History > 2006 > USA > Gun violence (III)

Joe Badaracco with his daughter Jessy,

who was evacuated Wednesday

from Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colo., during the standoff.

Rick Glase/European Pressphoto Agency

 Student and Gunman Die in Colorado High School Standoff        NYT        28.9.2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/us/28hostage.html 

5 found dead in South Carolina home

Posted 9/30/2006 11:55 PM ET
AP
USA Today

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Five people were found dead in a home Saturday, and all appeared to have been shot, police said. Investigators were talking to a suspect.

No motive had been identified. Officers discovered the bodies in the mobile home after a neighbor called police when no one answered a knock at the door.

Police spokesman Spencer Pryor would not release information Saturday night about the victims' identities or whether they were related. The Charleston County coroner's office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Monique Singleton, who lives across the street, said four children lived in the home and her children occasionally played with them.

"They were nice people, they seemed fine," she said.

The subdivision of about two dozen mobile homes sits in the shadow of Interstate 526 — one of the main highways around the Charleston area.

    5 found dead in South Carolina home, UT, 30.9.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-09-30-sc-shootings_x.htm

Colo. town mourns teen killed in siege

Updated 9/30/2006 10:36 PM ET
AP
USA Today

BAILEY, Colo. (AP) — In a mountain meadow not far where she was shot by a gunman who invaded her school, those who knew Emily Keyes — and many who didn't — came together on a bright, breezy fall Saturday to remember the teen and hear a message of forgiveness and hope.

Family friend Louis Gonzalez asked mourners to embrace Emily's last words to her family, a text message that said "I love U guys," sent to her father, who was standing in view of the school as she was held hostage.

Gonzalez told the several thousand outside the National Farmers Union Education Center: "Picture Emily's face in your mind. Give it a kiss. I love you guys. Random acts of kindness."

Speaking for the family, he said, "We have the power to do this. Let's take the random act that has occurred and turn it to random acts of kindness."

Keyes was shot in the head Wednesday as she fled from Duane Morrison, who had held her and five other girls hostage. Morrison killed himself after a SWAT team stormed the classroom.

"Emily was a part of my life and a part of all of your lives, and I know that," her twin brother, Casey, said. "And that part was torn away and stolen this Wednesday. But the part of us that can never be torn away and never be stolen is the love and strength that keeps us together."

The crowd greeted Sheriff Fred Wegener with a standing ovation.

"This is the hardest thing that I'll ever face, and I want the Keyes family to know that if I could trade places with Emily, I'd do it in a heartbeat," Wegener said. "Emily will be with me in my heart forever."

Ruth Barth, Emily's speech teacher and debate coach, told the crowd that no one should feel guilt because nothing more could have been done to save her.

"In fact, it's my personal belief that Emily is debating hard on the other side, and that she's winning every single debate, and that she's using her extemporaneous skills to confound any mind that she contends with," she said.

The family came in limousines preceded by a caravan of emergency vehicles and sheriff's department cars. Pink ribbons tied to ponderosa pines lined the road. Many mourners wore ribbons saying "Random acts of kindness for Emily."

Keyes had wanted to donate her organs, and a note in the memorial service program read: "That desire was honored."

On Friday night, a candlelight vigil was held. "I think everybody's looking for answers," said Gray Anderson, a counselor who has been talking with residents. "People are just looking for reasons why."

Earlier it was learned that Morrison had indicated he planned some violent act. A 14-page letter from Morrison was postmarked Wednesday in nearby Shawnee — the same day he took the girls hostage.

Morrison claimed in the letter that it was not a suicide note, Wegener said.

"However, many times, the letter references suicide," Wegener said. "This letter clearly acknowledges his pending death. It also apologizes to his family for his actions that will occur."

    Colo. town mourns teen killed in siege, UT, 30.9.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-09-30-colorado-mourns_x.htm

Principal Fatally Shot at Wis. School

September 30, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:47 a.m. ET
The New York Times

CAZENOVIA, Wis. (AP) -- A teenager who decided to confront teachers and the principal after complaining that other students teased him brought two guns to school and shot the principal to death, authorities said.

The shooting Friday also came a day after the principal gave 15-year-old Eric Hainstock a disciplinary warning for having tobacco, according to a criminal complaint.

