Barry Loukaitis

Infobox Criminal


subject_name = Barry Loukaitis
image_size =
image_caption = Barry Loukaitis after the shooting
date_of_birth = birth date and age|1981|02|26
place_of_birth =
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
charge = Murder, attempted murder, kidnapping
penalty = Two life sentences without parole, and an additional 205 years
status = Incarcerated
occupation = Unemployed
spouse =
parents = Terry Loukaitis
Joann Phillips

Barry Loukaitis (born February 26, 1981) is a convicted American murderer. He perpetrated a school shooting at Frontier Junior High School in Moses Lake, Washington, United States on February 2, 1996, in which two students and a teacher were fatally shot during a hostage taking of the classroom the shooting was held in. Additionally, a female student was injured during an escape of the hostage crisis.

Loukaitis is currently serving two life sentences without the possibility of a parole, with an additional 205 years.

Early life

Loukaitis was born to Terry Loukaitis and Joann Phillips. He spent the early part of his life in Iowa and Minnesota and moved to Washington during his elementary school career. When Loukaitis was young, his father began an affair and his mother became increasingly distant and often spoke of suicide. She frequently implied that Barry would also have to kill himself, and had informed him that the date of the double-suicide would be on Valentine's Day of 1996. He had also suffered from clinical depression, a mental illness present in the last four generations of the Loukaitis and Phillips families.

Loukaitis was widely believed to be frequently bullied in school, which impelled him to cause the murderous school rampage. [ [http://www.cfchildren.org/articlef/walls1f/] ] Those who knew him claim that he complained of being beaten by other students, being sexually harassed, having his head repeatedly stuffed into toilets, and being held down while another student urinated on him. [ [http://ontheotherfoot.blogspot.com/2006/02/groundhogs-bullies-lawyers-and.html On the Other Foot: Groundhogs, bullies, lawyers and children, Part One ] ] He was also taking Ritalin at the time of the shooting.

The shooting

On February 2, 1996, Loukaitis dressed as a wild west-style gunslinger and used a duster to conceal a hunting rifle and two handguns. He was carrying approximately 80 rounds of ammunition.

Loukaitis walked a distance from his house to his school, where he had entered his algebra classroom. He opened fire on his teacher with one round in the chest, immediately killing her. He reportedly said, "This sure beats algebra, doesn't it?," a quote from the Stephen King novel "Rage", after shooting the teacher. He then subsequently fired at students, killing two, one of whom had bullied him in the past. A girl was also shot in the arm. Loukaitis took hostages for a short period of time in the classroom before a teacher entered the classroom and tackled Loukaitis, and assisted the evacuation of students.

Conviction and imprisonment

Loukaitis was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, 16 counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated assault and is now serving two consecutive mandatory life sentences without parole, plus an additional 205 years at Clallam Bay Corrections Center in Washington State.

Victims

* Leona Caires, 48, teacher
* Arnold Fritz, 14, student
* Manuel Vela, 14, student

References