History of School Shootings in the United States: 2002-2004
History of School Shootings in the United States: 2002-2004
On January 15, 2002
in New York City a 17-year-old named Vincent Rodriguez wounded two students at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School in Manhattan, with a semi-automatic pistol. He was reportedly retaliating for harassment of his girlfriend. In February 2003, Rodriguez was sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of assault and attempted assault.
On January 16, 2002
in Grundy, Virginia at the Appalachian School of Law, recently dismissed graduate student, 42-year-old Peter Odighizuwa, killed 42-year-old dean, Anthony Sutin, 41-year-old professor Thomas Blackwell, and 33-year-old student, Angela Dales. Three other students were wounded.
There are contradictory accounts of what happened next when Odighizuwa left the building. According to student Tracy Bridges, who was a a county sheriff's deputy from Asheville, North Carolina, upon hearing gunfire, he and his fellow student Mikael Gross, ran to their vehicles to retrieve their firearms. Bridges retrieved his .357 Magnum pistol from his car and Mikael Gross, a police officer from Grifton, North Carolina retrieved a 9 mm pistol and body armor from his.
Bridges and Gross approached Odighizuwa from different sides, with Bridges yelling at Odighizuwa to drop his gun. Odighizuwa then dropped his firearm and was subdued by several other unarmed students, including Ted Besen, Daniel Boyd, and Todd Ross.
According to Ted Besen, before Odighizuwa saw Bridges and Gross with their weapons, Odighizuwa set down his gun and raised his arms like he was mocking people. Besen, a Marine veteran and former police officer in Wilmington, North Carolina, then engaged physically Odighizuwa, knocking him to the ground.
Besen says that Bridges and Gross then arrived with their guns once Odighizuwa was already tackled. Additional witnesses at the scene stated they did not see Bridges or Gross with their guns at the time Besen started subduing Odighizuwa. With Odighizuwa securely held down, Gross went back to his car again to retrieve handcuffs for Odighizuwa until police could arrive to take him into custody.
In 2002, Odighizuwa was found incompetent to stand trial. He was referred for psychiatric treatment. After three years of treatment, Odighizuwa was found mentally competent and pled guilty to the murders to avoid the death penalty. Odighizuwa received three life sentences and an additional 28 years without the possibility of parole. He is currently serving out his sentence at Red Onion State Prison.
Odighizuwa's son Owa was a 3rd round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft by the NY Giants. His other son, Osa, was also drafted in the 3rd round in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.
On February 20, 2002
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin 16-year-old Washington High School student, Joseph Johnson Jr., was killed by 22 year old Phillip D. Jackson Jr., when violence erupted between rival supporters in the parking lot, after a basketball game against Vincent High School.
Jackson was charged with homicide for the incident, and also charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide while armed and intimidating a witness while armed for another incident witnessed by police upon his arrest.
On October 7, 2002 in Bowie, Maryland one victim of the Beltway sniper attacks was 13-year-old Iran Brown, who was wounded as he arrived at Benjamin Tasker Middle School. His aunt, a nurse who had just dropped him off, rushed him to a hospital emergency room.
Despite serious injuries, Brown survived the attack. The shooters, Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, were later convicted of numerous unrelated murders committed during their killing spree. Muhammad was executed in 2009; Malvo was sentenced to life in prison.
On October 28, 2002
in Tucson, Arizona Failing nursing college student and Gulf War veteran, 40-year-old Robert Stewart Flores Jr., killed three assistant professors of nursing at the University of Arizona; 50-year-old Robin Rogers, 44-year-old Cheryl McGaffic, and 45-year-old Barbara Monroe. Flores then commited suicide by shooting himself.
On October 29, 2002
in Jersey City, New Jersey a 15-year-old student was shot in the abdomen and wounded inside the basement of Lincoln High School during an argument with another student. Another 15-year-old student was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
On April 2, 2003
in Washington, D.C. a 10th-grader was shot in the leg near Cardozo high school in Columbia Heights, resulting in a three-hour lockdown at six D.C. public schools to allow for police to search for possible gunmen.
On April 14, 2003
in New Orleans, Louisiana at John McDonogh High School, someone opened fire with an AK-47 and a handgun in the gymnasium of John McDonogh High School, killing a 15-year-old student and wounding three female students. Five suspects, ranging in age from 17 to 19, were arrested following the shooting. Booked with first-degree murder were 19-year-old Ralph M. Enclade; 17-year-old Tyrone Crump; 18-year-old Herbert Everett, 17-year-old Michelle Fulton, 18-year-old Steven Williams, and 17-year-old James Tate. Williams was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Tate was sentenced to fifteen years.
Police say 19-year-old Larry Moses allegedly hid three of the suspects after the shooting and was booked with accessory after the fact. None of the suspects was a student at McDonogh.
On April 24, 2003
in Red Lion, Pennsylvania 14-year-old student, James Sheets, entered Red Lion Area Junior High School armed with his stepfather's pistols'. He killed the school's principal, Eugene Segro, before killing himself.
On May 9, 2003
in Cleveland, Ohio Biswanath Halder, a 62-year-old business school alumnus of Case Western Reserve University, killed a graduate student, and wounded a professor and another student with a semi-automatic rifle.
Halder, dressed in camouflage, wearing a flak vest, and carrying a semi-automatic rifle, entered the Peter B. Lewis Building of Case Western Reserve University, roaming the halls and shooting the rifle. He quickly found himself face to face with Norman Wallace, a 30-year-old graduate student, whom he shot and killed.