Hainstock was taken into custody and charged as an adult with murder, the district attorney said. He could get life in prison if convicted.

Detectives executed a search warrant at Hainstock's house late Friday, the sheriff said. The teen was scheduled to make an initial court appearance Monday. It was unclear whether he had an attorney.

On Friday morning, Hainstock pried open his family's gun cabinet, took out a shotgun, retrieved the key to his parents' locked bedroom and took a .22-caliber revolver, according to a criminal complaint.

He entered Weston Schools with the shotgun before classes began and pointed the gun at a social studies teacher, but custodian Dave Thompson wrested it from the teen, the complaint said. When Hainstock reached for the handgun, Thompson and the teacher ran for cover.

Then Principal John Klang went into the hallway and confronted Hainstock. A teacher said that after the shots were fired, Klang, already wounded, managed to wrestle the shooter to the ground and sweep away the gun, the complaint said. Students and staff detained Hainstock until police arrived, District Attorney Patricia Barrett said.

No one else was injured. Klang, 49, was shot in the head, chest and leg, authorities said. He died hours later at a hospital in Madison. An autopsy was scheduled for Saturday.

Sheriff Randy Stammen praised Klang's swift action. ''The heroics of the people involved in this can't be understated,'' he said.

School officials said Klang had given Hainstock a disciplinary notice Thursday for bringing tobacco to school, and the student faced a likely in-school suspension, the complaint said.

Hainstock told investigators a group of kids had called him names and rubbed up against him, and he felt teachers and the principal would not do anything about it, according to the complaint.

It also said Hainstock had told a friend a few days earlier that Klang would not ''make it through homecoming,'' referring to festivities planned for the school's homecoming weekend.

After the shooting, Weston's football game, dance and parade were canceled or postponed, and crisis counselors were brought in for students.

Children from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade attend the small school near Cazenovia, a community of about 300 people about 70 miles northwest of Madison.

Sophomore Shelly Rupp, 16, said she woke up ready to celebrate homecoming. Instead, she ended up catching a glimpse of her principal lying in the hallway in ''a pile of blood.''

''He was really nice,'' she said, choking back tears. ''If we had a problem he'd listen to us. He never raised his voice or anything to any of the students.''

Klang and his three children graduated from Weston Schools. Klang taught, then farmed for about 18 years before returning to teaching and taking over as principal in 2004, said his father, Don Klang. He was being groomed to become superintendent next year.

Resident Laurie Rhea, 42, said Klang spent last weekend at a gas station washing cars for a homecoming fundraiser.

''It's horrible. All the kids just loved him,'' she said.

The shooting took place two days after a gunman took six students hostage in a Colorado high school and killed one before shooting himself.

Associated Press Writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report.

    Principal Fatally Shot at Wis. School, NYT, 30.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-School-Shooting.html

FACTBOX-Recent shootings at schools or universities

Fri Sep 29, 2006 6:35 PM ET
Reuters

(Reuters) - A 15-year-old student critically wounded his school's principal in western Wisconsin on Friday after telling another student "you better run," in the second U.S. school shooting this week, authorities said.

Meanwhile, Colorado authorities offered few details from a 14-page handwritten letter from a drifter who on Wednesday took six female high school students hostage, molested them and then shot one to death and killed himself as police closed in.

Here is a chronology of some of the major shootings inside schools and universities in recent years:

* December 6, 1989 - CANADA - Marc Lepine, 25, stormed Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique, killing 14 women. Four men and eight other women were injured before Lepine turned the gun on himself.

* March 1996 - BRITAIN - A gunman burst into an elementary school in Dunblane in Scotland and shot dead 16 children and their teacher before killing himself.

* March 1997 - YEMEN - A man with an assault rifle attacked hundreds of pupils at two schools in Sanaa, killing six children and two others. He was sentenced to death the next day.

* March 1998 - USA - At Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, two boys aged 13 and 11 set off the fire alarm and killed four students and a teacher as they left the school.

* April 1999 - USA - Two student gunmen killed 12 other students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, before killing themselves.

* April 28, 1999 - CANADA - A 14-year-old boy walked into a high school in Taber, Alberta, with a .22 semi-automatic rifle and shot and killed a 17-year-old student and seriously injured another 11th grade student.

