September 28, 1850: West Chester, Pennsylvania, At the Rocky Hill schoolhouse, students found their young teacher (about 18), Rachael Sharpless shot dead in the doorway of the school. George Pharoah, 19 years old, shot her while hiding behind a tree as she was unlocking the door. He used a copy of the Saturday Evening Post in a wad to muffle the sound, where parts of the magazine were found at the scene and in his pockets.[2]
November 2, 1853: Louisville, Kentucky, The student Matthew Ward bought a pistol in the morning, went to school and killed the schoolmaster Mr. Butler, as revenge for what Ward thought was excessive punishment of his brother the day before. Ward was acquitted.[3]
August 16, 1856: Florence, Alabama, The school master had a tame sparrow of which he was very fond, and had warned the students that if any of them killed it, they will die by his hands. By accident, or intentionally, one of the boys stepped on the bird and killed it. Alarmed by the threats, the boy was afraid to return to school, but the Master begged him to come back. He did so, and after the lessons were finished, he took the boy into a private room, and strangled him. Upon the boy's father hearing what had occurred, he loaded his gun and went and shot the schoolmaster dead.[4]
July 6, 1858: Baltimore, Maryland, the 15yr old son of Col. John T. Farlow (Baltimore's Marshal of Police 1867-70), was shot to death during a Sabbath School gathering. The perpetrator escaped, but several arrests were made.[5]
September 11, 1859: Oakland, California, Edward Carpenter accidentally shot himself dead while hunting on campus; he was one of the few students permitted to have a firearm at school.[6]
1860s[edit]
January 21, 1860: Todd County, Kentucky, A son of Col. Elijah Sebree was shot dead by another student. Young Sebree was threatening the other boy and intended to kill him. Whereupon he armed himself and walked deliberately up to Sebree, in the schoolhouse, and shot him dead.[7]
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), many atrocities were committed, even against school children, as reported in the Memphis Daily, Nashville Patriot, and the Raleigh Standard;
"On Thursday. Oct. 10th (1861), a daughter of Mr. Hunter, (who runs the ferry between Loudon and Harper's Ferry,) a little girl only nine years of age, was killed by the enemy. She was playing beside the river, when a Yankee soldier, on the opposite side, deliberately shot her through the head. The body floated about on the river until recovered, some hours after. The children, while going and returning from school are frequently shot at by the Federal pickets."[8]
By 1863, the state of such cites as Baltimore, Maryland were described as; "...The churches have been greatly injured by shot and shell, and are now closed. Few of the inhabitants know when Sunday comes. The schools have been shot up for more than a year...".[9]
February 6, 1864: Ashland County, Ohio, The school teacher of the Pyfer's School House, George W. Longfelt shot and instantly killed student Alfred Desem, and fled.[10]
February 16, 1867: Knights Ferry, California, Mr. McGinnis was shot and killed by his daughter's teacher after McGinnis threatened the teacher for expelling his daughter from school. When McGinnis's son learned of this, he went to the school and killed the teacher.[11]
April 2, 1867: Madison, Florida, Frank Pope, a pupil at the St. John's seminary shot and killed his teacher Mr. Bristow with a pistol.[12]
June 8, 1867: New York City, Arthur Day, a 13-year-old boy, secretly took a loaded pistol to Public School No. 18 to shoot a dog he said had bitten him. While playing with the pistol, Day accidentally shot and injured classmate Robert Morton.[13]
December 22, 1868: Chattanooga, Tennessee, A boy who refused to be whipped by his teacher, left the school. The next day he returned with his brother and a friend for revenge. Not finding the teacher at the school, they continued to his house, where a gun battle took place and three died. Only the boy survived.[14]
1870s[edit]
January 27, 1871: Knoxville, Tennessee, John Roberts, a little boy of ten or twelve, accidentally had one of his eyes shot out at school and died.[15]
June 23, 1871: Lagrange, Indiana, Miss Anna Dwight was shot to death in front of her students by, Chauncey Barnes a rejected suitor at the Stone Lake Schoolhouse, after shooting Anne he then turned the small six-shooter on himself, and shot twice to the head[16]
February 1, 1872: Washington, Pennsylvania, At the all girls Union School, son of Col. Norton McGiffin, and brother of Naval Hero Philo McGiffin, Thomas McGiffen, 17yrs old, shot in the hip and seriously wounded the principal, Prof. Wilson, because the professor refused to deliver a note to one of the young ladies for him.[17]
February 11, 1873 Wisconsin, A father shot the school mistress for whipping his son[18]
March, 1873: Iowa, Elvina Stickney, a school girl, shot her teacher because he was not in love with her. Elvina was pronounced insane.[19]
March 7, 1873: Salisbury, Maryland, On leaving school, teacher Miss Shockley was shot by 19-year-old George W. Hall. She died almost instantly. Four small children walking with the teacher were unharmed. The next night, Hall threw himself under a train, completing the incident as a murder-suicide.[20]
The issue of students carrying guns to school was a topic of discussion dating to the mid-1870s, as noted in this 1874 Los Angeles Herald article:
"Boys and Pistols Yesterday at noon a boy sixteen years of age shot himself, or was shot by his brother. It matters not who fired the fatal shot. No criminal act was intended or committed, and the boy is dead. He was a member of the High School of this city and was, we are told, something over the average good boy of Los Angeles. This boy lost his life through the too common habit among boys of carrying deadly weapons. We do not know that this habit can be broken up. We do not know that school teachers have the right, or would exercise it if they had, of searching the pockets of their pupils, but it seems almost a necessity that some such rule be enforced. The hills west of town are not safe for pedestrians after school hours. Nearly every school-boy carries a pistol, and the power of these pistols range from the harmless six-bit auction concern to the deadly Colt's six-shooter..."[21]
February 20, 1874: Agency, Montana, After being ejected from school for disobedience, Thomas Sguires, twenty years old, returned to the school yard a day or two later, and fatally shot Prof. Hayes in abdomen three times without warning.[22]
April 16, 1874: Lebanon, Kentucky, John R. Breckinridge, son of the late Robert Jefferson Breckinridge was shot to death at the Law school in Lebanon, Kentucky, by John L. Anderson, the Mayor's son who was reportedly "crazed with liquor".[23]
January 26, 1876: San Francisco, California, A young boy at the Lincoln Primary School accidentally shot himself while playing with a pistol under his desk. His fingers were badly hurt and he received a flesh wound to his leg. The principal, Miss Kate Sullivan, sent him home in the hopes that his parents would teach him to be a little more careful when handling firearms.[24]
December 6, 1877: San Juan Capistrano, California, The schoolmaster committed suicide by shooting himself after hours. He wrote on the blackboard, "May this solve the problem".[25]
May 24, 1878: St. Paul, Minnesota, A boy, Luckert, accidentally shot and wounded another boy, Allie McDonald at the Neill school. The bullet passed out, and the youth was said to recover. Mrs. McDonald went to the police station, but no formal complaint was filed.[26]
May 24, 1879: Lancaster, New York, Frank Shugart, a telegraph operator, shot and severely injured Mr. Carr, Superintendent of the stables at a girls' school.[27]
1880s[edit]
July 25, 1880: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, At Sunday School, a young couple Morris Behrues and his newly secretly married girl had carried a shotgun with, because Charles Behrues, Morris' cousin was in love with the girl, and was out to get them. Charles was seen coming towards the building with a shooting iron, when the school's superintendent went out to ward him away. Charles opened fire and killed the superintendent, and shot Morris, and three others.[28]
October 21, 1880: Cincinnati, Ohio, George Gohen, 14yrs old, shot himself un-fatally in the chest at the schoolhouse with a 22-caliber pistol. He tried to commit suicide, because Principal Sands reprimanded him for truancy.[29]
December, 1880: Sacramento, California, As George E. Landers was teaching at the Willow Slough school house, Mrs. Julia A. Finn drove up in a buggy and called out to him. When he came out to talk, Julia ask him to marry her, and he refused. Julia then took out a gun and fired three shots at him, but missed. She was then tried for attempted murder.[30]
December 1, 1881, Santa Monica, California, While working late on the program for the children's concert at the school house, the school master O'Donnell, and one of the parents got into an argument. the parent Williams pulled a gun and fatally shot O'Donnell in the back.[31]
December 22, 1881: Shelby County, Indiana, Charles J. Gregory, a school teacher shot at a pupil, at close range because he refused to write on the a slate. The bullet missed the boy, but his face was filled with powder. The teacher was arrested with great excitement.[32]
January, 1882: Iola, Kansas, A group of boys shot into a school house, but no one was hurt. Two of the boys were arrested and pleaded guilty three weeks later. They were fined $9.00 each.[33]
April 13, 1882: Huntsville, Texas, G. W. Gray, as student at the Sam Houston Normal School, shot and wounded another student, M. J. Jordan. They were arguing over a comic valentine that was sent in February.[34]
February 14, 1883: Florence, Nebraska, As the children were playing, and throwing snowballs in the front yard of the Ponca Creek school house, a wagon pulled up with three young men and engaged in a snowball fight. When they were leaving, one of the men pointed his 45 caliber, and accidentally shot and killed three of the school girls. Harbaugh, the young man who shot surrendered himself.[35]
November, 1883: Barber County, Kansas, As a bunch of drunken cowboys traveled through the area, they stopped at each schoolhouse forcing the teacher to drink whiskey. They first stopped at the Mayhew schoolhouse and forced teacher, Mr. Beals to drink from the bottle they had. At the next, they fired several shots at it. The school house following, on Bluff creek, they shot off the lock, filled the door full of bullets, and shot the lights and windows out. The next, they fired several shot at the building doing little damage. Finally, they arrived at District 72's schoolhouse, and forced the teacher, John Lowry, to drink whiskey.[36]
January 23, 1884: Sidney, Nebraska, A school boy accidentally shot himself in the hand while fooling around with a pistol. He had pointed the pistol at one of the school girls just moments earlier.[37]
