It was Valentines Day. The Issue: Over the past two decades, 143 American public schools have experienced shootings during school hours that resulted in at least one fatality. December 12, 1935 New York City, New York, Victor Koussow, a Russian laboratory worker at the School of Dental and Oral Surgery, shot Prof. Arthur Taylor Rowe, Prof. Paul B. Wiberg, and wounded Dr. William H. Crawford at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, before committing suicide. Charles Whitman (25) was a student and ex-Marine who would go down in history as the "Texas Tower Sniper." On August 1, 1966, he fired down at the passersby below from the clock tower at the University of Texas in Austin. July 4, 1940: Valhalla, New York Angered by the refusal of his daughter, Melba, 15 years old, to leave a boarding school and return to his home, Joseph Moshell, 47, visited the school and shot and killed the girl. He asked a few short questions to confirm that the young girl was indeed the culprit. His wife, who had been a teacher at the school, had filed for divorce the week before. She apologized to her many victims, as well as to the inadvertent legacy she left behind. April 24, 1998 Edinboro, Pennsylvania One teacher, John Gillette, killed, two students wounded at a dance at James W. Parker Middle School. The majority of attacks during this time period by students on other students or teacher, usually involved stabbing with knives, or hitting with stones. And in 1764, during Pontiac's War in the colonial era, four Native Americans killed a schoolmaster and around 10 students in. Only two children survived. On the morning of January 29, 1979, teenager Brenda Spencer took a break from shooting people through her window to answer the phone. All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions 2023 worldatlas.com, The Deadliest School Massacres In American History, The Deadliest Massacres In Canadian History. Gun Violence. Just after 7 am on April 16, 2007, there was an active shooter at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. March 15, 1884 Gainsville, Georgia In the middle of the day, a group of very drunk Jackson County farmers left the Jug Tavern drinking and shooting their revolvers as they headed down the street driving people into their homes. On April 9, 1891,elderly James Foster fired his shotgun at a group of children playing in front of St. Mary's Parochial School in Newburgh, NY. Pitts was later acquitted of murder. He entered a study hall classroom and opened fire, hitting two fellow students. Townspeople were incensed. After shooting Kurz Weller tried to escape, but was surrounded by police on the campus, whereupon he killed himself with a shot in the chest. He died in this second explosion along with several others. Dixon calls it the "Enoch Brown Schoolhouse Massacre" (p. 223). The first known mass shooting in the U.S. where students were shot, was on April 9, 1891, when 70 year old, James Foster fired a shotgun at a group of students in the playground of St. Mary's Parochial School, Newburgh, New York, causing minor injuries to several of the students. The newspapers reported that Allen was also Matt Wards best friend. The earliest known United States shooting to happen on school property was the Pontiac's Rebellion school massacre on July 26, 1764, where four Lenape American Indian entered the schoolhouse near present-day Greencastle, Pennsylvania, shot and killed schoolmaster Enoch Brown, and killed nine or ten children (reports vary). Deaths, however, were down. A mob approaching 8,000 people burned Ward and his defense team in effigy outside the Ward mansion. With 32 killed and dozens injured, the massacre at Virginia Tech remains the worse school shooting in the United States. 19921993 (44 Homicides and 55 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.), 19931994 (42 Homicides and 51 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.), 19941995 (17 Homicides and 20 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.), 19951996 (29 Homicides and 35 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.), 19961997 (23 Homicides and 25 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.), 19971998 (35 Homicides and 40 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.), 19981999 (25 Homicides from school shootings in the U.S.), 19992000 (25 Homicides from school shootings in the U.S.). The Sandy Hook shooting was, at the time, the second-deadliest mass shooting in the United States after the 2007 shooting at . While the country struggles with how to prevent future shootings and bombings, it is important to never forget the ones that came before. In 2012, twenty childrenthe majority of whom were six or sevenwere killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. [3] Four children were taken as prisoners. Testimony also showed that Brenda and her father slept on the same mattress on the floor. He then entered 3rd grade classroom and wounded six more students. October 18, 1985 Detroit, Michigan During halftime of the homecoming football game between Northwestern High School and Murray-Wright High School. 