Remembering The Stockton School Shooting: Cleveland Elementary, Stockton, California 1989

School children being treated for injuries after 29 were
wounded and 6 were killed in Stockton, CA. 1989
AP Photo/Stockton Record, File

Date: January 17

Year: 1989

School: Cleveland Elementary School

Location: Stockton

State: California

Wounded: 29

Fatalities: 6

Shots Fired: 106

Time lapsed: 3 minutes

Police response time: N/A

How ended: Suicide (before police arrived)

Civilians involved: Shooter died before police were on the scene.

Perpetrator: Patrick Purdy

Age: 24

Family history: Father was in the military, mother and father divorced when Purdy was a toddler after father threatened mother with weapon. Mother remarried, and neighbors report obvious signs of abuse and neglect through his and his siblings childhoods. It was said the children would be locked out of the house with no coats on, no supervision or guidance. He They moved frequently, and Purdy developed a reputation with the law at a very young age. Child protection services was called to the house at least twice on allegations that his mother was abusing the children. 

Red flags: As an adult Purdy was known to be a troubled loner, full of anger and hatred. Espoused racist views, especially towards Asian immigrants, who he felt took jobs from "native-born" Americans.
When Purdy was less than 9 years old, he threatened neighborhood boys with a butcher knife. At 12 he was involved in a neighborhood assault. At 13 law enforcement confiscated his pellet gun. He was reported “for informational purposes only” to be beyond parental control at the age of 14. At 15 his foster mother told police she feared him because he had a BB gun and knives stockpiled. He was arrested at 15 for prostitution in West Hollywood. Shortly after this he was treated for alcoholism.

On the morning of the shooting, an anonymous person phoned the Stockton Police Department regarding a death threat against Cleveland Elementary School. 

Mental illness history: At 22 he was deemed to have an antisocial personality by one therapist, he told another that he was “struggling to resist actions on thoughts which are destructive in nature.” While in prison he tried to commit suicide twice, and was found to suffer from very mild mental retardation. A prison psychiatrist found him to be a danger to himself and others. Despite all of this, he received no sustained treatment. Nor was anything placed on his record that would prevent him from purchasing a weapon. 

Drug or medication use: Received treatment for alcoholism at 15, arrests for public drunkenness, known to sniff glue.

Inspiration: Unknown, very similar to the San Diego shooting perpetrated by Brenda Spencer, the dates are almost exactly 1 years apart and both schools were named Cleveland Elementary. However Spencer had no connection with the school aside from living across the street. Purdy has attended the school he targeted as a young child.
In April of 1987 he was arrested for shooting at trees in a national forest with a semi-automatic pistol. When arrested a book about white supremacy was in his possession. He told the officer that it was his "duty to help the suppressed and overthrow the suppressor."
Possible motive: Unknown. He frequently expressed racist views blaming the immigrants for taking American jobs. It is believed that he targeted Asian children specifically for this reason. Purdy had attended Cleveland Elementary from kindergarten to 3rd grade. Was once arrested for shooting an automatic pistol at trees in a national forest while drunk. 

The words "freedom", "victory", "Earthman", and "Hezbollah" had been carved on his rifle, on his flak jacket were the words "PLO", "Libya", and "death to the Great Satin" [sic]

Weapons: AK-47
Weapons obtained: Purchased legally

Training: None known. Father threatened to shoot mother once when he was small. His pellet gun was confiscated by police when he was 13. Evidence points to a childhood history with guns.  

Aftermath: The indiscriminate shooting of children shocked the nation and the state of California vowed to do something about the easy access of guns with rapid killing capacity. 

"Why could Purdy, an alcoholic who had been arrested for such offenses as selling weapons and attempted robbery, walk into a gun shop in Sandy, Oregon, and leave with an AK-47 under his arm?"

- Time magazine

Resulting actions: The Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 was California's response to this and other mass shootings in the 80's. The law made over fifty specific brands and models of semi-automatic firearms classified as assault weapons illegal to own or transfer. Those who already owned these types of weapons were grandfathered in but the weapons had to be registered with the California Department of Justice.

Cleveland School Remembers is a group of 6 Cleveland elementary teachers who were there that day. They came together after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School to fight for school safety and gun control. 

The Shooting: Purdy rigged his van filled with fireworks with a moltov cocktail, presumably to distract emergency response crews. He parked the van at the back of the school and went to the playground where he opened fire on students while playing. He targeted children with black hair, mostly Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants.

Conspiracy Theories: This Youtube user speculates that this shooting was faked because there is more than one name associated with Patrick Purdy. Reports at the time confirm that Purdy used several names in his drifter life, including Eddie P. West and Patrick E. West. At the time of his death he was found with multiple identification cards with various dates.

Sources: 
Five Children Killed As Gunman Attacks A California School
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/18/us/five-children-killed-as-gunman-attacks-a-california-school.html

Murderpedia: Patrick Edward PURDY
http://murderpedia.org/male.P/p/purdy-patrick.htm

The First Mass School Shooting: Teachers and students who fled bullets in Stockton, Calif., 25 years ago mourn in the wake of Newtown.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2013/12/stockton_school_shooting_1989_cleveland_elementary_teachers_give_advice.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/1989-calif-school-shooting-led-to-assault-weapons-ban/

https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/01/16/stockton-shooting-25-years-later-city-cant-forget-its-worst-day/