February 28, 1884: Danville, Virginia, As Wamack, a fifteen year old boy drove by a "negro" school house, he called out "school butter." The entire school emptied out and attacked him, several shot were fired at him, and he returned fire shooting two students.[38]
March 6, 1884: Boston, Massachusetts, As news of Jesse James reached the east coast, young kids started to act in the same manner. An article from the New York Times reads,
Another "Jesse James" Gang - Word was brought to the Fifth Police Station to-night that a number of boys were using the Concord-street School-house for some unknown purpose, and a posse of officers was sent to investigate. The gang scattered at the approach of the police, and in their flight one drew a revolver and fired at Officer Rowan, without effect, however. William Nangle, aged 14, and Sidney Duncan, aged 12, were captured, but the other five or six escaped, among them the one who did the shooting. The boys refused to disclose the object of their meeting, but it is thought that another "Jesse James" organization has been broken up.[39]
March 15, 1884: Gainesville, Georgia, In the middle of the day, a group of very drunk Jackson County farmers left the Jug Tavern drinking and shooting their revolvers as they headed down the street driving people into their homes. As they approached the female academy, the girls fled the schoolyard into the school where the gang followed swearing and shooting, firing several rounds into the front door. No one was hurt.[40]
June 12, 1887: Cleveland, Tennessee, Will Guess went to the school and fatally shot Miss Irene Fann, his little sister's teacher, for whipping her the day before.[41]
May 17, 1889: Washington, D.C., Sarah E. Allen, a third grade teacher at the Jefferson school, is shot to death in front of her class by her estranged husband Oswald C. Allen, who then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.[42]
June 13, 1889: New Brunswick, New Jersey, Charles Crawford, upset over an argument with a school Trustee, went up to the window and fired a pistol into a crowded school room. The bullet lodged in the wall just above the teacher's head.[43]
1890s[edit]
April 24, 1890: Brazil, Indiana, While the pupils of the Meridian Street School were at play, Ben Corbery drew a revolver and shot Cora Brubach, aged 10, seriously wounding her in the face. The reason for the assault was that the girl had informed the teacher of Ben's misconduct.[44]
December 27, 1890: Staunton, Virginia, At the Kable's Military Academy a 15-year-old student, A. H. Hathaway of Dennison, Texas, was accidentally shot dead by his 17-year-old classmate James Whitworth of Sulphur Springs, Texas while they were playing with an old pistol.[45]
January 20, 1891: Syracuse, New York, In an abusive rage, Wilber F. Baker went to the Bassett Street School, where his wife was teaching, entered the classroom and shot her five times, killing her. He was caught by police after a 40-mile chase.[46]
March 30, 1891: Liberty, Mississippi, During a school exhibition and concert given at the Parson Hill schoolhouse, just as the performances were starting in front of a large mixed audience of black people and white people, crowded with teachers, pupils, and spectators, a double barreled shotgun, heavily charged with shot, was fired into the assemblage by an unknown assailant. 14 people were wounded, some seriously.[47]
April 9, 1891: Newburgh, New York, James Ferguson, 70, fired a shotgun at a group of students in the playground of St. Mary's Parochial School, causing minor injuries to several of the students.[48]
October 10, 1892: At Kansas University, two students, E. Higgins and Jack Craycroft, were shot as they were walking back to their dorm rooms from practicing football at the athletic field by a double barreled shotgun as they passed the home of law student, Fred Basset. Basset said they were warned not to trespass on his farm as students so frequently did.[49]
March 26, 1893: Plain Dealing, Louisiana, During an evening school dance at Plain Dealing High School, a fight broke out. When the smoke cleared; two were shot dead, two more were fatally wounded, and the high school's Professor Johnson was shot in the arm.[50]
October 17, 1894: Brighton, near Parkersburg, West Virginia, when school was let out, Willis Gardner, 15, was shot to death and his 8-year-old brother fatally stabbed.[51]
February 1, 1896: Eureka, California, In the evening, a second attempt was made to burn down the High School Building in a weeks time. However, this time the watchman, shot at the arsonists, and frightened them away.[52]
December 13, 1898: Charles Town, West Virginia, During the School exhibition, a group of young men attempted to break up a student performance. The teacher Fisher, tried to throw the trouble makers out, when the group turned on him and several of the audience members jumped up to assist, when a free for all fight broke out. Harry Flasher was shot in the heart and instantly killed, Henry Carney was fatally shot in the back, Ralph Jones and two others were also fatally shot, George Gibson was shot in the hand, and Haz Harding had his skull crushed and several others received minor wounds[53]
December 28, 1898: Sioux City, Iowa, Teacher, May Thomas was lured out of the schoolhouse by Harry Garvey who was devoted to her, but she had refused his further attentions. He then pulled a revolver out and shot her dead, then killed himself.[54]
20th century[edit]
There are very seldom reports of mass or multiple school shootings during the first three decades of the 20th Century, with the three most violent attacks on schools involving either arson or explosions.
