first school shooting in america 1764
After 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. 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.. Its victim was a teacher. They were gathered outside in the parking lot of Grover Cleveland Elementary, about 150 feet away, waiting to be let into school. March 23, 1907 Carmi, Illinois George Nicholson shot and killed John Kurd at a schoolhouse outside of Carmi, Illinois during a school rehearsal. He killed fourteen people and injured 31 others. [7], Coordinates: 394929N 774520W / 39.8247N 77.7556W / 39.8247; -77.7556. [6] There were 51 school shootings with injuries or deaths last year , the most in a single year since Education Week began tracking such incidents in . [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. Even though they are in actuality quite rare, these traumatic events have many people concerned about their safety and that of their children. Feb. 19, 1997: A 16-year-old boy takes a shotgun and a . Since then, hundreds have occurred, claiming many lives (Galvin). 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.". Spencer continued to shoot at the students. April 24, 1998 Edinboro, Pennsylvania One teacher, John Gillette, killed, two students wounded at a dance at James W. Parker Middle School. The shooter killed seven people at the school, including students, a teacher and a security guard, and injured five others. April 27, 1936 Lincoln, Nebraska, Prof. John Weller shot and wounded Prof. Harry Kurz in a corridor of the University of Nebraska, apparently because of his impending dismissal at the end of the semester. A coroner's jury later ruled that the shooting was an accident. May 21, 1998 Springfield, Oregon Two students killed, 22 others wounded in the cafeteria at Thurston High School by 15-year-old Kip Kinkel. During the nineteenth century at least 36 school shootings took place in the US. There have been 71 mass shootings in the US this year - in just 6 weeks. The next deadliest school shooting (based on fatalities) was the Sandy. While we often consider Columbine to be the first school shooting of the modern era, there were a shockingly large number of school shootingsbefore thattragic event. [4] Settlers could collect $134 for the scalp of an enemy American Indian male above the age of ten; the bounty for women was set at $50. The deadliest school massacre in U.S. history took place 95 years ago. 16 School Shootings That Took Place Before Columbine. The late 1990s started to see a major reduction in gun related school violence, but was still plagued with multiple victim shootings including; October 12, 1995 Blackville, South Carolina A suspended student shot two math teachers with a .32 caliber revolver. Smith had reportedly admired Richard Speck and Charles Whitman. There was some kind of movement; some students tried to hide behind Butler. March 11, 1908 Boston, Massachusetts Elizabeth Bailey Hardee was shot to death by Sarah Chamberlain Weed at the Laurens School, a finishing school in Boston. In the 1990's,show more content Only one shot was fired in order to detonate dynamite in the car. 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. The massacre at Columbine High School is considered to be the event that has most shaped the modern gun debate. No one was hurt. School shootings don't just deprive children of their lives and innocence; they deprive parents of a sense of safety and security their parents and grandparents took for granted. Ward then called Butler a damned liar! His brother Robert reached for a Bowie knife. August 1, 1966 University of Texas Massacre Charles Whitman climbs atop the observation deck at the University of Texas-Austin, killing 16 people and wounding 31 during a 96-minute shooting rampage. Biden urges end to carnage of gun violence after 18 children killed at Texas school. While the country struggles with how to prevent future shootings and bombings, it is important to never forget the ones that came before. On the other end was a reporter from the San Diego Tribune.He asked a few short questions to confirm that the young girl . Following his death, an autopsy revealed a tumor in his brain. In the modern era, the rarity of these events has been steadily decreasing, which may be caused by the confusion that surrounds gun laws and regulations. October 10, 1906 Cleveland, Ohio Harry Smith shot and killed 22-year-old teacher Mary Shepard at South Euclid School after she had rejected him. Seminole High School - Sanford, Fla. An 18-year-old student was shot three times on the Seminole High School campus on Jan. 19. It was a lot of fun seeing children shot, she told law enforcement, admitting how she liked to watch them squirm around after., Law enforcement investigations uncovered wave after wave of disturbing information. