History of School Shootings in the United States: Y2K-2001
History of School Shootings in the United States: Y2K-2001
On February 29, 2000
in Flint, Michigan, 6 year old student Kayla Rolland was fatally shot by a 6-year-old named Dedrick Owens. Dedrick found the gun while living at his uncle's house, a “drug house” where guns were often traded for drugs.
Rolland was the youngest school shooting victim in the United States until the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, and her killer remains the youngest fatal school shooter, and the second-youngest school shooter. The child was not charged with murder due to his incredibly young age.
Dedrick was known to have behavioral issues, often swearing, giving people the finger, pinching, and hitting. Weeks prior to the shooting he stabbed a girl with a pencil. Dedrick had also previously attacked Kayla Rolland, and the day prior to the killing, he tried to kiss her.
Dedrick brought the firearm and a knife with him to school that day. During a change of classes, while they were moving up a floor on the stairs, saying "I don't like you" before pulling the trigger and killing Kayla Rolland in the front of 22 other students and their teacher. He threw the handgun in a wastebasket and hid in a nearby bathroom. He was found, hiding in a corner, by a teacher before being taken into police custody.
He and his two younger siblings were eventually placed in the care of an aunt. Jamelle James, the uncle and the owner of the pistol, eventually pled no contest to involuntary manslaughter and spent 2 and a half years in prison before being released on probation. Buell Elementary School closed in 2002 and was demolished in 2009.
On May 26, 2000
in Lake Worth, Florida a 13-year-old honor student named Nathaniel Brazill was sent home for throwing water balloons. He returned with a handgun, and shot popular teacher Barry Grunow, killing him.
Brazill was tried as an adult and convicted of second-degree murder for the killing of Grunow and aggravated assault for pointing the gun at another teacher. Brazill was sentenced to 28 years in prison followed by 7 years of supervised probation.
Pam Grunow, widow of the Barry Grunow, sued the Brazill family friend that owned the handgun, the pawn shop that sold the handgun, and the Palm Beach County School Board. These cases were all settled out of court, reportedly for over a million dollars.
Grunow filed a negligence lawsuit against the gun manufacturer that resulted in a $1.2 million jury verdict, but the judge set aside the verdict, and in 2005 the Florida 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that Florida law did not support her negligence claim and the judgement was dismissed.
Brazill is housed at the Jackson Correctional Institution and is expected to be released in May of 2028. Brazill earned his GED and certification as a paralegal while in jail. Barry Grunow was reportedly his favorite teacher.
On June 28, 2000
in Seattle, Washington the 58 year old Director of the Division of Pathology of the University of Washington Medical Center, Rodger C. Haggitt, was shot by a 42 year old Taiwanese immigrant and U.S. citizen, Jian Chen.
Chen had just completed the second year of his forensic pathology residency, and was decimated to learn his contract would not be renewed. Chen wrote that this would dishonor his family. Chen commited suicide after killing Rodger Haggitt. In 2001 the Rodger C. Haggitt Gastrointestinal Pathology Society was named in memory of Dr. Haggitt.
On August 28, 2000
in Fayetteville, Arkansas a 36-year-old PhD candidate named James Easton Kelly killed 67-year-old Dr. John R. Locke. Kelly was studying Comparative Literature at the University of Arkansas, and Locke was the professor of English overseeing his coursework.
Kelly had just been dismissed from this PhD program for lack of progress toward his degree. Kelly shot Locke three times before committing suicide in the director's office.
On September 26, 2000
in New Orleans, Louisiana 13 year-olds Darrel Johnson and Alfred Anderson were charged with attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of 15 year-old William Pennington. Pennington, after being shot, gained control of the gun and shot Johnson in the back.
To try and prevent violence, Carter G. Woodson Middle School had students pass through metal detectors. The two Grade 8 students were arguing with each other when a 13-year-old Alfred Anderson, who had recently been expelled for fighting, slipped the weapon to the shooter through a chain link fence. After shooting Pennington in the chest, 13-year-old Darrell Johnson dropped the gun, which Pennington then picked up, shooting Johnson in the back. Both were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Judge C. Hearn Taylor sentenced Darrell Johnson and Alfred Anderson to "juvenile life.'' Hearn originally convicted Anderson and Johnson of attempted second-degree murder and possession of a firearm on school grounds, but later later reduced the murder conviction to aggravated battery by shooting.
On December 1, 2000
in San Diego, California a 15-year-old Junipero Serra High School student who threatened to shoot a classmate ended up accidentally shooting himself, causing only minor injuries.
On March 5, 2001
in Santee, California at Santana High School 15-year-old student, Charles Andrew Williams killed two students, 14-year-old Bryan Zuckor, and 17-year-old Randy Gordon and wounded thirteen others with an eight-shot .22-caliber revolver.
