Public File for KMAX-TV / Good Day Sacramento. It was a dark moment in history, remembered for its impact on the . Yet, at the same time, they've also dumbed down several weapon related charges in recent years, that in turn has taken away law enforcement's ability to hold criminals accountable for their actions. First, he set his car on fire behind the school. The woman who committed the atrocity is named Brenda Spencer. Learn how your comment data is processed. First responders found mass confusion at the scene and the devastation that was left. Click on a school name below to view its attendance boundary . Your email address will not be published. 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Pescaro is now 22 and works for the Carolina Hurricanes. When I hear of other mass shootings, it is a real struggle to not mentally go down memory lane and relive the shooting I narrowly escaped. I teach them the importance of communicating where they are and where they are going so in case, God forbid, something happens, someone will know where to find them. The elementary school campus where the infamous " I Don't Like Mondays" shootings took place 36 years ago and another nearby campus will be put up for sale following a pair of 4-1 votes Tuesday. The woman tried to drive away, and the man pulled out a gun and fired several shots into the car, she said. You could also do it yourself at any point in time. It just keeps happening whether its school, work or vacation. Currently, Blountsville Elementary is the home to forty-four classrooms, two computer labs, media center, cafatorium, nurse's office, two administrative offices, a gymnasium, and extraordinary amounts of educational opportunities. NY Times Opinion, Cleveland School Remembers Participates in the Youth Leadership Academy. Im capable of being in public spaces, whether its everyday activities such as grocery shopping or going to concerts like I once did. Congratulations on this excellent venture what a great idea! "I was thinking about it on the way back to the hotel and I just said 'Silicon chip inside her head had switched to overload'. Experiencing gun violence at a place like a school has completely shifted my perception of comfort in public spaces ever since. Officers got to the scene and checked on the children and staff at Noble Elementary, Mecklenburg said. Charged as an adult, she pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assaultwithadeadlyweapon, and was sentenced to lifeinprison with a chance of parole after 25 years. Now, my sense of security and safety is completely gone. I have an all-too-American skillset for coping with the aftermath of a mass shooting. Every time I walk into a new space, whether that be a grocery store, a movie theater or a mall, Im constantly looking for the nearest exit and planning an escape route. The girls mother, who was said to be divorced from Spencer, was also at the scene briefly but later left, police said. The shooter was 24-year-old Patrick Purdy, often described as a drifter. On April 4, 1980, a day after her 18th birthday, she was sentenced to 25 years to life. Classmates alleged that, the week before Spencer targeted kids in the playground, she boasted she was planning to "do something big to get on TV". I had a few classmates lose their lives and others get injured. [28], BobGeldof, then the lead singer of the BoomtownRats, read about the incident when a news story about it came off the telex at WRAS-FM, the campus radio station at GeorgiaStateUniversity in Atlanta. He was shot in the foot and chest. This addition included seven classrooms. Gracie and I werent close but when we did talk, she was such a sweetheart, just a genuine ray of sunshine. It doesnt exist. I was in a classroom nearby with my sister. Jaimee Roeschke, now a senior in high school, was 15 when a 16-year-old classmate at Saugus High School shot five schoolmates, killing two and wounding three, before killing himself. The principal and a custodian were killed; eight children and police officer Robert Robb were injured. Newspaper reporter Gus Stevens, who called Spencer's neighbours for quotes during the lengthy standoff with cops, accidentally phoned her home. The suspect, Brenda Spencer, barricaded herself in her home across the street from the school and held police at bay for 6-1/2 hours before surrendering. I wanted to cry, but I was tired of crying. [19] In 2005, a SanDiego deputy district attorney cited an incident of self-harm from four years earlier when Spencer's girlfriend was released from jail, as showing that Spencer was psychotic and unfit to be released. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). I cannot walk to class without being completely overwhelmed by the anxiety the rush of a crowd brings. ________________________________________________________________, WATCH MORE: 5 hacks to get you through a power outage. High school student Lucy Sarkissian was in eight grade when two students at her school, STEM School Highlands Ranch, opened fire, killing one student and wounding eight others. and theyre going to let her do herself in (with the intoxicants) until she passes out. After her surrender, however, police officials declined to comment on that account. It has 988 students in grades PK, K-5 with a student-teacher ratio of 16 to 1. We explain the latest developments. Published: Feb. 28, 2023 at 5:54 PM PST. It completely changed how I exist in public space. I dont know and the Robb teachers may