History of School Shootings in the United States: 2010-2011
History of School Shootings in the United States: 2010-2011
On February 5, 2010
in Madison, Alabama 14-year-old student, Hammad Memon, killed 14-year-old Todd Brown at Discovery Middle School as classes were changing. The shooting was possibly related to gang activity. In May 2013, Memon pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to thirty years of prison. After Memon is released from prison, he is likely to be deported to his native Pakistan.
On February 12, 2010
in Huntsville, Alabama at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, during a biology department meeting with approximately twelve people in attendance, 44-year-old professor of biology Amy Bishop stood up and opened fire. After killing three and wounding three others, Bishop was pushed out of the meeting room by the survivors after her gun ran out of ammo. After being arrested without incident by the police outside the science building, Bishop denied that the shooting even happened. Colleagues would say she was prone to volatile reactions.
Bishop's husband said the denial of tenure had “been an issue" recently. He said that it was his understanding that Bishop "exceeded the qualifications for tenure" and that she was distressed at the likelihood of losing her position. She approached members of the University of Alabama System's board of trustees, and hired a lawyer who was "finding one problem after another with the process." One point of dispute was whether two of her papers had been published in time to count toward tenure. Bishop, who gave more weight to obtaining patents than publishing papers, reportedly received several warnings that she needed to publish more to receive tenure.
In 1986, Bishop shot and killed her brother in Braintree, Massachusetts, in an incident ruled an accident. In 1993, Bishop and her husband were questioned after a pipe bomb threat incident toward her lab supervisor, a case which remains unsolved.
On February 19, 2010
in DeKalb, Illinois less than a week after Northern Illinois University marked the second anniversary of a mass shooting on campus that claimed the lives of five students, the DeKalb school was the scene of more gun violence when 24-year-old NIU student, Brian Mulder, refused entry to 22-year-old Zachary R. Isaacman, after he had tried to follow a female resident into the Stevenson Residence Hall North, where they were living, because he was not a resident. Moments later, while outside the dorm smoking with a friend, Mulder was shot by Isaacman, with a handgun in the leg above the knee. Isaacman tried to flee, but was caught by police within minutes. He had been suspended from his fraternity not long before the shooting.
On February 23, 2010
in Littleton, Colorado at Deer Creek Middle School, 32-year-old Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood opened fire from a rifle in a parking lot, and wounded eighth-graders Reagan Webber and Matt Thieu, before being restrained by a 57-year-old Math teacher, David Benke, and held there until his arrest. In October 2011, Eastwood was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
On May 11, 2010
in Bladenboro, North Carolina a West Bladen High School student was shot on campus as students were leaving school for the day. Investigators said the incident started when a fight broke out between two groups of students near the high school's entrance.
On September 8, 2010
in Detroit, Michigan two students were wounded in front of Mumford High School by 17-year-old Steven Jamal Hare. He was tried as an adult and charged with assault with intent to kill. In 2012, Hare was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
On September 28, 2010
in Austin, Texas a 19-year-old sophomore student Colton Tooley, wielding an AK-47 and wearing a ski mask, opened fire and then killed himself in a University of Texas library.
On October 1, 2010
in Salinas, California a 15-year-old student named Jose Daniel Cisneros was killed after being shot several times on an athletic field at Alisal High School while walking to school. Police said that the shooting was gang-related.
On October 8, 2010
in Carlsbad, California a 41-year-old Brendan O'Rourke climbed over a fence and opened fire with a handgun in a playground of Kelly Elementary School, which had 230 students; two second-grade female students were grazed in the arms before O'Rourke was subdued by a construction worker. He was found guilty of seven counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to 189 years to life in prison.
On November 29, 2010
in Marinette, Wisconsin a 15-year-old Samuel Hengel took 23 students and a teacher hostage inside a classroom of Marinette High School for five hours. He had stormed into the class, firing with a handgun at a movie projector. Police persuaded Hengel to release the hostages. After officers entered the building, Hengel shot himself in the head. He died the next day.
On December 6, 2010
in Aurora, Colorado in a gang-related attack outside Aurora Central High School, a 17-year-old girl was paralyzed. She was one of a group of students outside the school. 20-year-old Luis Enrique Guzman-Rincon, had fired shots from a car trying to hit gang rivals. Guzman-Ricon was sentenced to thirty-five years in prison.
On January 5, 2011
in Omaha, Nebraska at Millard South High School, 18-year-old student, Robert Butler Jr., killed assistant principal Dr. Vicki Kaspar and wounded principal Curtis Case before opening fire at police in the front office area, wounding the school nurse to be with gunshot debris. Butler then drove to a parking lot and shot himself as police cornered him.
On March 25, 2011
in Martinsville, Indiana a 15-year-old suspended student named Michael Phelps returned to Martinsville West Middle School with a handgun. In the entrance of the school, Phelps shot 15-year-old Chance Jackson twice in the abdomen, critically wounding him. Phelps fled the school and dropped the handgun; he was arrested shortly after. Jackson had to undergo surgery three times to save his life; he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Phelps was convicted of attempted murder in August 2011, and was sentenced to thirty years in prison and five years of probation.
On March 31, 2011
in Houston, Texas multiple gunmen opened fire during a powder puff football game at Worthing High School. One man, an 18-year-old former student named Tremaine De Ante' Paul, died. Five other people were injured.
On April 19, 2011
in Houston, Texas a 6-year-old boy took a semi-automatic pistol in his backpack to Ross Elementary, Later that morning as he and more than 40 other kindergartners were having lunch in a crowded cafeteria, the boy accidentally fired the gun as he was showing it off to friends. The boy, as well as another 6-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl were injured. Houston police say the gun belonged to a friend of the boy's family.
On May 23, 2011
in Pearl City, Hawaii a 14-year-old male student was accused of firing a handgun on the campus of Highlands Intermediate School, wounding one student. The gunman was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Two other suspects were arrested in connection with the shooting.
On August 19, 2011
in Albany, Georgia an Albany State University student was shot on campus.
On September 28, 2011
in Jurupa Valley, California 64-year-old Donaciano Aguirre shot his 61-year-old wife and teacher's aide, Maria Celia Aguirre, in the parking lot of Patriot High School (California) at 10:40am. He then committed suicide and the school was put on lockdown. After being searched thoroughly, no other victims were found and students were let go late in the afternoon.
On October 24, 2011
in Fayetteville, North Carolina at Cape Fear High School a 15-year-old named Catilyn Abercrombie, was shot in the neck with a rifle by fellow student, 15-year-old Charles Underwood. She was hospitalized for two months in a serious condition. Underwood was arrested and charged with attempted murder. He was convicted of attempted first-degree murder and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.
On December 8, 2011
in Blacksburg, Virginia 22-year-old Ross Truett Ashley, part-time business student at Radford University, killed a police officer engaged in an unrelated traffic stop on the campus of Virginia Tech. He then committed suicide in a nearby parking lot.
December 9, 2011
in Edinburg, Texas two students were shot after school at Harwell Middle School in Edinburg, Texas while trying out for their school's basketball team. The shooting was allegedly done by an adult who was shooting at a target range off campus.