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. While not a new phenomenon -- one of the first reported school shootings occurred during the 1840s when a student shot and killed his professor John Anthony Gardner Davis, the . Townspeople were incensed. The motive of the shooting regarded who would own the school's African American Studies Center. It was fun to watch the children that had red and blue ski jackets on, as they made perfect targets, she later said to a police investigator. Gun Violence. Crow committed suicide after shooting Phy. Though the earliest school shooting is dated back to July 26, 1764, the most infamous school shooting in U.S. history has been Columbine and unfortunately has been the blueprint for so many other offenders across the country. For the mass shooting that occurred in 2023, see Killing of the Haight family. April 20, 1999 Littleton, Colorado 14 students (including shooters) and one teacher killed, 27 others wounded at Columbine High School in the nation's deadliest school shooting. An April 30, 1866 editorial in the New York Times argued against students carrying pistols, citing "pistols being dropped on the floor at balls or being exploded in very inconvenient ways. Columbine wasn't the first, or the deadliest, school shooting. Eyewitnesses had seen Ward shoot Butler. Kuhns had reportedly been courting Dellamea for over a year but the relationship was ended when Dellamea discovered that Kuhns was already married. After a nearly seven-hour SWAT negotiation, Spencer left her house, surrendered, and was arrested. The crime was never solved. A stray bullet also struck Deborah Faith Humphrey, 14, who died from her gunshot wound. Michael Carneal was 14 years old in 1997 when he fired on a prayer group, killing three; his request has been . 1995-1996 (29 Homicides and 35 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.) In that time, 952 people . Custodian Michael Suchar, a World War II veteran, was killed as he tried to drag Wraggs body away from the gunfire. Butler walked in and approached Ward. On July 26, 1764, more than two-hundred and fifty years ago and shortly after the French and Indian War, the first recorded mass school killing to happen here in our country came about.. February 8, 1968 Orangeburg, South Carolina In the days leading up to February 8, 1968, about 200 mostly student protesters gathered on the campus of South Carolina State University, located in the city of Orangeburg, to protest the segregation of the All Star Bowling Lane. One other student named Archie McCullough was wounded. April 15, 1908 Asheville, North Carolina Dr. C. O. Swinney shot and fatally wounded his 16-year-old daughter Nellie in a reception room at Normal and Collegiate Institute. December 15, 1997 Stamps, Arkansas Two students wounded. July 22, 1950 New York City, New York A 16-year-old boy was shot in the wrist and abdomen at the Public School 141 dance during an argument with a former classmate. As police attempted to put out the fire, an officer was injured by a thrown piece of banister. Neither did most of America. It's just one of the latest tragedies in a long. September 3, 1952 in Lawrenceville, Illinois After 25-year-old Georgine Lyon ended her engagement with Charles Petrach, Petrach shot and killed Lyon in a classroom at Lawrenceville High School where she worked as a librarian. They also planted bombs, although the explosives never detonated. 2002-2003 (14 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.) Brad Ricca is an Edgar Allan Poe Award-nominated author of several books of nonfiction. The first school shooting occurred On July 26, 1764, when a Lenape Indian shot and killed nine children and the school master of the Greencastle, Pennsylvania school (Galvin): as noted in Appendix A. 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. Law enforcement toxicology tests showed no sign of intoxicants in either Spencers blood or urine. The earliest known school shooting in the United States took place in 1764 and was known as the Pontiac Rebellion School Massacre; out of 13 children enrolled in the . 2006-2007 (38 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.) Though in a 1993 interview, Spencer claimed that the morning of her attack she had drunk whiskey, smoked marijuana, taken PCP, and had hallucinatory visions of commandos outside her window in combat gear. [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. Variations on the name in sources include the "Enoch Brown massacre" and the "Enoch Brown Indian massacre". Want to leave a comment? We would advise parents to look into it, and learn whether shooting is to be a part of the scholastic course which may be practiced on their boys; or else we advise them to see that their own boys are properly armed with the most approved and deadly-pistol, and that there may be an equal chance at least of their shooting as of being shot.". Wives and mothers testified and fainted. December 22, 1868 Chattanooga, Tennessee A boy who refused to be whipped and left school, returned with his brother and a friend, the next day to seek revenge on his teacher. It happened in Pennsylvania at the Enoch Brown School near the city that is now known as Greencastle, Pennsylvania. The Pontiac's Rebellion school massacre in 1764, is the first recorded case of school shooting in the US. Even Spencers self-inflicted scars became matters of interpretation. The Courier-Journal reported that Matt was upset with Butler because he had beaten his other brother, William, with 5 or 6 licks with a leather strap the previous day in school after William had been caught eating chestnuts in class. The federal Safe School Initiative was formed after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre to help determine how to prevent future attacks. Two days following the incident, NBC News received a package from Cho containing a video of him rambling on about wealthy brats. Besides this video, there is no evidence to suggest he targeted specific victims. Since then, the Columbine High School massacre has been remembered as one of the most infamous school shootings in U.S. history, and it has even been blamed for inspiring more recent shootings at other schools. On April 20, 1999, Harris and Klebold opened fire inside their high school near Denver. "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). [1], Historian Richard Middleton described the massacre[2] as "one of the most notorious incidents" of Pontiac's War. October 2, 1953 Chicago, Illinois 14-year-old Patrick Colletta was shot to death by 14-year-old Bernice Turner in a classroom of Kelly High School in Chicago. Kentucky man seeking parole says he still hears voices that led to school shooting. a sharp increase from just five years earlier. 