Echoes of Columbine

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...

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 mot...

If a part of the fantasy was the sheer violence they fed on, another factor was the hero worship. They didn't want to just go out, they wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. If they were nobodies who wanted to become somebodies, the fastest way to do so was to do something so shocking that the media could not ignore it. The media in their own way, turned them into heroes. When one reads these books, watches these movies, or listens to the music that inspired mass shooters, one strong theme runs through all of them. In each case the hero of the is the killer, students cheer them, crowds gather to spur them on, and the media worships them. While I was researching I was appalled at the sheer number of tributes there were not to the victims, but to the shooters. A quick tour of Youtube reveals that for many, these mass shooters kids were not perpetrators but victims. The media in most cases played right into it. While it was happening, and then for weeks after, the media hand f...

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 ...

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 ...

Onlookers hide behind low walls. Source: National Teachers Hall of Fame The Olean High School Shooting Date:  December 30 Year:  1974 School:  Olean High School Location: Olean State: New York Wounded: 11 Fatalities: 3 (plus one unborn child) This shooting is not currently included in our research data because information on it is far too limited. If anyone can help fill in the "unknowns" it would be most helpful.  Shots Fired:  33 Time lapsed: 90 Police response time: 20 How ended: Taken by police after 2 1/2 hour siege. Shooter was arrested and held for trial. He committed suicide while in jail. Civilians involved: Unknown Perpetrator:  Anthony Barbaro Age: 17 Family history: Unknown Red flags:  Told a friend he wanted to hold up the Olean Armory and engage in a police standoff. Also told friend, "How funny it must feel to be a sniper holding off people." Mental illness history:  None known Drug or medicati...

LIFE Magazine August, 12 1966 Remembering the victims Date: August 1 Year: 1966 (Date format only allows pre-dating to 1970) School:  University of Texas Location: Austin State: Texas Wounded: 31 Fatalities: 17 Including 1 unborn child, and 1 victim who died 35 years later from injuries sustained that day. With about 1.2 million total deaths in all wars, and approximately 1.4 million firearm deaths since 1966 more Americans have died by guns than in every single American war combined. (source)   Time lapsed: 96 Minutes Police response time: Approx 20 Minutes, 76 minutes to neutralize shooter. How ended: Law enforcement and a deputized civilian were able to ambush the shooter and kill him. Location of victims of Texas Tower shooting Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Civilians involved: Yes. Most of the casualties were in the 20 minutes before armed civilians and police arrived to hold the shooter off. A deputized civilian distracted the s...