Red Lake High School massacre

Infobox terrorist attack
title=Red Lake High School (Minnesota) massacre
caption=Aerial photograph taken during the aftermath of the school massacre.
location= Red Lake, Minnesota, United States
target=Red Lake High School
date=Monday, March 21, 2005
time=
timezone=
type=School shooting, mass murder, murder-suicide, , spree killing
fatalities=10 (including the perpetrator)
injuries=7
perps=Jeffrey James Weise
weapons = .40 caliber Glock 23 handgun, Ruger .22 caliber handgun, Remington 12 gauge shotgunThe Red Lake High School massacre was a school shooting that occurred at Red Lake High School, in Red Lake, an unincorporated section of Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States, on March 21, 2005. The gunman, 16-year-old Jeffrey Weise, shot and killed seven people on the school campus, comprising five students, one teacher and an unarmed security guard, and wounded multiple others. The shooting ended when Weise exchanged fire with police, then retreated to a classroom where he took his own life. Weise had previously killed his paternal grandfather, Daryl Lussier, and Lussier's domestic partner, Michelle Sigana.

March 21 massacre on Red Lake reservation

Despite its commonly being referred to as the Red Lake High School massacre, two of the victims died in their home on the reservation.

Killings at home

The incident began on the afternoon of March 21 when Weise shot his grandfather, Daryl "Dash" Lussier, with a .22 pistol while Lussier was sleeping. It is not known how Weise got the pistol, but he is believed to have possessed it for as long as a year before the shooting.Fact|date=March 2007

Weise then stole Lussier's two police-issue weapons, a .40 caliber Glock 23 pistol and 12 gauge pump-action shotgun. He also shot Michelle Sigana, Lussier's girlfriend in the home.

hooting at Red Lake High School

Weise then drove his grandfather's squad car to school, arriving at around 2:45 p.m. Central Standard Time (19:45 UTC). Passing through the building's main entrance, he encountered unarmed security guard Derrick Brun, who was manning the school's metal detector. Weise fatally shot Brun, and then proceeded down a hallway firing at students, killing five students and a teacher (Neva Rogers) and injuring seven others. Witnesses say he smiled and waved as he shot at people. In an incident reminiscent of the events that took place during the Columbine High School massacre, one witness said that he asked a victim if he believed in God, before shooting him. [http://guardian.co.uk/usguns/Story/0,2763,1443322,00.html Ten dead in US school shooting | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited ] ]

Brief shoot-out with police

FBI special agent Paul McCabe stated that at some point, Weise returned to the entrance where he had opened fire and engaged in a brief shoot-out with the police, which ended when he retreated to the classroom having been wounded in the hip and leg by at least two bullets. [ [http://kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=77443 New Header ] ] None of the officers were hit.

Weapons

Weise was armed with the following during the shooting:
*.22 Ruger handgun "- Unknown where Weise got this weapon from, may have possessed it for up to a year before the shooting.
*.40 caliber Glock 23 "- Stolen from Daryl Lussier (police issued weapon)."
*12 gauge pump-action Shotgun "- Also police issued."

Victims of the school shooting

There were a total of eight fatalities and 14 injuries on the school campus.

Faculty

*Neva Wynkoop-Rogers, 62, an English language teacher. [ [http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/22_ap_redlakevictims/ MPR: Victims of the Red Lake shooting ] ]

Staff

*Derrick Brun, 28, an unarmed security guard. Brun had tried to block Weise from entering the door, but was fatally shot. Due to this, he was considered to be a hero by some. [ [http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/23_ap_survivorstories/ MPR: Stories of heroism and survival ] ] Brun's funeral was attended by Senator Mark Dayton. [ [http://www.rlnn.com/ArtMar05/ForeverAHeroBrun.html Forever a hero: Security guard Brun chose a warrior’s death ] ]

tudents

*Dewayne Lewis, 17.
*Chase Lussier, 15. Despite his last name, he is not related to Daryl Lussier, another one of Weise's victims. He was rumored to have tried to save another student.
*Chanelle Rosebear, 15, a freshman.
*Thurlene Stillday, 15, a freshman.
*Alicia White, 14, a freshman.