1900-1909[edit]
May 12, 1900: Danbury, Connecticut, After being repeatedly refused by Teacher Lillian Owen, Herbert Horton went to the schoolhouse and pleaded one last time. He then pulled out a revolver and demanded entry or he would kill himself. Miss Owen and pupils barricaded the door. Horton then shot himself in the chest.[55]
September 3, 1900: Boise, Idaho, During an exciting school board committee elections, H. C. Branstetter attempted to murder H. B. Eastman. One shot was fired, but the gun was struck down and the weapon was snatched from Branstetter before he could shoot again.[56]
February 26, 1902: Camargo, Illinois, Teacher Fletcher R. Barnett shot and killed another teacher, Eva C. Wiseman, in front of her class at a school. After shooting at a pupil who came to help Miss Wiseman and wounding himself in a failed suicide attempt, he waited in the classroom until a group of farmers came to lynch him. He then ran out of the school building, grabbed a shotgun from one of the farmers and shot himself, before running away and leaping into a well where he finally drowned. The incident was likely sparked by Wiseman's refusal to marry Barnett.[57]
February 24, 1903: Inman, South Carolina, Edward Foster, a 17-year-old student at Inman High school, was shot and fatally wounded by his teacher Reuben Pitts after he had jerked a rod from Pitts' hands to resist punishment. According to the teacher, Foster struck the pistol Pitts had drawn to defend himself, thus causing its discharge. Pitts was later acquitted of murder.[58]
July 21, 1903: Jackson, Kentucky, at the Cave Run School, James Barrett and Mack Howard fought a duel with pistols over a card game killing each other. Another student James Vires, aged 12, was also found shot in the abdomen while sitting at his desk.[59]
September 23, 1903: Bakersfield, California, Victor Powers, a 14-year-old student while hanging out with his classmates, accidentally dropped a loaded shotgun on the schoolhouse steps, shooting himself dead in the abdomen.[60]
April 6, 1904: Chicago, Illinois, Two students who have been fighting over a girl for the better part of a year, clashing every time they crossed paths. Until one fight, where Henry Schaze threw 16-year-old Paul Jelick to the ground, drew a revolver, and shot Paul dead.[61]
September 27, 1904: Mount Ayr, Iowa, Two school directors got into a heated discussion over school business. When Director Samuel Egly threatened Director William Kling with an ax, Kling shot Egly through the heart, killing him.[62]
November 16, 1904: Riverside, California, at the Indian School, a gun fight broke out between pupils. Charles Colby was hit in the head with a pistol, then returned fire killing Tom Bucanoros and fatally wounding Fred Smith.[63]
December 16, 1904: Magee, Mississippi, E. E. Mangum was shot through the head and killed by the principal of the high school, Professor J. E. Woodward. Mangum remonstrated with Woodward because he had administered a severe whipping to Mangum's 15-year-old son. Mangum finally lost his temper and shot Woodward through the wrist. Woodward was handed a pistol by a bystander and shot Mangum through the head.[64]
February 9, 1905: Colusa, California, At the request of his childhood friend, Pearl Cruse, Elmer Hildreth a 17-year-old non-student, attended a meeting between Miss Cruse and her teacher which ended in "a hand to hand" encounter between teacher and pupil. School trustee, William Ingrim later told others that Elmer was involved in the physical encounter. Unjustly accused, Hildreth found Mr Ingrim requesting he give an accurate accounting to the community. Trustee Ingram, in anger struck Hildreth to the ground, blooding his face, when Hildreth arose Ingrim went after him with an axe. Hildreth ordered him to stop, but Ingrim continued towards him. Hildreth shot him in the stomach. Hildreth was arrested and bail was posted by 5 prominent men in the community. After investigation, Hildreth was found to have acted in self-defense and no charges were filed. Ingrim survived and Hildreth went on to serve with a special team of snipers at the Battle of Chateau Thierry in France.[65]
July 31, 1905: Tempe, Arizona, Professor S. O. Lewis, 32-year-old principal of Tempe public schools, was found dead by the painters in the schoolhouse with a self-inflicted gunshot to the temple by his own revolver.[66]
May 18, 1906: Boston, Massachusetts, George M. DeWolfe, aged 18, shot fellow graduate Lillian Thoroughgood, aged 17, then shot and killed himself in the head, during the closing ceremonies of the Cambridge Commercial College. The bullet was stopped from injuring Lillian by the locket she wore, but her clothes were singed.[67]
August 8, 1906: Covelo, California, Jacob Fret, was found shot dead in the head next to the Harrington School House by the school children that morning. Jacob was making his usual cooling snow delivery to the town the night before.[68]
October 10, 1906: Cleveland, Ohio, In front of 60 students, Harry Smith shot and killed 22-year-old teacher Mary Shepard at South Euclid School after she had rejected him. Smith escaped and committed suicide in a barn near his home two hours later.[69]
March 23, 1907: Carmi, Illinois, George Nicholson shot and killed John Kurd at a schoolhouse during a school rehearsal. The motive for the shooting was Kurd making a disparaging remark about Nicholson's daughter during her recital.[70]
December 20, 1907: Chico, California, Arthur Roberts, aged 9 years, was shot in the head and killed during a military drill by the school children of the Dayton school district. The children, armed with old guns believed to be empty, aimed and pulled triggers. Instantly the Roberts boy, who had just emerged from the school building, threw his hands to his head and cried, "I'm shot."[71]
March 11, 1908: Boston, Massachusetts, Elizabeth Bailey Hardee was shot to death by Sarah Chamberlain Weed at the Laurens School, a finishing school in Boston. Weed then turned the gun on herself and committed suicide.[72]