* June 2001 - JAPAN - Mamoru Takuma, armed with a kitchen knife, entered the Ikeda Elementary School near Osaka and killed eight children. Takuma was executed in September 2004.

* January 2002 - USA - A student who had been dismissed from the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia, killed the dean, a professor and a student, and wounded three others.

* April 26, 2002 - GERMANY - In Erfurt, eastern Germany, a former student opened fire at a high school in revenge for being expelled. A total of 18 people died, including the assailant.

* Sept 1, 2004 - RUSSIA - At least 326 hostages -- half of them children -- died in a chaotic storming of School No.1 in Beslan, after it was seized by rebels demanding Chechen independence.

* March 2005 - USA - A 16-year-old high school student gunned down five students, a teacher, and a security guard at Red Lake High School in far northern Minnesota before killing himself. He also killed his grandfather and his grandfather's companion elsewhere on the Chippewa Indian reservation.

    FACTBOX-Recent shootings at schools or universities, R, 29.9.2006, http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-09-29T223507Z_01_N29205059_RTRUKOT_0_TEXT0.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-L1-RelatedNews-1

Colo. Town Mourns Teen Killed in Siege

September 30, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:35 a.m. ET
The New York Yimes

BAILEY, Colo. (AP) -- This small mountain community was mourning a 16-year-old girl killed in a high school standoff as investigators learned more about the gunman, including a letter that warned of his impending death.

''I think everybody's looking for answers,'' said Gray Anderson, a counselor who has been talking with residents, as he attended a candlelight vigil Friday. ''People are just looking for reasons why.''

A public memorial was planned Saturday.

The 14-page letter from Duane Morrison was postmarked Wednesday in nearby Shawnee -- the same day he took six girls hostage and killed himself.

Morrison claimed in the letter that it was not a suicide note, Sheriff Fred Wegener said.

''However, many times, the letter references suicide,'' Wegener said. ''This letter clearly acknowledges his pending death. It also apologizes to his family for his actions that will occur.''

The letter contains no reference to Platte Canyon High or any other school, nor does it refer to a specific time or plans to harm anyone else, authorities said, leaving investigators with no known connection between the gunman and this town of about 3,500 people 35 miles from Denver.

Morrison, 53, sexually molested all six girls before SWAT teams stormed the classroom, the sheriff said. During a gun battle with police, Morrison shot 16-year-old Emily Keyes to death and then killed himself.

The letter ''doesn't tell me a lot of why,'' Wegener said, but it does suggest ''he probably intended to kill both the young ladies and then kill himself, or have us shoot him.''

A copy of the letter was not released, but Denver station KUSA-TV reported that it alluded to Morrison being molested. The letter also made arrangements for Morrison's personal belongings, according to the station, which did not say how it learned of its contents.

Investigators identified Morrison as a petty criminal who had a Denver address but apparently had been living in a motel and possibly in his battered Jeep. They also traced the handgun used in the shooting to one of Morrison's brothers, who turned over the still-sealed letter Thursday.

The gunman spent time at a riverside clearing a mile north of the school. Wegener said an assault rifle found in the secluded spot apparently belonged to him.

''He'd obviously been in the area staking it out,'' said Randy Marsh, a hardware store employee who remembers seeing Morrison's Jeep as long as six weeks ago.

Video from cameras outside the school showed Morrison sitting in his Jeep in the parking lot for about 20 minutes and then mingling with students as classes changed, nearly 35 minutes before the siege began, KCNC-TV in Denver reported.

Lance Clem, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said investigators were reviewing the surveillance tapes and 911 calls.

Authorities released a recording of a 2004 call Morrison made to a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership in the Denver area after he received a holiday catalog in the mail. His call led to a harassment charge.

''Hey, Duane Morrison here,'' the tape begins. ''I just wonder if you (slur) are responsible for sending this to me. I'd sure like to get this stopped. I guess my last threat down there didn't carry very far.''

Later, he says: ''What do you think it will take to get this stopped? Uh, maybe a visit with an assault rifle? ... I'd sure hate for it to come to that.''

Last year, someone broke into Morrison's apartment and stole more than a dozen handguns and rifles, according to a police report. Jesse Williams, 38, who worked as a maintenance supervisor at the Denver apartment complex where Morrison used to live, said he recalled seeing at least 20 guns during a visit to the apartment.

