Weston High School shooting

The Weston High School shooting was a school shooting that occurred on September 29, 2006 in Weston High School in Cazenovia, Wisconsin, United States. A 15-year-old student had entered the school armed with a shotgun and a handgun, and shot and fatally wounded Principal John Klang.

Details

Eric Hainstock,15, a ninth-grader at the school, entered the school with a handgun and a shotgun, both owned by his parents. [ [http://www.channel3000.com/news/9965185/detail.html Principal Dies In School Shooting - News Story - WISC Madison ] ] After arriving at school at approximately 8:00 a.m., he aimed the shotgun at a teacher. The school custodian wrestled the shotgun away from Hainstock after a struggle. Still armed with the handgun, Hainstock sought out and confronted the school's principal, John Alfred Klang. Klang attempted to subdue Hainstock; in response, Hainstock shot Klang several times. Klang then managed to sweep away the gun and wrestle Hainstock to the ground, where others helped to hold him down.

Klang was treated at Reedsburg Area Medical Center and then flown to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, where he later died as a result of the wounds he received. For his actions in wrestling away the gun and subduing Hainstock, Klang was posthumously awarded the Carnegie Medal by the Carnegie Hero Fund [cite web|url=http://www.plumsystems.com/db/chf/plum_press2.asp?id=79725|title=John A. Klang Press Release|accessdate=2008-06-07] [cite web|url=http://www.carnegiehero.org/awardees_recent.php#1|title=Latest Carnegie Medal Awardees|date=2008-04-10|work=Carnegie Hero Fund Awardees|publisher=Carnegie Hero Fund Commission|accessdate=2008-06-07] .

Trial and charges

Hainstock was arrested and charged with first-degree intentional homicide by the Sauk County District Attorney's office. He was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide on August 2, 2007 and was sentenced at 10 a.m. on August 3, 2007 to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 30 years. [ [http://www.channel3000.com/news/13814448/detail.html Hainstock Sentenced For Killing Principal - News Story - WISC Madison ] ] Eric is currently serving his sentence at the Green Bay Correctional Institute, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he is working on his General Educational Development (or GED).

Motive of shooter

Reports indicate Hainstock was repeatedly attacked and bullied by homophobic remarks. [cite news
title = Gay Advocates Say Bullying Contributed to Rash of School Violence
work = GayWired.com
date = 2006-10-06
url = http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=9&id=10929
accessdate = 2006-10-06 ] He perceived that teachers and the principal did nothing to help the matter, and somewhat even took part in the bullying themselves. However, other students and acquaintances of Hainstock's family had described him as a troubled and eccentric child who took pride in being in trouble with authority. Furthermore, on the day prior to the shooting, the school principal John Klang gave Hainstock a disciplinary warning for having tobacco on school grounds.

Timing of events

The shooting occurred only two days after the Platte Canyon High School shooting and was the third fatal school shooting in the United States and Canada in two weeks, the first two being the Dawson College shooting and the aforementioned Platte Canyon High School shooting. A fourth shooting, the Amish school shooting, transpired a few days after the Weston incident.

External links

* [http://www.weston.k12.wi.us/ Official website of Weston High School]
* [http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2006/10/01/0609300607.php Wisconsin State Journal eyewitness account]
* [http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/tct/2006/10/03/0610030292.php Wisconsin State Journal article on aftermath and legal repercussions]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15060698 MSNBC Report on the event]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=15937552 John A. Klang] at Find A Grave

References