Remembering Pearl High School shooting: Pearl, Mississippi 1997

Last Updated: March 23, 2018

Date: October 1

Year: 1997

School: Pearl High School 

Location: Pearl

State: Mississippi

Wounded: 7

Fatalities: 3 (including mother: stabbed prior to shooting)

Shots Fired:

Time lapsed: 11 minutes

Police response time: Incident was over before police arrived and suspect detained.

How ended: Attempted to flee the scene, stopped by student and staff, held until police arrived. 

Civilians involved: Yes, assistant principal Joel Myrick (a U.S. Army Reserve Commander) retrieved his personal Colt 1911 .45 auto from vehicle. Student helped pin car down. Stopped from fleeing, held at gunpoint until police arrived.

Perpetrator: Luke Woodham

Age: 16

Family history:

Red flags: History of animal torture, he wrote in his journal about torturing his dog Sparkle to death. "I will never forget the howl she made. It sounded almost human. We laughed and hit her hard." About a dozen students were said to know about the plot beforehand, and many were assembled that day to see if it would really happen but nobody moved to stop it. 

Mental illness history:

Drug or medication use:

Inspiration: Woodham claimed that his actions that day were heavily influenced by a friend of his named Grant Boyette, who led a Satanic group called the Kroth. He said that Boyette spent months convincing him to kill his mother and they had planned to kill another boys father as well. 

Possible motive: Woodham was known to have been teased for his appearance, and not popular with the girls. Christina Menefee felt bad about his treatment and was always nice ot him. They had gone out on a few dates the year before but it hadn't worked out. Woodham still harbored feelings for her, and maintained that she was his only true target.

Just prior to the shooting the shooter handed a friend a note that said:

"I am not insane, I am angry. I killed because people like me are mistreated every day. I did this to show society, push us and we will push back. ... All throughout my life, I was ridiculed, always beaten, always hated. Can you, society, truly blame me for what I do? Yes, you will. ... It was not a cry for attention, it was not a cry for help. It was a scream in sheer agony saying that if you can't pry your eyes open, if I can't do it through pacifism, if I can't show you through the displaying of intelligence, then I will do it with a bullet."

Weapons:
Marlin Model 336 .30-30-caliber rifle

Weapons obtained: Unknown
Training: Unknown

Aftermath: About a dozen students were implicated as conspirators after the shooting, the charges against all but two were dropped. Grant Boyette, 19 was charged with conspiracy. He was the suspected leader of "The Kroth." Boyette was known as "father" to his group and reportedly encouraged Woodham to kill his mother and his former girlfriend. He was sentenced to 6 months in a military style bootcamp and 3 years probation.
Justin Sledge was also charged at the time, but charges against him were dropped. Later while in college he was charged with an unrelated weapons case, for being in possession of an illegal weapon. He was sentenced to 3 months, so he could continue with college. Rumor has it he is now a university professor and well loved by students.

Resulting actions: Assistant Principal Joel Myrick has met with a variety of reactions to his actions that day. Some criticized him for having a weapon on school grounds, and some felt that he shouldn't have pointed a gun at a student. There is no doubt that Woodham would have escaped if someone hadn't stopped him, and Myrick's courage that day was rare among school shootings. No doubt he is a hero.
Many have used this case in particular to show that teachers should be armed. While he was undoubtedly a hero that day, he was a trained professional and does not support arming teachers with guns. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/us/school-shootings-teachers.html

The Shooting: That morning Luke Woodham had stabbed his mother and left her to die before driving himself to school. As students arrived for school they had gathered in the common area. Luke shot and killed a girl he had been on a few dates with the year before Christina Menefee, and another female student Lydia Kaye Dew and went on to wound seven others. 

From this point on account vary but according to Assistant Principal Joel Myrick when he heard the gunshots he retrieved his weapon from his vehicle and loaded it confronting Woodham. Woodham fled the scene and Myrick followed. Another student saw Woodham trying to flee and used his car to block Woodhams vehicle, forcing him onto the grass where he got stuck.

Joel Myrick confronted him at gunpoint and forced him from his vehicle. Woodham begged for his life, when Myrick asked him why he had shot his kids, Woodham replied “Life has wronged me, sir.” 

Conspiracy Theories:

This meme leaves out vital information. Assistant Principal Joel Myrick was also a U.S. Army Reserve Commander and trained soldier. The meme doesn't specify that 2 people were killed and 7 wounded during the shooting. The shooter had targeted his former girlfriend and her prayer group and claims he never intended to kill anybody else. According to the principal he heard the first shot ran to his vehicle and loaded his weapon and approached the shooter who tried to flee the scene. Shooter was in his car trying to leave the scene when another student blocked him forcing him on to the lawn giving Myrick time to reach him.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/23/us/conspiracy-charges-are-dropped-in-mississippi-school-shootings.html

http://www.davekopel.com/2A/OthWr/principal&gun.htm

https://m.natchezdemocrat.com/2018/02/15/former-principal-recalls-tragedy-of-pearl-high-school-shooting/

http://www.wapt.com/article/former-pearl-principal-says-1997-school-shooting-fresh-in-his-mind/2082092

http://people.com/archive/cover-story-the-avenger-vol-48-no-18/