March 20, 1908: Los Angeles, California, Ruth Sargent, a 12-year-old student at the San Pedro Street School, shot herself. She asked permission to leave the class in the middle of a lesson, but the teacher refused. So, she got up pointed a gun at the teacher and left the class room, went down the stairs and shot herself. The students and teachers rushed to her side and she said "I shot myself and no one is to blame." The bullet entered the left breast, missed the heart, perforated the lung, and lodged near the spine. Her father said she was distraught over the workload at school.[73]
April 15, 1908: Asheville, North Carolina, Dr. C. O. Swinney shot and fatally wounded his 16-year-old daughter Nellie in a reception room at Normal and Collegiate Institute. He then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.[74]
December 23, 1908: New York City, Van Dwight Sheldon, an engineering student at New York University was staying in the Dean's Manor, with his older cousin and Dean of the Engineering College, Dean Snow. A burglar broke into the cellar of the home when Sheldon confronted him. The burglar shot Sheldon in the abdomen, killing him, and escaped after a chase.[75]
February 12, 1909: San Francisco, California, 10-year-old Dorothy Malakanoff was shot and killed by 49-year-old Demetri Tereaschinko as she arrived at her school in San Francisco. Tereaschinko then shot himself in a failed suicide attempt. Tereaschinko was reportedly upset that Malakanoff refused to elope with him.[76]
March 19, 1909: Mount Vernon, Illinois, During a school performance of "the Grand Central", John Moake, portraying the villain, was shot in the forehead and dangerously wounded by the hero, Roy Slater. The cartridge was thought to have been blank.[77]
June 10, 1909: Trinidad, Colorado Walter Harris, 11 years old student accidentally shot and killed his teacher B. C. Briggs in the head while on a school field trip.[78]
August 18, 1909: Bakersfield, California, A group of six young men after dove hunting, deliberately shot out the glass in the doors and windows of the Fruitvale School, then shot at the nearby residence of A. J. Hunter, narrowly missing several children in the rear yard.[79]
September 11, 1909: Gravette, Arkansas, John Butram, an unruly student at the Bear Hollow School announced to his fellow students that school is canceled. The teacher, A. T. Kelly insisted that the day's lesson was not over. Butram then drew a knife on his teacher, so the teacher drew his gun and shot him.[80]
From what is considered the third most violent decade in United States 'school shootings' history (1900–1909) comes this article from the "Los Angeles Herald":
Gang Of School Lads Confesses To Robbery
NEVADA CITY, Cal., Dec. 7. (1909) - The discovery of the fact that a number of school boys of tender years have been in the habit of carrying revolvers with them to school led today to the capture of an organized gang of school lads who have confessed to robbing a hardware store of revolvers of all sizes and several rifles. The investigation was started last week when one of the boys was shot and slightly wounded in a class room at school.
The sheriff learned that many of the boys went armed all the time, and was told by them the weapons were purchased from certain other boys. The latter were questioned today and confessed that they robbed the store and disposed of the loot at prices ranging from 50 cents up. No legal steps have been taken against the boys.[81]
1910s[edit]
January 12, 1910: New York City, "A black bearded maniac drew an automatic pistol" and fired five shots into a crowd of the Harlem School boys. The kids were taunting him, so he shot into the crowd of children. Robert Lomas, aged 6, was hit in the heart and died instantly, Arthur Shively also aged 6 was shot through the left lung and critically wounded.[82]
March 10, 1910: Ione, California, At the reform school, Preston School of Industry, students Albert Brown and Eugene Griffin tried to escape as they stole a revolver from the school's bakery shop. They then shot at Captain William H. White as he was in pursuit. No one was hurt, but the two boys were no longer welcome at the school and were sent to the penitentiary.[83]
August 16, 1910: Lexington, Kentucky, A general fight broke out during school elections where Lewis Napier was shot and killed and several others hurt. Several were arrested.[84]
April 27, 1911: Manhattan, Kansas, During a school play rehearsal, a revolver was accidentally loaded by a boy who tried to shoot a bird with it the day before. When the girl was to use the firearm as written in the ######, she picked it up, then laid it down saying she was afraid of the old thing. The Teacher, Miss Reedy then grabbed the gun and said there was no need for alarm and pointed it at the girl, Pearl Reedy, 18 years old, and squeezed the trigger. The bullet lodged near her heart fatally wounding her[85]
January 10, 1912: Warrenville, Illinois, Sylvester E. Adams shot and killed teacher Edith Smith after she rejected his advances. Adams then shot and killed himself. The incident took place in a schoolhouse after the students had been dismissed for the day.[86] A month later the students refused to go back to the school saying it was haunted by ghosts, so the little schoolhouse was torn down and a new one was built.[87]
January 31, 1912: San Francisco, California, In a brawl between the white and Chinese students at the Oriental School, James Kane was shot dead.[88]
January 17, 1913: Honolulu, Hawaii, While the children in the schoolhouse were quietly seated, Manuel Fernandez entered the classroom and shot his wife, the teacher, Johanna Fernandez killing her with a shotgun. Seven of the children were hit by the scattering buckshot, dangerously wounding one. He then shot and killed himself. Jealousy is quoted as the motive.[89]
