Police: Minn. Teen Gunman Shot at Random
By JOSHUA FREED, Associated Press Writer
March 22, 2005
RED LAKE, Minn. - The boy accused of killing nine people in a shooting
spree first shot his grandfather and his companion, then donned the
man's police-issue gunbelt and bulletproof vest before heading to the
high school, where he shot students and teachers at random, authorities
said Tuesday.
FBI agent Michael Tabman said Jeff Weise appeared to be acting alone in
Monday's rampage and the motive was unknown. When it was over, 10
people, including five students and Weise himself, were dead.
It was the worst U.S. school shooting since Columbine.
At a news conference Tuesday, Tabman said he couldn't confirm whether
Weise was the same person who made posts to a neo-Nazi site, including
one in which the writer billed himself as the "Angel of Death."
Aside from the teen's grandfather, Daryl Lusier, and Lusier's
companion, Michelle Sigana, Weise's targets appeared random, Weise
said. An unarmed security guard and a teacher also were killed.
Initial reports had as many as 15 people injured in the shooting, but
authorities Tuesday lowered that to seven. Five remained in the
hospital, including two students with critical injuries from gunshot
wounds to the head or face.
Some of the victims were shot at close range, medical officials said.
Reggie Graves, a student at Red Lake High School, said he was watching
a movie about Shakespeare in class Monday when he heard the gunman
blast his way past the metal detector at the school's entrance, where
an unarmed guard was killed.
Then, in a nearby classroom, he heard the gunman say something to his
friend Ryan. "He asked Ryan if he believed in God," Graves said. "And
then he shot him." The boy survived.
The death toll at the Red Lake Indian Reservation in far northern
Minnesota made it the nation's worst school shooting since the rampage
at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in April 1999 that ended
with the deaths of 12 students, a teacher and the two teen gunmen.
"Right now we are in utter disbelief and shock," said Floyd Jourdain
Jr., chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa.
At least three of the victims were shot in the head at close range,
said officials at North Country Regional Hospital in nearby Bemidji.
One of those victims died and the other two were transferred to the
Fargo hospital.
"I think there was an intent to kill," Tim Hall, the hospital's
emergency nursing director, said at a morning news conference. Three
victims remained at North Country Regional, none in critical condition.
Police said the gunman killed himself after exchanging fire with
officers. Red Lake Fire Director Roman Stately said the gunman had two
handguns and a shotgun.
"We ask Minnesotans to help comfort the families and friends of the
victims who are suffering unimaginable pain by extending prayers and
expressions of support," Gov. Tim Pawlenty said.
Weise, whom authorities described variously as 16 or 17, who had been
placed in the school's Homebound program for some violation of policy,
said school board member Kathryn Beaulieu. Students in that program
stay at home and are tutored by a traveling teacher. Beaulieu said she
didn't know what Weise's violation was, and wouldn't be allowed to
reveal it if she did.
There was no immediate indication of Weise's motive. But several
students said he held anti-social beliefs, and he may have posted
messages on a neo-Nazi Web site expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler.
A writer who identified himself as Jeff Weise of the Red Lake
Reservation posted the messages under the nickname "Todesengel" —
German for "angel of death." An April 2004 posting by him referred to
being accused of "a threat on the school I attend," though the writer
later said he was cleared.
Tabman said it hadn't been determined if the writer was actually Weise.
Relatives told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that Weise was a loner who
usually wore black and was teased by others. Relatives told the
newspaper his father committed suicide four years ago, and that his
mother was living in a Minneapolis nursing home because she suffered
brain injuries in a car accident.
During the rampage, teachers herded students from one room to another,
trying to move away from the sound of the shooting, said Graves, 14. He
said some students crouched under desks.
Some pleaded with the gunman to stop. "You could hear a girl saying,
'No, Jeff, quit, quit. Leave me alone. What are you doing?'" Sondra
Hegstrom told The Pioneer of Bemidji.
The reservation, about 240 miles north of the Twin Cities, is home to
the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe, one of the poorest in the state. According
to the 2000 census, 5,162 people lived on the reservation.
It was the second fatal school shooting in Minnesota in 18 months. Two
students were killed at Rocori High School in Cold Spring in September
2003. Student John Jason McLaughlin, who was 15 at the time, awaits
trial in the case.
___
On the Net:
Red Lake High School: http://www.paulbunyan.net/rlschools/hs.htm
Red Lake Nation: http://www.redlakenation.org/
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| Alicia Neadeau, left, leans her head on her mother, Angela
Isham as
they talked to the media Tuesday, March 22, 2005 in Red Lake, Minn.,
about the fatal school shootings at Red Lake High School Monday.
Alicia, a student, was in the school at the time of the shootings. (AP
Photo/Jim Mone) |
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