Remembering The Olean School Shooting: Olean High School, Olean, New York 1974
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| Onlookers hide behind low walls. Source: National Teachers Hall of Fame |
The Olean High School Shooting
Date: December 30
Year: 1974
School: Olean High School
Location: Olean
State: New York
Wounded: 11
Fatalities: 3 (plus one unborn child)
This shooting is not currently included in our research data because information on it is far too limited. If anyone can help fill in the "unknowns" it would be most helpful.
Shots Fired: 33
Time lapsed: 90
Police response time: 20
How ended: Taken by police after 2 1/2 hour siege. Shooter was arrested and held for trial. He committed suicide while in jail.
Civilians involved: Unknown
Perpetrator: Anthony Barbaro
Age: 17
Family history: Unknown
Red flags: Told a friend he wanted to hold up the Olean Armory and engage in a police standoff. Also told friend, "How funny it must feel to be a sniper holding off people."
Mental illness history: None known
Drug or medication use: None known.
Inspiration: "I guess I just wanted to kill the person I hate most -- myself, I just didn't have the courage. I wanted to die, but I couldn't do it, so I had to get someone to do it for me. It didn't work out."
Possible motive: Suicide by cop
Weapons:
Remington .30-06-caliber rifle with telescopic sight
12-gauge shotgun
Smoke bomb
Weapons obtained: Unknown
Training: Known as a star marksman on his school's rifle team. Friends said "Guns were his life."
Aftermath: Anthony Barbaro was taken into custody and held for trial. He hung himself in his jails cell on November 21, 1975. He left behind 3 notes, 1 for his family, 1 for a friend, and 1 addressed "To whom it may concern." It read...
"People are not afraid to die, it's just how they die. I don't fear death, but rather the pain. But no more. I regret the foods I'll never taste, the music I'll never hear, the sites I'll never see, the accomplishments I'll never accomplish, in other words, I regret my life. Some will always ask, 'Why?' I don't know — no one will. What has been, can't be changed. I'm sorry. It ends like it began; in the middle of the night, someone might think it selfish or cowardly to take one's own life. Maybe so, but it's the only free choice I have. The way I figure, I lose either way. If I'm found not guilty, I won't survive the pain I've caused — my guilt. If I'm convicted, I won't survive the mental and physical punishment of my life in prison."
Resulting legislation: None known.
The Shooting:
Honor student Anthony Barbaro entered his high school while students were on Christmas break. Going to a third floor room he ignited a homemade incendiary device and barricaded the door to the student council room. He shot and killed a janitor who confronted him, and random people on the street.
Sources:
3 Killed and 9 Wounded by An Upstate Sniper, 18
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/31/archives/3-killed-and-9-wounded-by-an-upstate-sniper-18-3-killed-and-9.html
DUTTON v. CITY OF OLEAN casefile
https://www.leagle.com/decision/197839560ad2d3351350
Sniper's Classmate Says Guns Were 'Whole life'
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/01/archives/snipers-classmate-says-guns-were-whole-life-a-classmate-of-upstate.html
Conspiracy Theories: None known
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