Remembering Frontier Middle School shooting: Moses Lake, Washington 1996

Last updated: March 23, 2018

Date: February 2, 1996

Year: 1996

School: Frontier Middle School

Location: Moses Lake

State: Washington

Wounded: 1

Fatalities: 3

Shots Fired: 4-5 (Carried 80 rounds of ammunition)
Time lapsed:

Police response time: Police didn't arrive until after the shooter had been contained by a civilian.

How ended: Taken. A coach offered to be his hostage to get out of the school safely. There was a struggle and the coach disarmed the shooter and held him until police arrived. The coach was unarmed.

Civilians involved: Yes. Coach Jon Lane wrestled gun away from him, and held him until police arrived.
Lane's thoughts on ending school violence were shared after the Parkland shooting in a very personal letter about his experience here. Man who subdued Moses Lake school shooter 21 years ago pens letter

Perpetrator: Barry Dale Loukaitis

Age: 14

Family history: Father had been unfaithful to his mother, leaving her despondent. She had been suicidal for several years and often implied that her son would have to join her when she did. Shooter suffered from clinical depression , and there was a history of depression in his family going back 4 generations.

Red flags: 

Mental illness history: Loukaitis pled insanity on all charges, claiming "mood swings" had caused his actions. A court psychiatrist testified that "He felt like he was God and would laugh to himself. He felt he was superior to other people, and then those feelings were later replaced by hate, disdain, and not measuring up."

Drug or medication use:

Inspiration: After the shooting Loukaitis said that he was inspired by the music video "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam. In the video a troubled student commits suicide in front of his class.
Authorities found a video cassette in his room with the movie “Fistful of Dollars” it was cued to a scene with Clint Eastwood standing over a victim pointing a rifle at them. At the time of the shooting Loukaitis wore a black cowboy hat and a duster. Witnesses said he looked like an old west gunslinger at the time of the shooting.
After he shot his teacher he looked at the class and said, "this sure beats Algebra, doesn't it?" which is often said to be from the Richard Bachman/Stephen King book "Rage," no such line exists in the book.The story is about a student who shoots his algebra teacher and takes his class hostage. The character in the book ends up being a sort of hero to the hostages. The character did say to the class "This sure beats panty raids." (Stephen King has since pulled the book from print because of it's association with several shootings.)
The movies "Natural Born Killers" and "The Basketball Diaries" were also cited as influences in his court hearing. 

Possible motive: While being questions Loukaitis seemed confused as to how many people had actually been shot. When asked if the others were intentional, he said the only one he intended to kill was student Manuel Vela, a student who had previously bullied the shooter. The others he said may or may not have been intentional. 

Weapons:

.30-30 rifle

.357 Magnum revolver

.25 ACP pistol

Weapons obtained: Taken from his father. 

Training: Unknown

The Shooting: Barry Loukaitis described as a quiet honor student, told his father he was going to walk to school that day. That afternoon he arrived at school dressed as an old west gunslinger, in a long black duster and a black cowboy hat. He kicked open the door of the classroom and shot student Manuel Vela, killing him. He also shot and killed student Arnold Fritz, and wounded another student, 13-year-old Natalie Hintz who had recently changed seats, and believed another male student may have been the target. He then shot and killed the algebra teacher, Mrs. Leona Caires then turned to the frightened class and said "this sure beats Algebra, doesn't it?"

When Coach Lane reached the room, the shooter was holding the remaining classmates hostage, planningto use one as a shield for his escape. Coach Lane volunteered to be his hostage. The shooter held him at gunpoint, giving Lane a chance to wrestle the rifle away from the shooter and tackle him. Coach Lane held the shooter until police arrived.  

Conspiracy Theories: None known

Sources: 

Murderopedia - Barry Dale Loukaitis
http://murderpedia.org/male.L/l/loukaitis-barry.htm


‘How Many … Were Shot?’ Boy’s Murder Confession Played At Emotional Evidence Hearing
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/apr/18/how-many-were-shot-boys-murder-confession-played/

schoolshooters.info
https://schoolshooters.info/barry-loukaitis