''We had a conversation about the right to bear arms. He really liked his guns,'' Williams said. ''I thought it was a little odd that a guy would have so many guns.''

Classes were canceled as the community tried to come to grips with the bloodshed, which evoked memories of the 1999 shooting rampage that left 15 dead at Columbine High School, less than an hour's drive away.

Associated Press writers Don Mitchell and Kim Nguyen contributed to this report.

    Colo. Town Mourns Teen Killed in Siege, NYT, 30.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-School-Standoff.html

Investigation of Colorado school shooting turns up letter from gunman

Updated 9/29/2006 4:04 PM ET
USA Today
By Tom Kenworthy

DENVER — The gunman who terrorized a rural Colorado school sent a 14-page letter to a relative shortly before he took six girls hostage in a classroom, killing one and then himself as police officers closed in.

The handwritten letter from Duane Morrison, 53, to an unidentified relative in Colorado "clearly acknowledges his pending death" and "also apologizes to his family for his actions that will occur," said Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener at a late morning press conference in Bailey, Colo.

The letter made no reference to Platte Canyon High School or to any of its students, Wegener said.

Authorities have been studying the letter — given to them by a Morrison relative after federal firearms agents traced one of Morrison's weapons to the relative's home — in hopes of determining the gunman's motives .

"It doesn't tell me a lot of 'why' but it does maybe tell me the conclusion of the events of the 27th may have been my worse fears," Wegener said.

The letter was postmarked Sept. 27 at the post office in Shawnee, Colo., a tiny community near the high school where Morrison killed Emily Keyes, 16, as SWAT team officers broke into the classroom where he was holding her and another girl Wednesday. Four others were released during the hostage standoff.

Morrison molested the six girls and sexually assaulted at least two of them, the sheriff said.

Wegener said the letter from Morrison was "not a suicide note or diary," but said "many times the letter references suicide." Steve Johnson, director of the major crimes unit of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, said the letter was "in part" a suicide note.

"The relative has been extremely cooperative with us," said Johnson. Neither he nor Wegener revealed where the relative lives.

Morrison carried two handguns into the school. Authorities are also investigating if he is tied to an AR-15 rifle found at a camping area on the Platte River near the school. That weapon is the semi-automatic civilian version of the military M-16.

Authorities also are studying video of Morrison getting out of his Jeep in the school parking lot on Wednesday morning and walking toward the school.

Investigators said Morrison was a petty criminal who had a Denver address but apparently had been living in his battered yellow Jeep.

Morrison walked inside the school with two handguns and a backpack that he claimed contained a bomb. Investigators did not say what was in the backpack.

During the siege, Morrison released four hostages. While still holding two girls, he cut off contact with deputies and warned that "something would happen at 4 o'clock," authorities said earlier this week.

Classes were canceled for the rest of the week as the community tried to come to grips with the bloodshed, which evoked memories of the 1999 shooting rampage that left 15 dead at Columbine High School, less than an hour's drive away.

Student Chelsea Wilson said she was in the classroom when the gunman came in and told the students to line up facing the chalkboard.

"All the hairs on my body stood up," she said. "I guess I was somewhat praying it was a drill."

Residents of this mountain town of about 3,500 gathered Thursday at the Platte Canyon Christian Church for support. Others stopped by the Cutthroat Cafe, where Keyes had worked for about two years.

"It's very sad here. You know, the family lost their daughter but as a community, we lost a child," said Bobbi Sterling, a waitress and cook. "We're just sitting here, numb and in shock. We're all just kind of stunned."

Contributing: The Asssociated Press

    Investigation of Colorado school shooting turns up letter from gunman, NYT, 30.9.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-09-29-colorado_x.htm

Fla. Manhunt Intensifies After Shootings

September 29, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:34 a.m. ET
The New York Times

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) -- A man who had been pulled over for a traffic violation shot two sheriff's deputies Thursday, killing one of them and prompting an intensive manhunt that forced a lockdown at three schools, officials said.

Authorities told residents to lock themselves in their homes as officers swarmed the rural area. The gunman remained at large.

The shooter was first approached during a traffic stop for speeding, officials said. The deputy became suspicious of the man's ID, and the suspect bolted into thick brush.

