Subscribe for free weekly updates from this History site. None of the children were killed, but many were injured. GAO found that shootings at K-12 schools most commonly resulted from disputes or grievances, for example, between students or staff, or between gangs, although the specific characteristics of school shootings over the past 10 years varied widely, according to GAO's analysis of the Naval Postgraduate School's K-12 School Shooting Database. September 24, 1937 Toledo, Ohio 12-year-old Robert Snyder shot and wounded his principal, June Mapes, in her office at Arlington public school when she declined his request to call a classmate. December 9, 1985 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania At the Archbishop Ryan High School for Boys, a 22yr old Mental health patient took 6 students hostage with what ended up being a starter pistol. A 15-year-old boy is in custody after three students died and eight were injured in a shooting Tuesday afternoon at a high school in Oxford, Michigan, authorities said. He became animated. While the country struggles with how to prevent future shootings and bombings, it is important to never forget the ones that came before. She apologized to her many victims, as well as to the inadvertent legacy she left behind. (In 1840, a University of Virginia teacher had been shot by a student. Dixon calls it the "Enoch Brown Schoolhouse Massacre" (p. 223). William H.G. The defense told a different story: that Butler was a power-mad educator who subscribed to tenets of rigid order and abuse. The incident took place in a schoolhouse about a mile outside of Warrenville after the students had been dismissed for the day. List of battleships of the United States Navy. As police attempted to put out the fire, an officer was injured by a thrown piece of banister. February 2, 1996 Moses Lake, Washington Two students and one teacher killed, one other wounded when 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis opened fire on his algebra class. Wives and mothers testified and fainted. On April 20, 1999, Harris and Klebold opened fire inside their high school near Denver. At his homestead following the attacks, a note was found saying: criminals are made, not born. The ruins of the school were quickly demolished. As they approached the female academy, the girls fled the schoolyard into the school where the gang followed swearing and shooting, firing several rounds into the front door. When cornered by police, he shot himself in a suicide attempt but survived and served 30 years in prison. On July 26, 1764, a group of Lenape American Indians entered a schoolhouse near Greencastle, PA, and clubbed and scalped schoolmaster Enoch Brown and killed 9 or 10 of his children (precise numbers vary). It is also considered to be the event that has most shaped the modern gun control debate. But after Columbine in 1999, school violence incidents increased, with tragedies like Sandy. For the mass shooting that occurred in 2023, see Killing of the Haight family. 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. Seventeen others suffered gunshot wounds, while many more were injured from trying to jump out the window. 201 were severely wounded by gun fire. A video was found shortly after the shooting of them apologizing to their parents for what they were about to do. Yeah, Spencer said. Mass shootings are going to happen again. On the other end was a reporter from the San Diego Tribune.He asked a few short questions to confirm that the young girl . According to homeland security expert William Pelfrey Jr.as reported by VCU news, "Eighty or 90 percent of all the school shootings in the world happen in the U.S.". The gang scattered at the approach of the police, and in their flight on drew a revolver and fired at Officer Rowan, without effect, however. They were gathered outside in the parking lot of Grover Cleveland Elementary, about 150 feet away, waiting to be let into school. Its victim was a teacher. Brenda Spencer leaves court, Oct. 1, 1979, in Santa Ana after pleading guilty to charges stemming from her shooting spree. An 18-year-old gunman got out of his car and opened fire at the school. 2006-2007 (38 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.) Immediately following the attack, the surviving students launched a push for stricter gun control. Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, shot at their classmates and teachers from the woods. A coroner's jury later ruled that the shooting was an accident. Between 2013 to 2021, there were 47 school shootings in the United States. Whitman grew up with an abusive father and joined the Marines in 1959 as a means of escape. Some health experts argued that it did not influence his behavior, while others suggested it might have contributed to his inability to control his emotions. The bullet shattered the glass door and struck the left forearm of the secretary and the glass injured the Principal. Regardless, an event such as this was unprecedented for the time and ultimately sparked the creation of various SWAT teams across the country. March 11, 1949: New York City A 16-year-old student at Stuyvesant High School was accidentally shot in the arm by a fellow student who was 'showing off' with a pistol in a classroom. 