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. And 2019 had 417. Earlier that day, he killed his mother at the home they shared. October 20, 1956: New York City, New York A junior high school student was wounded in the forearm yesterday by another student armed with a home-made weapon at Booker T. Washington Junior High School. 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. May 16, 1986 The Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis In a ransom scheme, David and Doris Young, both in their forties, took 150 students and teachers hostage on this spring day. The early 1980s saw only a few multi-victim school shootings including; January 20, 1983 St. Louis County, Missouri the Parkway South Middle School, eighth grader brought a blue duffel bag containing two pistols, and a murder/suicide note that outlined his intention to kill the next person heard speaking ill of his older brother Ken. The community and country were shocked to see this teenage girl with long wavy hair and large glasses as the source of such evil. Whitman grew up with an abusive father and joined the Marines in 1959 as a means of escape. The attack was the first documented shooting at a U.S. primary or secondary schoolhouse. Andrew Kehoe (55) methodically planned out his attack, spending months placing dynamite and explosives around the school. Number of K-12 school shootings U.S. 1970-2022, by active shooter status. A 15-year-old has killed four fellow students and injured seven others, including a teacher, in a high school shooting in the US state of Michigan. 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. He then entered 3rd grade classroom and wounded six more students. Its report looks at "incidents of 'targeted. He died in this second explosion along with several others. Only two children survived. On Saturday, Tim Throne, who heads the Oxford Community. The Bath School disaster was a pair of bombings that took place in 1927 at Bath Consolidated School in a small township in Michigan. Only two children survived. He then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. On the morning of April 20, 1999, Eric Harris (18) and Dylan Klebold (17) entered Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Now, talk of her book has reignited the conversation not just about Columbine, but about the long history of mass shootings in the U.S., including recent tragedies at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, and Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. [4] When the warriors returned to their village on the Muskingum River in the Ohio Country and showed the scalps, an elder Delaware chief rebuked them as cowards for attacking children. 2004-2023 K12academics.com All Rights Reserved. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) On the morning of January 29, 1979, teenager Brenda Spencer took a break from shooting people through her window to answer the phone. Whether youre a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here, weve got you covered. A doctor was summoned, but Butlers wound was too grievous and he died after hours of suffering. 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. [11], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}394929N 774521W / 39.8246N 77.7559W / 39.8246; -77.7559. David wounded John Miller, a teacher who was trying to flee, then killed himself. A service revolver was found by his side. He became animated. Butler was lifted up by several of his students and taken to a nearby house. In 1,259 incidents, there was one shooter . 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. All in all, they killed 12 students, one teacher, and themselves, and they wounded 21 others. Nicholas then injured Sam Marino. The bullet lodged in the wall just above the teacher's head. February 24, 1903 Inman, South Carolina Edward Foster, a 17-year-old student at Inman High school, was shot and fatally wounded by his teacher Reuben Pitts after he had jerked a rod from Pitts' hands to resist punishment. In 2012, twenty childrenthe majority of whom were six or sevenwere killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. . This tragedy sent shock waves through the nation as communities struggled to understand what could cause students to carry out such violence at school. The majority of mass school shootings were carried out by a lone gunman, with just two - Columbine and the 1998 shooting at Westside School in Jonesboro, Arkansas - carried out by two gunmen . He left behind a wife and infant daughter. When the warriors returned to their village on the Muskingum River in the Ohio Country and showed the scalps, an elder Delaware chief rebuked them as cowards for attacking children. The Virginia Tech School shooting in 2007 had the highest body count of any