Echoes of Columbine

Date:  March 21 Year:  2005 School: Red Lake Senior High Location: Red Lake State: Minnesota Wounded: 5 Fatalities: 9 (2 home, 7 school) Shots Fired:  45 (+13 at home) Time lapsed:  9 minutes Police response time:  3 minutes (4 minute shootout with police) How ended: suicide Civilians involved: No, an unarmed security guard at the school confronted him, but he was killed. Perpetrator: Jeffrey Weise Age: 16 Family history: His father committed suicide on July 27, 1997 after a standoff with police. Mother sustained severe brain injury in an alcohol related car accident on March 5, 1999 and had to be placed in an assisted living home. His grandmother was granted custody but she died in 2003. In postings on a National Socialism forum he says he wants to be a Nazi to preserve his Native heritage, he laments the damage done by drugs and alcohol to the native people. His parents both had alcohol issues. Red flags:  Record...

Editors note:  Though Columbine has become one of the most well known school shootings, even giving rise to the term "Pulling a Columbine," it was not intended to be a school shooting at all. What most of America saw as a school shooting was originally meant to be a mass bombing of unimaginable scale. The bombs placed in the cafeteria were enough to bring the library crumbling down on the cafeteria. Both rooms were full of students at the time. The shooters were positioned outside waiting for survivors to come running out of the building as unwitting targets. Both of their cars were wired as well. They set fire to several rooms, that were put out by bystanders or sprinklers. Thankfully, the bombs were mostly defective. This was not a school shooting it was a domestic terror attack.  This topic has been covered at length, and links will follow if you would like to know more about it but we won't cover the standard details here. These are the details used for our r...

Last updated March 25, 1018 Date: May 21 Year: 1998 School:  Thurston High School shooting Location:  Springfield State: Oregon Wounded: 25 Fatalities: 2 (4 counting his parents at home) Shots Fired:  50 rounds, 37 hits Time lapsed:  Under 7 minutes Police response time: 8 minutes How ended: Tackled and subdued by 7 students, including one previously injured student. The responding officer pulled them off of him and one student punched Kinkle in the face. Civilians involved: Yes. Taken down by unarmed students. Perpetrator: Kipland Kinkle Age: 15 Family history: Family had struggled with Kinkle, and he had been in treatment for depression. He attended 9 sessions, but was withdrawn because he seemed to be improving. Kip was very intelligent according to tests, but struggled with spelling. His frustration and anxiety levels were abnormally high. Red flags:  Kinkle had attempted to buy a stolen gun from another student but was caught ...

Last updated: March 23, 2018 Date: Dec, 1 Year: 1997 School:  Heath High School Location:  West Paducah State: Kentucky Wounded: 5 Fatalities: 3 Shots Fired:  8 rounds, fast succession Time lapsed:  12 seconds Police response time:  Shooting ended before police arrived.  How ended: After firing 8 shots, Carneal laid the gun on the ground and sank to his knees. some reports say he was crying. The principal approached him and took him by the shoulders, shaking him asking why he'd done it. Carneal responded "I can't believe I did that, kill me please." He was taken to the office and put under guard while waiting for the police to arrive.  Civilians involved: Carneal surrendered without intervention and was taken quietly. Perpetrator:  Michael Carneal Age: 14 Family history: Red flags: Told students that "something big is going to happen on Monday" but no one took him seriously. Mental illness history:...

Victims of the University of Iowa shooting Date: November 1 Year: 1991 School: University of Iowa Location:  Iowa city State: Iowa Wounded: 1 Fatalities:  6 Shots Fired: Unknown Time lapsed: 12 minutes Police response time: 3 minutes How ended: Suicide. Shooter was found dead from self inflicted gunshot wound.  Civilians involved:  None known, shooter committed suicide shortly after police arrived. Perpetrator:  Gang Lu Age: 28 Family history:  Unknown. Red flags: Yes. Mental illness history: Unknown. Drug or medication use: Unknown. Inspiration: Unknown. In a suicide statement , he discussed his favorite movies, which he said included: "'No Way Out,' 'Die Hard,' 'Indiana Jones,' and Clint Eastwood’s movies where a single cowboy fights against a group of incorporated bad guys who pick on little guys at their will or cover up each other’s ass."  Just a guess of course, but he seemed to s...

When studying these boys one sees a certain superiority complex over and over. On the surface it appears to be narcissism, but I do not to believe it to be so. Mass shooters often held a vision of themselves as being higher than others, some even referring to themselves as godlike. In the public writings they referenced natural selection, and a feeling of being above normal human beings. They had become so cynical about life that they saw their lack of emotion or feeling towards their fellow human beings as a sort of a gift. They had freed themselves of a conscience, but when I read their more private writings it was clear they really hadn't. Were they trying to convince us they were god, or were they trying to convince themselves? Over and over these boys wrote about being godlike. It was almost a mantra. Jeffery Weiss was self professed Native American Nazi on a white supremacy board, who professed hatred as a mantra. He turned around on supernatural board and said that he...

When the line between fantasy and reality blurs One of the first issues to get resurrected shortly after a new shooting is the topic of violence in the media. We can't deny that movies and video games have grown increasingly violent, it is becoming more and more difficult to locate a true family movie. Yet hundreds of thousands of people play the same games, watch the same movies, and read the same books and none of them committed such horrific acts. Mass shooters were all attracted to violent media in some form. Early on they cited Richard Bachman's short story "Rage" as an influence. "Rage" was the story of a frustrated by taking his classroom hostage, and emerging the hero among his classmates. After it copies of his book were found in the possession of several of the first school shooters, not only highlighted copies but very well worn. Bachman's creator Stephen King pulled the book from print, stating "The ------- incident was enough for ...