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky

Sunday, May 4, 2003

The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house on Chestnut Street hosted an invitation-only party tonight.  In attendance were Lucas B. Goodrum, 21, Stephen L. Soules, 20, and 18-year-old Katie Autry. Sometime during the festivities, the trio left the party and went to Katie's dorm room in Hugh Poland Hall.  Lucas then attacked Katie, beating and raping her.  He smothered her with a pillow, sprayed her breasts and pubic area with hairspray and covered the sprinkler head with towel before setting her body on fire.  The fire was eventually extinguished and Katie was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee with third and fourth degree burns.  She died on Wednesday, May 7, 2003. Katie was a former cheerleader from rural Hancock County in Kentucky.  Lucas and Stephen were indicted in July 2003 and charged with first-degree murder, rape, sodomy and arson, or complicity to commit those crimes. On Thursday, September 18, 2003, Katie's mother and aunt filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the university, the resident assistants and the fraternity.  The suit stated that although the party at Pi Kappa Alpha was for invited guests only, those without invitation were also allowed in.  The RA's were accused of not following proper security procedures for letting non-students into the dorm without escorts and without leaving ID cards.  The administrators at the university had also known about this breach in security.  On Tuesday, March 23, 2004, Stephen pleaded guilty in Warren County Circuit Court to murder, first-degree rape, rape by complicity, first-degree sodomy, sodomy by complicity, arson by complicity and first-degree robbery.  He bargained with the courts to avoid the death penalty he would testify truthfully in Lucas's trial.  Stephen was sentenced to six concurrent life sentences plus 20 years without the possibility of parole.  Lucas's trial began at the beginning of March, 2005.

Source: WSMV Channel 4 - Mother, Aunt Appointed Administrators of Dorm Fire Victim's Estate; Bowling Green Daily News - Autry Family Sues WKU, RAs, Fraternity for Wrongful Death; Bowling Green Daily News - Autry Killer Pleads Guilty; WAVE Channel 3 - Jury Candidates Questioned as Dorm Trial Gets Under Way

Stradbroke High School, Stradbroke, Suffolk, England

Friday, May 9, 2003

During an argument between two 15-year-old boys, one of them stabbed the other with a knife in the stomach.  This attack occurred around 10:30 this morning. The wounded boy was taken to a hospital in Ipswich where he was listed in "critical but stable" condition.  The knife wielding teen was arrested by police and charged with attempted murder.

Source: Guardian Unlimited - Boy Arrested After School Stabbing

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

Friday, May 9, 2003

Biswanath Halder, a native of Calcutta, India, graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 1999 with a master's degree in business administration.  He sued Shawn Miller, one of the university's computer lab employee's, for having "added and deleted things from a personal web site" that Biswanath owned.  The case, and the appeal, were dismissed.  Today, inside the Peter B. Lewis Building, the 62-year-old Biswanath went looking for Shawn.  He shot and killed graduate student Norman Wallace, 30, who was working a summer internship at a consulting firm.  Biswanath injured a 32-year-old male in the buttocks and a 46-year-old female in her collar bone. He was wearing camouflage, a bullet proof vest, and a WWII type army helmet with a wig glued on to it.  He wielded two pistols, a Cobray and a Ruger, along with 11 ammunition clips for the two handguns.  Biswanath held police at bay for seven hours in the shiny, swirling building that is filled with twisting corridors.  The Peter B. Lewis Building was designed by Frank Gehry, has no right angles and the hallways dip and swerve.  At one point, 93 people were in the building with the shooter.  The police were able to wound Biswanath in the shoulder and took him into custody.  This shooting occurred around 4:00 p.m.

Source: Morning News of Northwest Arkansas - Man Opens Fire at University; Man Accused in Shooting Had Military Training; www.cleveland.com (The Plain Dealer) - Assessments Follow the Siege

Forest Hills High School, Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Brian Thomas Angelotti was deeply troubled over the death of a friend.  Today, the 18-year-old, abruptly left a classroom, got into his car and committed suicide with a gun.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Students and professors scattered from the Sterling Law Building when a pipe bomb exploded in an empty classroom at 4:40 p.m. this afternoon.  The blast caused significant structural damage to two rooms and soaked almost 300 rare law books.  Carsten Jungmann, a witness, described a clean-shaven black haired 20-30 year-old man leaving the room just moments before the bomb went off.

Source: Yale Daily News - Bomb Damages Rooms at Law School; Yahoo! News - FBI Shows Sketch of Man at Yale Classroom

T. W. Brown Middle School, Dallas, Texas

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

One week after the Yale bombing, a 14-year-old male student grabbed a dissecting knife from his science room as the class ended.  Walking the halls to his next class, the instigator slashed four of his fellow classmates, including Juan Grimalda.  The instigator then hid the knife in an air-conditioning vent before going to his next class, where he was later detained.

