Remembering The Cleveland School Shooting: Cleveland Elementary, San Diego, California 1979

One of the first school shooters was a female,
when asked why, she replied
“I don’t like Mondays,” she said. “This livens up the day.”

Date: January 29

Year: 1979

School: Cleveland Elementary School

Location: San Diego

State: California
Wounded: 9

Fatalities: 2

Shots fired: 36 (3.2 ratio)

Shooting Time lapsed: Approx 20 min.

Police response time: Approx 20 min.

How ended: Police were able to block her line of fire using a garbage truck, after a 6 and 1/2 hour standoff the female shooter surrendered. 

Civilians involved: None known. Ended by police intervention.

Perpetrator: Brenda Spencer

Age: 16

Family history: Mother & father divorced for 7 years. Lived with father in house littered with alcohol bottles. They shared a single mattress on the floor. Reported father to be physically and sexually abusive. After the shooting, father impregnated a former cell mate of his daughter (also a juvenile). Reported to be withdrawn and lacking in emotion. 

Red flags: History of animal abuse and doll mutilation. She often talked of shooting police officers. She had shot out the windows of the same school the summer before. Her father bought her a gun and 400 round of ammo just after it was reported she was suicidal, with 400 rounds of ammo. 

Mental illness history: In early December, just prior to the shooting, her probation officer recommended that she be placed in treatment because she was suicidal, her father refused. A teacher once asked if she was even awake in class.

After arrest, it was found that she had a temporal lobe injury from a bike accident, which may have caused a role in her current epilepsy and has been known to cause aggression and even psychosis.

Drug or medication use: Later claimed to be under the influence of alcohol and pcp at the time, but tests performed at the time showed neither in her system.

Inspiration: When asked by reporters why she did it, she answered "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." Previously told friends that she was going to do something big to get on the news.

Targets: Random, though she said she aimed for the red and blue vests because they were her favorite colors and made good targets. She had previously demonstrated a desire to kill police, and did target one, telling reporters she had just "shot a pig" and thought she wanted to kill more. 

Possible motive: Father was alerted that she may be suicidal in early December by parole officer. It was recommended that she be placed in treatment but father refused. She reported a sketchy history of abuse by father, emotional, physical, and sexual. These reports have been disputed, but it was confirmed that 16 year daughter and father shared a single mattress. That same Christmas, her father bought her the gun used in the shooting and 400 rounds of ammo. Shooter said she asked for  radio, but her father gave her a gun instead. During a parole hearing she was asked why she did it, and she said “Because I wanted to die,” she said. “I was trying to commit suicide.” When they asked why she chose the school she responded “Because I knew that if I fired on the school the police would show up, and they would shoot me and kill me,” she said. “And every time I had tried suicide in the previous year I had screwed it up.”

Weapon: Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle

Weapon obtained: Gift from father along with 400 rounds of ammunition. 

Training: Father raised her shooting, police said she was a "good" shot. Later in a parole hearing said she wasn't aiming at people or trying to kill them, but at the parking lot. Her

Brenda Spencer then and now...

Aftermath: After a 6 1/2 hour standoff Brenda surrendered. Most of the shooting was done in the first 20 minutes before police arrived and blocked her line of fire. She was arrested and sentenced to 25 years to life.
Almost exactly 10 years later to the day, a man opened fire in a school yard in Stockton, California. The dates were not the only similarity, as the school was also named Cleveland Elementary, spawning rumors that it was a copycat incident.

The Cleveland Elementary Shooting inspired Bob Geldof to write a pop song called "I Don't Like Monday's," which became a hit. 

Resulting legislation: None known.

The Shooting:
16 year old Brenda Spencer waited for her father to leave for work, before smashing out the glass in the front door of her home facing Cleveland Elementary. As children began to arrive to start the school day, Brenda opened fire. The principal mistaking the sounds for fireworks ran outside, he saw child crying and bleeding, most  looking around confused unable to determine where shots were coming from. The principal was killed trying to get the children to safety, and the school janitor rushed to offer first aid to the principal, and was also shot and killed. A policeman was also shot in the neck trying to save the children, but he survived his injuries.
Police arrived on scene, and with the help of a security guard maneuvered a garbage truck into place, blocking the shooters line of fire. Reporters were able to reach the shooter inside of her house, and her flippant answers shocked the nation. She said she did it because "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day," and then added “I have to go now, I shot a pig (policeman), I think, and I want to shoot more.” She later told investigators that she had especially targeted those children in red & blue because they made perfect targets.
All told 11 people were injured in the shooting, 2 of which died of their injuries. Brenda Spencer is currently serving 25 years to life, and has been denied parole 4 times. 

Sources: 

2 Die in Sniper Fire at School

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/01/30/2-die-in-sniper-fire-at-school/4f87c6db-da3d-43e2-ae42-4ff80bdd307e/?utm_term=.a8c6190409dd

A Case Of The Mondays: Brenda Spencer And The Cleveland Elementary School Shooting

http://www.stmuhistorymedia.org/a-case-of-the-mondays/#fn-75413-7

The Other Spencer Girl by Jo Scott-Coe

https://superstitionreview.asu.edu/issue14/nonfiction/joscottcoe

The First Modern School Shooter Feels Responsible for the Rest

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-first-modern-school-shooter-feels-responsible-for-the-rest

Conspiracy Theories: Brenda has implied in parole hearings that her father may have "put the gun in her hands", and put his hands on hers while she squeezed the trigger, though she freely admitted it was her at the time.