school shooting in US History to that date. The school master and 10 children were killed.. School massacres, such as the one that involved the Ohio National Guard and protesting students at Kent State University, Charles Whitman and his shootings of students from the tower at the University of Texas, the Columbine High school massacre, the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school and the Virginia Tech massacre. Peakes was reportedly upset that the APS had rejected a pamphlet he had written. In 2014, the school was demolished and replaced by a new one with a series of surveillance cameras. Now considered the deadliest school shooting, the Virginia Tech attack was once the deadliest mass shooting in the US in general but now ranks third. One other student named Archie McCullough was wounded. Butler, 27, with a trim black beard, was adored by most of his students, some of whom were as young as 13. The Ward trial began April 18, 1854, in nearby Elizabethtown, having been moved to an adjoining county because of the public outcry. 1998-1999 (25 Homicides from school shootings in the U.S.) On July 26, 1764, four Delaware (Lenape) Native Americans entered a settlers' log schoolhouse in the Province of Pennsylvania and killed the schoolmaster, Enoch Brown, and ten students. 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.). (In 1840, a University of Virginia teacher had been shot by a student. RED LAKE HIGH SCHOOL, March 2005, 9 dead. 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. There were accusations by the prosecution of bribery and jury tampering, as well as claims that the schoolchildren were being coached in their testimony by another teacher. Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, Glen L. Cump, "A Disquisition Portraying the History Relative to the Enoch Brown Incident". The Enoch Brown School Massacre is one of the first documented school shootings in U.S. history. "We thought there was . Andrew Wurst, 14, was charged. It was reported that after Turner refused to date Colletta he handed her the gun and dared her to pull the trigger, telling her that the gun was "only a toy." One by one, his students testified to how he had helped them. September 26, 1988 Greenwood, South Carolina In the cafeteria of the Oakland Elementary School 19 year-old James William Wilson Jr., shot and killed Shequilla Bradley, 8 and wounded eight other children with a 9-round .22 caliber pistol. West Nickel Mines Shooting. 2003-2004 (29 Deaths resulting from school shootings in the U.S.) After murdering his mother at their home, Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School before taking his own life. The gunmen were identified as Eric Harris . He had a history of racist comments and supposedly had ties to white supremacists, often voicing his desire to shoot police and anti-fascist protestors. The incident took place after an all-night beer party. Boy. 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. Brown pleaded with the warriors to spare the children before being shot and scalped. 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. The 17-year-old was in environmental science class at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida. For the mass shooting that occurred in 2023, see. That morning, Spencer had told her father she was too ill to attend class. Who do you thinks doing the shooting?, The reporter then asked Why? and the answer Spencer gave would become famous. However, in my opinion, nothing is more tragic than mass school shootings and the loss of innocent lives. The officers fired into the crowd, killing three young men: Samuel Hammond, Delano Middleton, and Henry Smith, and wounding twenty-seven others. Inside were the schoolmaster, Enoch Brown, and a number of young students. He went into the girls restroom to reload where he was attacked by Kat Finkbeiner, a Physical Education teacher. With lyrics like And he can see no reasons / because there are no reasons, it topped the U.K. charts for four straight weeks. Headmaster Elliott Speer was murdered by a shotgun blast through the window of his study at Northfield Mount Hermon School. The bowling alley was owned by the late Harry K. Floyd. He asked a few short questions to confirm that the young girl was indeed the culprit. She is scheduled for another in 2019. Kinkel had been arrested and released a day earlier for bringing a gun to school. [3] Four children were taken as prisoners. Contributing writer, Timeline (@Timeline_Now); reader and excavator of generally good things. January 30, 1968 Miami, Florida 16-year-old Blanche Ward shot and killed fellow student Linda Lipscomb, 16, with a .22-caliber pistol at Miami Jackson High School. They exchanged words that were hard for witnesses to make out. Then in a quiet voice, Matt Ward demanded to see Mr. Butler, one of the teachers at the high school. Character witnesses remarked that Spencer would often talk about guns, and that she would shoot at cans and birds for fun. Have a question about history? 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 The student then pulled out a 9mm assault rifle and opened fire. 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. This was deadliest act of mass murder at a school in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Education, in the 1998-1999 School Year, 3,523 Students (57% High School, 33% Junior High, 10% Elementary) were expelled for bringing a firearm to school.