March 29, 1918: Jefferson City, Missouri, At the Lincoln Institute, State Negro Normal School, Professor Romeo West, 31yrs old, was shot and killed in the dormitory by superintendent of school Theodore Martin. They were arguing over a set of dishes to be used at a social. Martin claimed he shot in self defense. He fired 5 shots of which 3 took effect, causing almost instant death.[90]
April 6, 1918: Reeder, North Dakota, During the afternoon recess, a boy who sat behind young Coyne, was looking over a 22 calibre rifle when it discharged sending a bullet right into the back of Coyne's head killing him instantly.[91]
April 18, 1918: Sudan, Texas, With only a little girl as witness, a young man shot and killed school teacher Miss Evylyn Monts. Monts was shot twice in the head and in the breast. It is believed it was a suitor who she refused to marry.[92]
January 9, 1919: Monroe City, Missouri, While school was in session, Hugh Claggett, on his way home from work, shot through the school house's front door. No one was hurt, and he was fined $20.[93]
March 27, 1919: Lodi Township, Michigan, Teacher Irma Caler was shot and killed in her classroom at Rentschler school by 19-year-old Robert Warner, apparently because she had rejected his advances.[94]
April 12, 1919: Ogden City, Utah, During a high school school assembly, six boys shot off their guns, with permission, thinking they were loaded with blanks, but were not. Teacher Miss Verna Davidson was shot in the foot. No one admitted how the blanks were swapped for real bullets when all were asked to appear in court two weeks later.[95]
August 8, 1919: San Francisco, California, An assistant in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California was distraught over his inability to obtain a position, shot Professor Edmond O'Neill, and Professor Dr. J. H. Hildebrand in the administration offices of Gilman Hall, then went to shoot Vice President May L. Cheney but only managed to hit her hair braid before being subdued.[96]
1920s[edit]
February 14, 1920: Durant, Oklahoma, At the Durant Normal School, teacher Albert McFarland, was shot and seriously wounded by one of his pupils.[97]
February 25, 1920: Pasadena, California, W.M. Brown, the estranged husband of school's housekeeper, Miss Florence Housel, 50, broke into the all girls school through the pantry window, attacked and shot dead Miss Housel, set fire to the kitchen, then shot himself in one of the class rooms.[98]
March 4, 1920: Cincinnati, Ohio, Student, Lawrence Angel, 14yrs old, shot his teacher Beatrice Conner through the arm for sending him to the principal's office.[99]
March 12, 1920: Newberry, South Carolina, William Scott, a student at the Helena colored school shot Henry Gray, another student.[100]
May 1, 1920: Summerville, Georgia, At the High School, student Alexander Potter, 15yrs old, fired six shots at his teacher, Prof. Ransom, but missed. Jackson was upset for a severe thrashing, and expulsion, went home to get his father's revolver, then returned to school for revenge. Potter was sentenced to 6 years at a reform school.[101]
May 15, 1920: Bowling Green, Ohio, While attending her son's school track meet, Mrs. F. Mahl was shot and killed accidentally, by the starter's pistol.[102]
April 29, 1920: Chickasha, Oklahoma, Just as school was getting out, estranged husband and WWI veteran, Calvin Souls, 26, shot and killed his school teacher wife, Naomi Souls in front of her students.[103]
August 1, 1920: Ogden, Utah, Mike Smults, the night watchman at the Utah school for the Deaf and Blind, shot a 10 year old kid, Dennis McDonald, as he and his brother Clinton, cut through the campus from the Ogden river where they were swimming. The watchman said he fired into the air as a warning.[104]
October 19, 1920: Clayton, New Mexico, At the Otto schoolhouse, as the kids were inside, someone drove by, shot and killed "Old King" one of the children's dog, as he sat on the front stoop of the school, next to where the horses were tied. All the children loved the dog, and was entrusted with the care of the children to and from school.[105]
October 22, 1920: Chicago, Illinois, Mrs. Carmila Rindoni, went to the school and shot Miss Rosalind I. Reynolds, her son's teacher, twice for spanking her son the day before. Mrs. Rindoni was arrested, and Miss Reynolds was expected to recover.[106]
November 4, 1920: Middlesboro, Kentucky, Prof. Barnes of Middlesboro high school was fatally shot by Adolphus Oaks, for whipping his sister the week before. Barnes had already submitted his resignation to the school board, after his students refused to go to class in protest over the whipping, and intended to leave the city that weekend. Oaks went to jail.[107]
February 17, 1921: Cleveland, Ohio, While walking home from the Parma Central high school, teachers Miss Mable Foot, 24 and Mrs. Louis Wolf, 38 were both shot and beaten to death. Both teachers heads were crushed and a bloodstained club was found next their bodies. A 14yr old student found them the next morning on his way to school.[108]
April 2, 1921: Syracuse, New York, Professor Holmes Beckwith shot and killed dean J. Herman Wharton in his office at Syracuse University before committing suicide.[109]
December 5, 1921: Rosston, Oklahoma, At the Rosston school, teacher Miss. Faye Hetrick was shot and instantly killed with a shotgun by her brother-in-law, Alfred Johnson, in front of her students. The students all ran when they heard another shot. They looked back and discovered that Johnson turned the gun on himself, killing him instantly.[110]
February 17, 1922: Valdosta, Georgia, John Glover broke into the school house and shot and killed a school girl and fatally wounded a boy. A mob was formed and tracked and killed Glover seven miles away in Indianola, now Naylor, Georgia.[111]