Injured

*Ryan Auginash, 14, gunshot wound to the chest.
*Steven Cobenais, 15, a sophomore. [ [http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412299 Jourdain sentenced in Red Lake shooting. : ICT [2006/01/20 ] ] Cobenais was shot in the forehead, airlifted to Fargo, North Dakota.
*Lance Crowe, 15, received a gunshot wound to the hand and chest.
*Jeffrey May, 15, a sophomore, tried to wrestle with Weise and attacked him with a pencil, and was shot in the neck. Like Brun, May was considered to be a hero by many [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/24/national/main682915.shtml?source=search_story Tales Of School Shooting Bravery, Slain Security Guard, Wounded Student Saved Others From Teen Gunman - CBS News ] ] and was featured in "Reader's Digest". [ [http://wcco.com/redlake/local_story_063104635.html wcco.com - 'Reader's Digest' Readers Pick Hero From Red Lake ] ] [ [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:8nmqDgndLIcJ:www.in-forum.com/News/articles/112374&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us 403 Forbidden ] ] [ [http://www.rd.com/content/everyday-hero-jeff-may/ Everyday Hero: Jeff May | Everyday Heroes | Reader's Digest ] ]
*Cody Thunder, 15, a sophomore, received a gunshot wound to the hip.

Other deaths

Killed prior to the shooting

* Daryl Lussier, 58, Weise's paternal grandfather, was killed by several .22 shots to the torso.
* Michelle Sigana, 32, was Lussier's girlfriend and police partner and was killed by at least one 9 mm shot to the chest.

uicide

* Jeffrey Weise, 16, committed suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun blast to the head.

Aftermath

*The Chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Floyd "Buck" Jourdain Jr., stated that the shootings were "one of the darkest and most painful occurrences in the history of our tribe." [ [http://rlnn.com/ArtMar05/BucksStatement.html 17-year-old charged with triple homicide ] ]

*The shooting is the fifth deadliest school shooting in the United States, behind Columbine High School Massacre, University of Texas shooting, the Virginia Tech Massacre, and the Bath School Disaster.

*Red Lake High School had installed metal detectors and had hired a security guard in 1995.

*Louis Jourdain, the son of Tribal Chairman Floyd Jourdain Jr., was arrested in connection with the shootings on March 28, 2005 and charged with conspiracy. He was charged with conspiracy to commit murder based on several email messages he exchanged with Jeff Weise which involved plans for the Red Lake High School massacre. The conspiracy charge was eventually dropped, though Jordain pled guilty to transmitting threatening messages through the Internet.

*President Bush praised security guard Derrick Brun on March 26, 2006. He said "Derrick's bravery cost him his life, and all Americans honor him... ...Although he was unarmed, Derrick ignored the pleas of a colleague to run for his life... ...by engaging the assailant; he bought vital time for a fellow security guard to rush a group of students to safety."

* The massacre was briefly blamed on the 2003 film "Elephant" which is about a school shooting and was watched by Jeffrey Weise 17 days prior to the shooting. [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/30/national/main683990.shtml Red Lake Shooting Conspiracy?, Officials Considering Charging Tribal Leader's Son As Adult - CBS News ] ] A friend of Weise said that he brought the movie over to a friends house and skipped ahead to parts that showed two students planning and carrying out a school massacre, although they talked about the film afterwards Jeffrey Weise said and did nothing to make anyone suspect what he was planning. [http://www.ktvotv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=3126813]

Internet activities

According to The Smoking Gun, Weise created a 30-second Flash animation called "Target Practice" and another, 50-second animation called "Clown" weeks before the shooting. He posted both animations at the newgrounds.com Web site. "Target Practice" depicts a character shooting four people and blowing up a police car before committing suicide; "Clown" ends with one character being strangled by a clown. [Editors (March 23, 2005) [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0323051weise1.html "School Killer's Animated Terror."] Smokinggun.com]

At Weise's MSN profile, he described himself as "16 years of accumulated rage suppressed by nothing more than brief glimpses of hope, which have all but faded to black." [Editors (March 24, 2005) http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0324051weise1.html (Screen capture of Weise's MSN Profile Page)] Smokinggun.com]

ee also

* School massacre
* Columbine High School massacre
* Dawson College shooting
* Spree killer

References

External links

* [http://paulbunyan.net/rlschools/ Red Lake Schools website]
* [http://rlnn.com Red Lake Net News]
* [http://earthskyweb.com/news.htm Sota Iya Ye Yapi On-Line]
* [http://slate.com/id/2099203/ "The Depressive and the Psychopath"] , "Slate"
* [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/195194 "Target Practice"] , a violent flash animation that the perpetrator created 5 months before the incident

News Articles

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4370617.stm "Ten killed in US school shooting"] , "BBC News", March 22, 2005.
*Karnowski, Steve. "Shooting suspect apparently posted messages on neo-Nazi site", "Duluth News Tribune", March 22, 2005.
* [http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/11200369.htm "Shooter is described as 'Goth kid'"] , "Star-Telegram" (subscription required)
* [http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64317-2005Mar24.html "Native Americans Criticize Bush's Silence"] , "Washington Post", March 25 2005.
* [http://startribune.com/stories/462/5316857.html "Tribal leader's son charged with conspiracy"] , "Star Tribune", March 29, 2005.