not know yet if theyll ever go back to their library. "[11], On the morning of Monday, January 29, 1979, Spencer began shooting from her house[12] at children waiting for 53-year-old Principal Burton Wragg to open the gates to Grover Cleveland Elementary. I then think about how that community now has been shattered by violence and that so many people victims, families, friends will never be the same as a result. There is still good reason for our second amendment. Even though our incident was over 33 years ago, when something like this happens, the images from that day always revisit me. Change). Spencer told the reporter she had shot at the schoolchildren and adults because, "I don't like Mondays. , Your email address will not be published. This article presents five school shooters from 1975 through 2007, classifies them within my typology, and compares them to the ten shooters discussed in Why Kids Kill. I knew one girl who got shot through the leg and I knew one kid who got grazed with a bullet. The Cleveland Elementary School shooting was the first truly reported school shooting. Higgins said. GreatSchools Rating 5 reviews Public school 426 Students Grades PK-8 & Ungraded. NEW! She also told policenegotiators the children and adults whom she had shot were easy targets and that she was going to "come out shooting". I saw what I thought was blood as well as yellow tape. The parole board chairman said that as she had not previously told anyone about the allegations, he doubted whether they were true. cleveland.com. Adam Sandler bringing comedy tour to Cleveland this News / Mar 1, 2023 / 09:32 . Overall, though, I believe I am almost there with closure. Washington DC Jun 17, 2021 Shooting at DC Construction Site Leads to . Cindy Clement Carlson was the librarian at Sandy Hook Elementary School when a gunman killed 26 people, 20 of them children. The Cleveland Elementary School shooting is also known as the Cleveland School massacre and the Stockton Schoolyard Shooting. Going to school became an everyday struggle. Gabrielle Ben-Zaken, now 19, was 15 when a classmate opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. On January 17, 1989, a 26-year-old man drove to Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California, armed with an assault rifle and a 9mm Taurus semi-automatic handgun. Legendary Irish rocker Bob Geldof described how he felt as the news broke on the sad day. According . I was left paralyzed. Weve had conversations about making yourself a harder target by not running in a straight line, not running through open fields but finding obstacles to provide some cover, knowing where all of the exits are, how to tune into the police scanner via the phone to hear what might be happening. I didnt feel safe for a long time anywhere. Wragg, the first person shot, was hit after he heard the gunfire and raced out into the schoolyard, trying to save the students. I think back to last year, when 10 people died at a supermarket about 45 minutes away from my house the King Soopers store shooting in Boulder. Its incredibly easy to give into despair, and hopelessness. For most of the afternoon, police played a waiting game. The other wounded youngsters were treated and released. A reporter reached Spencer by phone while she was still in the house after the shooting, and asked her why she committed the crime. [5], Further casualties were avoided only because the police obstructed her line of fire by moving a garbage truck in front of the school entrance. Experiencing gun violence has greatly removed the sense of normalcy from my life. Two police helicopters circled overhead and Police Chief William Kolender and City Manager Ray Blair were at the scene. Now that you know, have fun looking around! [4][5][6][7] After her parents separated, she allegedly lived in poverty with her father, Wallace Spencer. [ 1][ 2] By the end of 1979 a song by Bob Geldof for his band Boomtown Rats called I Dont Like Mondays was number one across America and Britain. I am a big concertgoer and it took me a while to feel comfortable at my safe place after the shooting. A man and two students at Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton on Jan. 17, 1989, after a gunman killed five children and injured 30 others before turning the gun on himself. 34 children and a teacher were shot, killing 5 of the children, with an AK-47 knockoff. Cleveland is a Scent Aware Building. In 1989, 24-year-old Patrick Purdy walked onto the playground at Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California, with an AK-47 and opened fire, killing five children and a teacher. At the end of Drew Pescaros sophomore year, a gunman and former UNC student barged into a classroom and opened fire, killing two students and wounding four. The survivors of the Jan. 17, 1989 Prom went on as planned on May 14, senior farewell and graduation all commenced without skipping a beat as if four students werent just shot on school grounds. STOCKTON, Calif. The Cleveland Elementary School shooting is also known as the Cleveland School massacre and the Stockton Schoolyard Shooting. And it has stuck with them. Rob Young was a first-grader at Cleveland Elementary. "We are the ones who have to teach these kids how to grieve and how to move on," she said. The decision carries a 30-day stay, giving the state the opportunity to appeal -- meaning the ban is still in effect, for now. Upon realising he was speaking to the shooter, he asked what her motive was.