2007-2008 (3 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.) A stray bullet also struck Deborah Faith Humphrey, 14, who died from her gunshot wound. [2], A day earlier, the warriors had encountered a pregnant woman, Susan King Cunningham, on the road. June 8, 1867 New York City At Public School No. Only two children survived. In 1885, the area was designated Enoch Brown Park, and a memorial was erected over the grave. Inside were the schoolmaster, Enoch Brown, and a number of young students. Kuhns then shot himself in the chest in a failed suicide attempt. A service revolver was found by his side. With lyrics like And he can see no reasons / because there are no reasons, it topped the U.K. charts for four straight weeks. The first school shooting, in fact, is older than America. History of Now The 1927 Bombing That Remains America's Deadliest School Massacre More than 90 years ago, a school in Bath, Michigan was rigged with explosives in a brutal act that stunned the. The 17-year-old was in environmental science class at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida. In a 2001 parole hearing, Spencer also revealed that her father subjected her to regular sexual assault. The Enoch Brown school massacre[1] was "one of the most notorious incidents"[2] of Pontiac's War. Inside were the schoolmaster, Enoch Brown, and a number of young students. July 14, 1952 New York City, New York Bayard Peakes walked in to the offices of the American Physical Society at Columbia University and shot and killed secretary Eileen Fahey with a .22 caliber pistol. Today, a commemorative park marks the site. Jhavon McIntyre was injured but survived the attack. Her targets were children. On October 2, 2006, milk-tank truck driver Charles Carl Roberts opened fire on a small Amish schoolhouse in Bart Township, Pennsylvania. Its report looks at "incidents of 'targeted. The Enoch Brown Massacre is thought to be the earliest known killing to occuron school property in what would one day become the United States. Colt Todd, 14, was hiding in the woods when he shot the students as they stood in the parking lot, March 24, 1998 Jonesboro, Arkansas Four students and one teacher killed, ten others wounded outside as Westside Middle School emptied during a false fire alarm. The bullet shattered the glass door and struck the left forearm of the secretary and the glass injured the Principal. Adams then shot and killed himself. November 20, 1952 New York City, New York "Rear Admiral E. E. Herrmann, 56 years old, superintendent of the Naval Post-Graduate School, was found dead in his office with a bullet in his head. On May 18 at 9:45 am, they detonated by way of alarm clock. Between 2013 to 2021, there were 47 school shootings in the United States. We hope you will join our fight AGAINST the costly and deadly. As police attempted to put out the fire, an officer was injured by a thrown piece of banister. The Wards scattered. It was initially thought that the gunmen were purposefully targeting athletes, minorities, and Christians, but it was later determined that they chose their victims at random. School shootings and mass shootings happen about every year or two in the U.S. and I guarantee that there is going to be another one in a year and another one after that and nothing is going to change until enough people develop a political will to support meaningful gun changes. I asked for a radio and he bought me a gun, Spencer reflected. Still, as infamous as it was, Columbine wasn't the first, or the deadliest, school shooting in America. On April 20, 1999, two disturbed teenage boys Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris began a killing rampage at Columbine High School in the suburban town of Littleton, Colorado. His first shots struck teacher Karen Farley in the arm; when she went down he killed her at point blank range. William Joyner and Allen Long were shot and wounded during the exchange of gunfire in their fraternity bedroom. After being removed as principal of South Pasadena Junior High School, Verlin Spencer shot six school officials, killing five, before attempting to commit suicide by shooting himself in the stomach. In 2018, Nikolas Cruz (19) opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Windows were broken, and the mob threatened to put the torch to other buildings. In 2014, the school was demolished and replaced by a new one with a series of surveillance cameras. Motive could not be conclusively determined, although many people relate it to mental illness. What if they got the idea from what I did?. There was some kind of movement; some students tried to hide behind Butler. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. October 2, 1942: New York City, New York "Erwin Goodman, 36-year-old mathematics teacher of William J. Gaynor Junior High School, was shot and killed in the school corridor by a youth She was beaten to death, scalped, and the baby was cut out of her body. Six months prior to the attack, the FBI had been alerted to a comment he made on YouTube stating: Im going to be a professional school shooter. Nothing came of it. 17-year-old Robert Ross was shooting a target near the lake on school property. The incident took place in a schoolhouse about a mile outside of Warrenville after the students had been dismissed for the day. 2001-2002 (4 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.) Most of the bloodshed occurred in the schools library where, shortly after noon, Harris and Klebold turned the guns on themselves. On April 20, 1999, two students gunned down 12 students and a teacher and wounded more than 20 others before turning the gun on themselves. Armed with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle, Cruz killed seventeen people and left more than a dozen injured. February 26, 1902 Camargo, Illinois teacher Fletcher R. Barnett shot and killed another teacher, Eva C. Wiseman, in front of her class at a school near Camargo, Illinois. On the morning of April 20, 1999, Eric Harris (18) and Dylan Klebold (17) entered Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. December 16, 1988 Virginia Beach, Virginia Nicholas Elliott, 15, opened fire with a SWD Cobray M-11 semiautomatic pistol on his teachers at the Atlantic Shores Christian School. No one was hurt in the ordeal. The deadliest school massacre in U.S. history took place 95 years ago. Lanzas weapons of choice were firearms that his mother had previously purchased, including a .22-calibre rifle and an AR-15, the civilian semiautomatic version of the military M16 assault rifle.