1996-1997 (23 Homicides and 25 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.) 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. Police arrested Smith after the massacre. "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). According to the teacher, Foster struck the pistol Pitts had drawn to defend himself, thus causing its discharge. Spencer continued to shoot at the students. There have been 71 mass shootings in the US this year - in just 6 weeks. Smith escaped and committed suicide in a barn near his home two hours later. [7], Incidents such as these prompted the Pennsylvania General Assembly, with the approval of Governor John Penn, to reintroduce the scalp bounty system previously used during the French and Indian War. 17-year-old Robert Ross was shooting a target near the lake on school property. In 2014, the school was demolished and replaced by a new one with a series of surveillance cameras. His first shots struck teacher Karen Farley in the arm; when she went down he killed her at point blank range. [4] [3], A child survivor recounted "Two old Indians and a young Indian rushed up to the door soon after the opening of the morning session. In that time, 952 people . Bob Bechtel, 20, had had enough of fraternity hazing when on January 11, 1955 he returned to Swarthmore College toting a rifle. From the very first school shooting in the 18th century, to sniper Charles Whitman, who enacted the actualfirst school mass shooting in modern UShistory, toBrenda Spencer,a female shooter who not only defied the "loner white male" stereotype but also inspired a pop song by the Boomtown Rats. And in 1764, during Pontiac's War in the colonial era, four Native Americans killed a schoolmaster and around 10 students in. Distancing herself from her actions, she also claims to have no memory of the event. He killed fourteen people and injured 31 others. 1999-2000 (25 Homicides from school shootings in the U.S.). Biden urges end to carnage of gun violence after 18 children killed at Texas school. February 12, 1909 San Francisco, California 10-year-old Dorothy Malakanoff was shot and killed by 49-year-old Demetri Tereaschinko as she arrived at her school in San Francisco. 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. The bowling alley was owned by the late Harry K. Floyd. The following few years would provide an abundance of conflicting reports. Kehoe found this a great financial burden and blamed these additional taxes for the foreclosure proceedings against his farm. He killed 32 people27 of which were studentsbefore shooting himself. Tereaschinko was reportedly upset that Malakanoff refused to elope with him. A boy of 12 has his pantaloons made with a pistol pocket; and this at a boarding-school filled with boys, who, we suppose, do or wish to do the same thing. 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 Indians entered the schoolhouse near present-day Greencastle, Pennsylvania, shot and killed schoolmaster Enoch Brown, and killed nine or ten children (reports vary). According to a 1987 survey conducted by the American School Health Association," 3% of the boys reported having carried a handgun to school at least once during the school year; 1% reported carrying a handgun on a daily basis.". In 1885, the area was designated Enoch Brown Park, and a memorial was erected over the grave. Meanwhile, Whitman was dealing with rage. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. A database of mass shootings compiled by Mother Jones going back to 1982 counts 123 such incidents in which at least three people were killed, not including the gunman. There are very seldom reports of mass or multiple school shootings during the first three decades of the 20th Century, with the three most violent attacks on schools involving either arson or explosions. On May 18 at 9:45 am, they detonated by way of alarm clock. Brown and nine children were killed. November 24, 1946: New York City A 13-year-old student at St. Benedict's Parochial School, shot and fatally wounded himself while sitting in an audience watching a school play. By 1993, the United States saw some of the most violent time is school shooting incidences. May 1, 1958: Massapequa, New York A 15-year-old high school freshman was shot and killed by a classmate in a washroom of the Massapequa High School. 