Hearing the shots, other people ran to get away from the gunman. As it was a Friday, the school had fewer students and staff around than at other times during the week, but nearly 100 people were trapped in the building. Police and authorities advised them by e-mail to hide and barricade their offices. Some hid in closets. The irregular design of the building by architect Frank Gehry provided the shooter with places of concealment, and he proceeded throughout the building, shooting at anyone he encountered. He exchanged frequent gunfire with law enforcement forces.
For more than seven hours, Halder held off Cleveland city police, SWAT officers, FBI and forces of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department. He conducted sniper-like gun battles from positions in the building, but they gradually forced him upward in the building. As the police and other forces were able to clear each floor of the five-story building, they escorted people to safety.
Halder was ultimately apprehended by a SWAT team in a closet of a fifth-floor classroomHe held the building and its nearly 100 occupants hostage for seven hours, and exchanged fire with police and SWAT officers several times during the incident, before being wounded and apprehended by a SWAT team. He was sentenced to life in prison.
On September 24, 2003
in Cold Spring, Minnesota at Rocori High School a 15-year-old named John Jason McLaughlin arrived at school with a loaded Colt .22-caliber handgun with the intention of confronting Bartell, whom McLaughlin claimed bullied him over his acne.
McLaughlin met Bartell and Rollins as they were exiting the school locker room, and shot Bartell the chest. McLaughlin fired a second shot at Bartell, which missed and hit Rollins in the neck, killing him instantly. Bartell attempted to flee the scene, but was followed by McLaughlin, who fired another shot at Bartell, hitting him in the forehead. Gym teacher Mark Johnson then confronted McLaughlin, who initially brandished the gun, but then emptied the bullets from the gun and dropped it on the ground. Johnson secured the gun and took McLaughlin to the school office, where he was later taken into custody by the police. Bartell was taken to the St. Cloud Hospital, where he died 16 days later, on October 11, 2003.
McLaughlin had stated to police that he had planned the shooting "several days in advance". Of the six mental health experts who were brought in to testify in court, three diagnosed McLaughlin with schizophrenia while the other three diagnosed him with major depression in remission and an "emerging personality disorder". McLaughlin was found guilty of first and second-degree murder. McLaughlin was found guilty of first and second-degree murder. In August 2005, he was sentenced with two consecutive prison sentences. McLaughlin was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder and 12 years in prison for second-degree murder.
Jason McLaughlin is currently 34 years-old and was incarcerated at Minnesota Correctional Facility Stillwater before being moved to the Minnesota Correctional Facility Oak Park Heights. He will not be eligible for parole until 2038, when he will be 50 years-old.
In September 2006 the families of victims Aaron Rollins and Seth Bartell filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the McLaughlins, the Rocori school district, and former Rocori High School Principal Doug Staska. The families alleged that the school district had prior knowledge of the shootings and that they could have prevented the attack. The lawsuit was initially dismissed, but after being re-filed was settled out of court for $200,000.
On February 2, 2004
in Washington, D.C. Thomas J. Boykin was acquitted of the murder of 17-year-old James Richardson, a football player at Ballou High School in Southeast Washington. An 18-year-old student was also grazed in the leg by a bullet.
Boykin pleaded guilty to manslaughter a few months later. He told Judge Robert I. Richter yesterday that he realized he had made the biggest mistake of his life, then he directed remarks to Richardson's family.
"I want the Richardson family to know that I'm very apologetic," he said. "I just want to say please forgive me for all the hurt that I have caused." Boykin received a 10-year term for manslaughter and an additional six years for a related weapons offense.
On February 9, 2004
in East Greenbush, New York a 16-year-old named Jon W. Romano fired two rounds from a shotgun before wounding a teacher with a third at Columbia High School. He was tackled by the assistant principal and charged with one count of attempted murder.
In August of 2022, Romano was the victim of an attack at a homeless center in which a man wielding a sword attacked Romano and caused severe injuries to his arms and legs. He also was struck in the head, according to a police report. Romano "works throughout the building, manages our clothing pantry and also helps out wherever he’s needed," according to Kristen Giroux, deputy director of Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless, which operates the Sheridan Avenue shelter.
During 42-year-old Randell D. Mason’s arraignment for attempted second-degree murder prosecutor told a judge that Romano remained intubated and that doctors had "reattached" his arms and lower leg but remained concerned about the condition of his leg.
Earlier in the year, Romano had spoken to law enforcement officials during an event at the Saratoga Casino and Hotel, where he told the audience about the importance of looking out for signs that students are in trouble.
"If we can have them opening up and getting rid of any toxicity that might be building up in them, then hopefully nobody will even come close to doing anything that I have done," Romano had said.
On May 7, 2004
in Randallstown, Maryland two students were charged with a school shooting that arose from a dispute after a basketball game at Randallstown High School. Four persons were injured, two seriously. One student was paralyzed from the waist down.
Baltimore County Circuit Judge Patrick Cavanaugh sentenced 18-year-old former Randallstown High School student Matthew Timothy McCullough to 100 years in prison for his role in the shootings that left one student partially paralyzed and three others wounded.
Baltimore County Circuit Judge Patrick Cavanaugh went far beyond state sentencing guidelines, saying “You, Mr. McCullough, are a suburban terrorist."
"You're also a coward if you started all this over someone calling you a name." He added that he had seen no sign of remorse or reaction at all from McCullough as the victims' families spoke in court. "It appears to me," Cavanaugh told the defendant, "that you have no conscience at all.