Source: Dallas Morning News - Student Slashes Four at Dallas Middle School

An Elementary School in Newburgh, New York

Tuesday, June 3, 2003

This is an example of bad family support.  A 12-year-old boy brought his mother, 34, and his older brother, 17, with him to school this today.  The three of them confronted his teacher because she suspended him for spitting in her face and pushing her.  The female teacher works in an alternative school program for troubled youth, of which this boy, and family, is a prime example of.  The mother and her two sons choked and punched the female teacher and then used a desk and a chair in the basement classroom to beat her up.  This family needs help.

Source: National School Safety and Security Services web site

Rock L. Butler Middle School, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania

Wednesday, June 4, 2003

A fifth-grader and his three of his friends planned an assault on their school today, a day in which the school allowed students to bring in large duffel bags for a planned trip to a swimming pool.  12-year-old David Robey dressed in camouflage this morning, took three rifles, two shotguns and two handguns from his father's gun cabinet and brought them to school in his duffel bag.  When he arrived at the school, him and his friends went into a bathroom where he began taking he guns from the bag. The friends back out at this point and warned teachers, who called the police.  The police arrived and as they approached the bathroom, just 30 feet away, David put a Colt .45 to his head and committed suicide.  David's friends told police that he had talked of killing students and teacher for months.

Source: Yahoo! News - Police: Pa. Boy Planned Attack on School; National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

Franklin High School, Somerset, New Jersey

Wednesday, June 18, 2003

The school year wrapped up with violence today as Fitzgerald Elliot and another student began fighting around 10 a.m. in a hallway near Franklin's gym and main office.  Sophomore Teron Fuller tried to break up the fight when Fitzgerald, 15, stabbed him twice in the back before fleeing the campus.  Teron's lung collapsed and he required surgery at a local hospital.  Fitzgerald was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison for aggravated assault and weapons charge.  Because he pled guilty to these charges, prosecutors dropped the attempted murder charge.

Source: New Brunswick Home News Tribune - 7 Years for High School Stabbing

Realschule II (High School), Coburg, Germany

Wednesday, July 2, 2003

Nearly a month after the year's first summer school shooting, a 16-year-old male student, armed with a pistol and a revolver, entered a classroom and threatened the teacher this morning around 9:00 a.m.  He fired a shot at the chalkboard that ricocheted into the ceiling.  This sent the teacher and her pupils fleeing.  A female teacher, who also serves as the school's psychologist, entered the room in an attempt to intervene, but she was wounded in the thigh by the young instigator.  The boy then turned the revolver on himself and committed suicide.  Two other students were slightly injured in the rush to flee the scene.  Corburg is about 145 miles north of Munich.

Source: BBC News - German Student Shoots Teacher; Yahoo! News - German Teen Kills Self in School Shooting

Holden Lane High School, Sneyd Green, Staffordshire, England

Tuesday, July 15, 2003

Jordan Ritchey, 14, suffered a head wound today when someone who wasn't even on the campus shot at him with a pellet gun. The air pellet struck him in the forehead.  Several of his classmates responded quickly to Jordan's aid.  A 16-year-old was charged with possession of a firearm and assault.

Source: The Sentinel - School Shooting Head Vows to Protect Pupils

St. Marks (High) School, Dallas, Texas

Tuesday, July 15, 2003 

Benny Barber, 16, commits suicide today by shooting himself while on the campus of St. Marks.

Source: National School Safety Center's Report on School Associated Violent Deaths

Capital High School, Charleston, West Virginia

Thursday, July 17, 2003

About ten minutes into the monthly Kanawha County Board of Education's meeting, Richard Dean "Rusty" Bright, 58, arrived with a AK-47 assault rifle in a black plastic bag and three buckets of gasoline.  Richard placed the buckets on a table and splashed maintenance supervisor Jeffery A. Allred and personnel department official Karen Williams.  He then tried to ignite the gas with a striker, but when that failed, Richard pulled out the rifle.  Jeffery, Bill Courtney and Bill Buchanan, both school administrators, seized Richard.  As they wrestled, Richard was able to fire off three shots, one hitting Karen Taylor, 56, in the abdomen, before being subdued.  Karen is a librarian and media center director at Capital High School.  In months prior to the meeting, Richard had complained about Jeffery, his supervisor, to Superintendent Ron Duerring, who tried to mediate the dispute.  School officials had thought the matter was resolved.  Richard was charged with malicious wounding and wanton endangerment for spraying gasoline on several people.

Source: Fox News - Man Opens Fire at School Board Meeting; Charleston Gazette - Capital High Teacher Shot at School Board Meeting

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