In the weeks before the shooting, Williams allegedly attempted to speak with a school counselor but was sent back to class because the office was too full. He reportedly complained multiple times about being bullied.
As the semester wore on, friends report Williams saying he "didn't want to live anymore," which resulted in more name calling and other bullying. Williams and his classmates reported that his drama teacher had humiliated him during an acting exercise for which he was not prepared the friday before the shooting.
On at least two occasions Williams spoke of planning to "pull a Columbine" but these threats were never reported to the school. Friends claimed that Williams brought up his plan repeatedly prior to the shooting but would claim he was just joking. At least two friends claimed to have been warned by Williams the day before the attack but thought he was joking.
Charles Andrew Williams entered a bathroom at Santana High School with a revolver taken from his father's locked gun cabinet and fatally shot a freshman. He left the bathroom and began firing indiscriminately, killing another student. According to one witness, Williams repeatedly walked out of the bathroom, fired shots, then went back into the bathroom. Others recounted Williams methodically confronting and shooting other students.
A student teacher, Tim Estes, and Campus Security Supervisor, Peter Ruiz, walked into the bathroom to investigate what Ruiz thought was firecrackers. Entering the restroom, Ruiz was shot once in the shoulder. As Estes and Ruiz turned and ran, Ruiz was hit twice in the back and Estes was hit in the back.
Two off-duty police officers visiting the school approached the bathroom and called for backup. Responding officers found Williams in the bathroom with two wounded victims, with one officer reporting that Williams was in the process of reloading the weapon. Williams surrendered, saying: "It's just me, I'm the only one."
Williams was arrested and convicted of murder and attempted murder. He was sentenced to life with the chance of parole after fifty years.
On March 7, 2001
in Williamsport, Pennsylvania a 14-year-old student, Elizabeth Catherine Bush, wounded fellow student Kimberly Marchese in the cafeteria of Bishop Neumann High School.
“I haven’t talked to Elizabeth Bush for about a week or two,” the 13-year-old said shooting victim said. “And there was no argument before the shooting whatsoever and she was not behind me when she shot me in the shoulder. I did not know she was there…”
Elizabeth’s parents told The Harrisburg Patriot-News that Elizabeth had been the victim of harassment and bullying at previous schools, and that while she was accepted at Bishop Neumann initially, she had recently been the victim of insults and teasing again.
Catherine Bush said that her daughter, who hoped to become a human rights activist, was called a homosexual and "vicious, vicious names". "She was being told to get out of town or school or something would happen to her or her family," Catherine Bush said. "Stones would be thrown at her after school on occasion."
She was picked on so much that according to her lawyer she started skipping school, until the school administration threatened legal action if she did not attend regularly.
"I knew Elizabeth Bush I think a little bit more than other people did," she said. "When she came to the school last year, I didn't really know her that much, but then as the year went on I got to know her. She was the kind of girl that was quiet, but I know she had a lot of problems with herself and her family. She wasn't in the best health mentally, but I know she used to cut her wrists last year, but she got help with that," Marchese added. "She used to tell me she used to be able to talk to God, but she told me she doesn't hear him anymore."
Marchese and other students said she talked about killing herself as she paced the cafeteria while other students crouched under tables and lay on the floor.
"I think it was a cry for help and she never was doing it to hurt anyone, to aim at anyone," fellow student Elizabeth Adzema said. "It was just to get everyone to know that she needed help."
Elizabeth Bush was released from custody in 2004.
On March 22, 2001
in El Cajon, California an 18-year-old former student named Jason Hoffman opened fire at Granite Hills High School, injuring five people before being shot and wounded by now retired police officer Rich Agundez.
Jason Hoffman was convicted of assault and sentenced to prison, where he committed suicide, killing himself in 2002. In an interview a decade later, retired officer Rich Agundez said, “I feel it's not the gun. It's the people, social media, bullying, medication.”
On March 30, 2001
in Gary, Indiana a 17-year-old named Donald Ray Burt Jr., fatally shot Neal Boyd IV, with one bullet to the head in a parking lot outside Lew Wallace High School.
Burt was sentenced to 57 years in prison.
On May 16, 2001
in Parkland, Washington a 40-year-old music instructor and organist named James D. Holloway was shot multiple times with a .22-caliber handgun at Pacific Lutheran University by a 55-year-old man from Tacoma. The shooter was not a student or employee of the university and also killed himself.
The victim was apparently chosen at random; authorities said Donald Douglas Cowan killed James D. Holloway when he couldn't find Kathleen Farner, whom he met in Hawaii in 1966 and with whom he had became obsessed over the years. Kathleen reported that she barely remembered him until he began stalking her in 1995; she was not on campus the day of the murder.