March 3, 1922: Lubbock, Texas, After arguing with 15yr old Gladys Solomon, as they walked home from a B.Y.P.U. meeting Sunday night, Houston Upton, age 18, returned to her home and shot and killed her and her friend Nell Umberson, age 13, as they slept in bed. Houston then went to the Sunset school house and fatally shot himself in the chest. Houston was trying to brake up with Gladys that night, after dating for a year, and he wanted his ring back, but she would not give it to him.[112]
March 22, 1922: Brewster, Minnesota, At the local high school, during a class experiment to study sound waves by firing a shotgun, student Mabel Hansen shot one of her feet almost off. She thought the teacher loaded the gun with a blank when she fired it towards the floor.[113]
August 1, 1922: Cherokee County, Oklahoma, While a 5 kids where hanging out at the cuthouse of the Mount Zion school, two shots were fired by Bryant Hignight. One went wild, and the other entered young Raymond Guin's head, killing him instantly. Three of the boys were questioned, but they all said it was an accident.[114]
February 15, 1927: Hempstead, New York, James O'Donnell, 18-year-old senior at Hempstead High School, shot himself to death on the stage in the school's auditorium. A suicide note stated that O'Donnell killed himself to lessen the financial burden on his family.[115]
1930s[edit]
May 22, 1930: Ringe, Minnesota, Margaret Wegman, 20-year-old teacher at the local rural school, was shot and killed in the school by 24-year-old Douglas Petersen.[116]
May 28, 1931: Duluth, Minnesota, Katherine McMillen, 24-year-old teacher at the Howard Gensen rural school near Duluth, was accidentally shot and killed by a revolver brought to school by a pupil.[117]
February 15, 1933: Downey, California, Dr. Vernon Blythe shot and killed his wife Eleanor, as well as his 8-year-old son Robert at Gallatin grammar school and committed suicide after firing three more shots at his other son Vernon. His wife, who had been a teacher at the school, had filed for divorce the week before.[118]
February 2, 1934: Harlan, Iowa, Margaret Graves, 23, school teacher at Monroe School No. 2, was shot to death in front of her 20 students by former suitor Herman Seick, 28. Seick then took his own life in the classroom.[119]
September 14, 1934: Gill, Massachusetts, Headmaster Elliott Speer was murdered by a shotgun blast through the window of his study at Northfield Mount Hermon School. The crime was never solved.[120]
March 27, 1935: Medora, North Dakota, Emily Hartl, 24-year-old teacher at the Manlon school northwest of Medora, was shot and killed at the school by 28-year-old Harry McGill, a former suitor.[121]
May 7, 1935: Irvington, New York, Dr. Paul Kyle, head of the Kyle School for Boys, was found shot to death in the school, just before classes were to begin for the day.[122]
December 12, 1935: New York City, Victor Koussow, a Russian laboratory worker at the School of Dental and Oral Surgery, shot Prof. Arthur Taylor Rowe, Prof. Paul B. Wiberg, and wounded Dr. William H. Crawford at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, before committing suicide.[123]
April 27, 1936: Lincoln, Nebraska, Prof. John Weller shot and wounded Prof. Harry Kurz in a corridor of the University of Nebraska, apparently because of his impending dismissal at the end of the semester. After shooting Kurz Weller tried to escape, but was surrounded by police on the campus, whereupon he killed himself with a shot in the chest.[124]
June 4, 1936: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Wesley Clow shot and killed his Lehigh University English instructor, C. Wesley Phy. Clow went to Phy's office and demanded that Phy change his grade to a passing mark. Clow committed suicide after shooting Phy.[125]
June 4, 1937: Isabel, Kansas, Robert Douthitt, 16, was accidentally shot to death backstage during high school play practice. The revolver was to have been loaded with blanks, but it held live ammo.[126]
September 24, 1937: Toledo, Ohio, 12-year-old Robert Snyder shot and wounded his principal, June Mapes, in her office at Arlington Public School when she declined his request to call a classmate. He then fled the school grounds and shot and wounded himself.[127]
1940s[edit]
May 6, 1940: South Pasadena, California, After being removed as principal of South Pasadena Junior High School, Vieling Spencer shot six school officials, killing five, before attempting to commit suicide by shooting himself in the neck.[128][129]
May 23, 1940: New York City, Infuriated by a grievance, Matthew Gillespie, 62-year-old janitor at the Dwight School for Girls, shot and critically wounded Mrs. Marshall Coxe, secretary of the junior school.[130]
July 4, 1940: Valhalla, New York, Angered by the refusal of his daughter, Melba, 15, to leave a boarding school and return to his home, Joseph Moshell, 47, visited the school and shot and killed the girl.[131]
September 12, 1940: Uniontown, Pennsylvania, 29-year-old teacher Carolyn Dellamea is shot to death inside her third grade classroom by 35-year-old William Kuhns. Kuhns then shot himself in the chest in a failed suicide attempt. Kuhns had reportedly been courting Dellamea for over a year but the relationship was ended when Dellamea discovered that Kuhns was already married.[132][133]
October 2, 1942: New York City, Irwin Goodman, 36-year-old mathematics teacher at William J. Gaynor Junior High School, was shot and killed in the school corridor by a youth.[134][135]
February 23, 1943: Port Chester, New York, Harry Wyman, 13, shot himself dead at the Harvey School, a boys’ preparatory school.[136]
June 26, 1946: New York City, A 15-year-old student who balked at turning over his pocket money to a gang of seven youths was shot in the chest in the basem*nt of the Public School 147 annex of the Brooklyn High School for Automotive Trades.[137]
November 24, 1946: New York City, A 13-year-old student at St. Benedict’s Parochial School, shot and fatally wounded himself while sitting in an audience watching a school play.[138]