24 were injured. Butler walked in and approached Ward. A mob approaching 8,000 people burned Ward and his defense team in effigy outside the Ward mansion. His parents were later found dead at home, June 15, 1998 Richmond, Virginia One teacher and one guidance counselor wounded by a 14-year-old boy in the school hallway. 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 He died in this second explosion along with several others. The master, surmising their objective, prayed them only to take his life and spare the children, but all were brutally knocked in the head with an Indian maul and scalped."[5]. Americas young history is peppered with tragedy. 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. Then he said, "no one will ever call my brother a pussy again" then committed suicide. [7], Coordinates: 394929N 774520W / 39.8247N 77.7556W / 39.8247; -77.7556. The police said they believed they were under attack by small weapons fire. From the late 1980s to the early 1990s the United States saw a sharp increase in gun and gun violence in the schools. School shootings in the United States more than tripled in 2021-22 school year, a new report reveals . The incident occurred on a property that is owned by the city of Mobile, not the school district. [3], On July 26, 1764, four Delaware (Lenape) Native Americans entered a settlers' log schoolhouse in the Province of Pennsylvania in what is now Franklin County, near the present-day city of Greencastle. William Joyner and Allen Long were shot and wounded during the exchange of gunfire in their fraternity bedroom. According to newspaper accounts, he was killed by a group of men, probably Confederate raiders, who were trying to steal his enslaved people. Law enforcement toxicology tests showed no sign of intoxicants in either Spencers blood or urine. The man who had sold him the guns had testified under oath, and the ammunition matched the pistol. May 6, 1940 South Pasadena, California. April 20, 1961 Chicago, Illinois Teacher Josephine Keane, 45, is sexually assaulted and stabbed to death inside a storeroom at Lewis-Champlin elementary school in Chicago. He then fled the school grounds and shot and wounded himself. The shooter, Claude Hubert, was never to be found but three other men were arrested in connection with the shooting. It was also the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, but it was surpassed in 2016 when 49 people were killed at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando. May 15, 1954 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Putnam Davis Jr. was shot and killed during a fraternity house carnival at the Phi Delta Theta house at the University of North Carolina. 242 individuals were held hostage at gunpoint. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. They also planted bombs, although the explosives never detonated. The history of mass shootings in America since Aug. 1, 1966, is a saga of armed men having to step over . Andrew Kehoe (55) methodically planned out his attack, spending months placing dynamite and explosives around the school. In his closing argument, Crittenden said that Ward had shot in self-defense and that the blood that flows in his veins has come down from those noble pioneers who laid the foundations for the greatness and glory of our state.. His wife, who had been a teacher at the school, had filed for divorce the week before. Contributing writer, Timeline (@Timeline_Now); reader and excavator of generally good things. Smith had reportedly admired Richard Speck and Charles Whitman. Following the massacre, it was reported that they had also planted a bomb that failed to detonate. 1998-1999 (25 Homicides from school shootings in the U.S.) It's a pattern. It took place in 1764 when four Lenape warriors shot a Pennsylvania teacher in front of his students. Hall threw himself under a train that night. As he tried to help, he was shot in the chest and killed. After a nearly seven-hour SWAT negotiation, Spencer left her house, surrendered, and was arrested. This article was corrected to reflect the year for the interview Brenda Spencer gave about the shooting. On July 26, 1764, four Delaware (Lenape) American Indian warriors entered a settlers' log schoolhouse in the Province of Pennsylvania in what is now Franklin County, near present Greencastle. The lead prosecutor was Alfred Allen, who had just turned 30. In 887 incidents (43.1%), the shooter was a current student at the school. Inside were the schoolmaster, Enoch Brown, and a number of young students. November 26, 1985 Spanaway, Washington A 14yr old girl shot two boys dead then kills herself with a .22-caliber rifle at the Spanaway Junior High School. October 1, 1997 Pearl, Mississippi Two students killed and seven wounded by Luke Woodham, 16, who was also accused of killing his mother. [10] In 1885, the area was named Enoch Brown Park and a memorial was erected over the gravesite.