February 5, 1947: Madill, Oklahoma, 1st grade teacher Jessie Laird, 40, was shot to death in her classroom, during recess by her estranged husband, Ellis Laird, 62. Laird then fatally shot himself.[139]
December 1, 1947: Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Donald Peabody Sargent, 14, shot himself to death in his junior high school classroom.[140]
December 24, 1948: New York City, A 14-year-old student was fatally wounded by a shot from the .22 caliber rifle of a fellow student Robert Ross, 17. The youth was accidentally shot in the head when he chanced into range where Ross was target shooting near a lake on the school property.[141]
March 11, 1949: New York City, A 16-year-old student at Stuyvesant High School was accidentally shot in the arm by a fellow student who was ‘showing off’ with a pistol in a classroom.[142]
November 13, 1949: Columbus, Ohio, Ohio State University freshman James Heer grabbed a .45 caliber handgun from the room of a Delta Tau Delta fraternity brother and shot and killed his fraternity brother Jack McKeown, 21, an Ohio State senior.[143]
1950s[edit]
April 25, 1950: Peru, Nebraska, Dr. William Nicholas, 48, president of Peru State College and Dr. Paul Maxwell, 56, education department head, were shot to death at their desks by Dr. Barney Baker, 54-year-old psychology professor. Baker was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot at his home on campus.[144]
July 22, 1950: New York City, A 16-year-old boy was shot in the wrist and abdomen at the Public School 141 dance during an argument with a former classmate.[145]
January 24, 1951: Alton, Illinois, Henry Suhre, 61, quartermaster at Western Military Academy was shot to death in the cadet store on campus.[146]
March 12, 1951: Union Mills, North Carolina, Professor W. E. Sweatt, superintendent and teacher at the Alexander School, was shot to death by students Billy Ray Powell, 16, and Hugh Justice, 19. The assailants had been reprimanded by Sweatt, and they waited for him as he locked his office door.[147]
June 4, 1951: New York City, Carl Arch, a 50-year-old intruder to a girl's gym class was shot and killed by a police officer at Manhattan's Central Commercial High School.[148]
November 27, 1951: New York City, David Brooks, a 15-year-old student, was fatally shot as fellow pupils looked on in a grade school.[149]
April 9, 1952: New York City, A 15-year-old boarding school student shot a dean rather than relinquish pin-up pictures of girls in bathing suits.[150]
July 14, 1952: New York City, Bayard Peakes walked into the offices of the American Physical Society (APS) at Columbia University and shot and killed secretary Eileen Fahey with a .22 caliber pistol. Peakes was reportedly upset that the APS had rejected a pamphlet he had written.[151]
September 3, 1952: Lawrenceville, Illinois, After Georgine Lyon, 25, ended her engagement with Charles Petrach, Petrach shot and killed Lyon in a classroom at Lawrenceville High School where she worked as a librarian.[152]
November 20, 1952: New York City, Rear Admiral E. E. Herrmann, 56, superintendent of the Naval Postgraduate School, was found dead in his office with a bullet in his head. A service revolver was found by his side.[153]
October 2, 1953: Chicago, Illinois, Patrick Colletta, 14, was shot to death by Bernice Turner,14, in a classroom of Kelly High School. It was reported that after Turner refused to date Colletta he handed her the gun and dared her to pull the trigger, telling her that the gun was “only a toy.” A coroner’s jury later ruled that the shooting was an accident.[154]
October 8, 1953: New York City, Larry Licitra, 17-year-old student at the Machine and Metal Trades High School, was shot and slightly wounded in the right shoulder in the lobby of the school while inspecting a handmade pistol owned by one of several students.[155]
March 31, 1954: Newton, Massachusetts, John Frankenberger, 14, was accidentally shot to death in a classroom at Day Junior High School when a pistol being held by a classmate discharged.[156]
May 15, 1954: Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Putnam Davis Jr. was shot and killed during a fraternity house carnival at the Phi Delta Theta house at the University of North Carolina. William Joyner and Allen Long were shot and wounded during the exchange of gunfire in their fraternity bedroom. The incident took place after an all-night beer party. Mr. Long reported to the police that, while the three were drinking beer at 7 a.m., Davis pulled out a gun and started shooting with a gun he had obtained from the car of a former roommate.[157]
January 11, 1955: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, After some of his dormmates urinated on his mattress, Bob Bechtel, a 20-year-old student at Swarthmore College, returned to his dorm with a shotgun and used it to shoot and kill fellow student Holmes Strozier.[158]
May 4, 1956: Prince George's County, Maryland, 15-year-old student Billy Prevatte fatally shot one teacher and injured two others at Maryland Park Junior High School after he had been reprimanded from the school.[159]
October 20, 1956: New York City, A Booker T. Washington Junior High School student was wounded in the forearm by another student armed with a home-made weapon.[160]
October 2, 1957: New York City, A 16-year-old student was shot in the leg by a 15-year-old classmate at a city high school.[161]
March 4, 1958: New York City, A 17-year-old student shot a boy in the Manual Training High School.[162]
May 1, 1958: Massapequa, New York, A 15-year-old high Massapequa High School freshman was shot and killed by a classmate in a washroom.[163]
September 24, 1959: New York City, Twenty-seven men and boys and an arsenal were seized in the Bronx as the police headed off a gang war resulting from the fatal shooting of a teenager at Morris High School.[164]