That deputy and another who arrived seconds later with a police dog chased the suspect.

As the officers tracked him, there was a ''burst of gunfire,'' said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. The first deputy returned fire, and both deputies and the dog were shot. Judd said the killed deputy was Vernon Matthew ''Matt'' Williams, 39.

''If he had been in the ER or the operating room, it wouldn't have made a difference,'' Judd said. ''He was shot multiple times. I don't believe he felt a thing.''

The deputy who made the traffic stop, Douglas Speirs, 39, was treated for a gunshot wound to the leg and released Thursday evening, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.

The suspect later exchanged gunfire with a Lakeland police detective who was at a home warning residents to stay inside. No one was hit.

''This is the face of the man who shot and killed my deputy today,'' Judd said at a news conference, holding the photo from the identification card the suspect showed Speirs.

The card carried the name of a 32-year-old Miami man, but Judd cautioned that the information could be bogus.

The shooting occurred near Kathleen High School, which was locked down, Wood said. A woman at the school who would identify herself only as Mrs. Platt said students were locked in their classrooms and were safe.

Two other schools farther away also were locked down.

About 6 p.m., authorities began evacuating the 1,600 students at Kathleen High, a sheriff's spokeswoman said. A bus took students to a secure area where they could meet their parents.

Authorities cordoned off a large area around the suspect's car. Helicopters circled in wide arcs as emergency vehicles raced up and down roads.

Television video footage showed officers with shields searching a wooded area with traffic backed up on nearby Interstate 4, which runs through the city about 35 miles east of Tampa.

Officers from neighboring counties assisted in the search.

Judd said 10,000 to 15,000 people live in the area. Officers were going house to house in some areas asking people to lock themselves inside.

Williams' police dog, a German shepherd named Diogi, was killed.

Williams had been with the sheriff's office since April 1994 and leaves a wife and three children.

    Fla. Manhunt Intensifies After Shootings, NYT, 29.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Deputy-Shooting.html

Shooting Leaves Loss of Life, and Innocence

September 29, 2006
The New York Times
By KIRK JOHNSON

BAILEY, Colo., Sept. 28 — Grief is not enough, many people here said Thursday, to fill the holes from what happened at Platte Canyon High School.

Without even a partial explanation so far of why Duane Morrison, a 53-year-old drifter, came to the school Wednesday bent on violence, the world feels random and terrifying, they said, even beyond the bleakness that the loss of life and innocence has brought.

Mr. Morrison, a Denver man who had apparently been living his car, took six female students hostage inside a classroom and sexually abused some of them over a nearly four-hour period, the police said, but he made no demands and sought nothing from negotiators. As a SWAT team stormed the room, he killed one girl, 16-year-old Emily Keyes, and then himself.

What really shook this mountain town of 15,000 people about 40 miles southwest of Denver, dozens of people said, was the realization that the assailant was anonymous and unknown. That is contrary and deeply threatening to what small towns are about.

“We’re 45 minutes away from Denver and a lot of people don’t lock their doors,” said Mary Marshall, who has two twin daughters in the eighth grade at the middle school that adjoins Platte Canyon High. “That’s the kind of trusting atmosphere that there is out here. This incident has probably changed things forever.”

Ms. Marshall said the unexplained nature of the crime was what plagued her thoughts. “The randomness gives you the impression of less safety,” she said

Park County’s sheriff, Fred Wegener, was even more to the point. “My small county is gone,” Sheriff Wegener said at a news conference. “This is something that has changed my school, changed my community.”

The sheriff stood by his decision to send in the police team that led to the standoff’s violent end. Mr. Morrison had said, according to the police, that he had a bomb in his backpack and that something would happen at 4 p.m.

That threat compelled the decision to act, Sheriff Wegener said. He declined to say what an examination of the backpack had revealed because the investigation is still under way.

“Did I do everything I could to ensure the safety of these individuals? Yes,” Mr. Wegener said. “Am I going to regret for the rest of my life that Emily died? Yes.”

The officers burst in with shields extended, and Mr. Morrison shot Emily in the back of the head as she tried to flee toward them, the sheriff said. Everything was over in perhaps two to three seconds.

What was left on Thursday, in places like the Bailey Community Church and the Platte Canyon Grill, was a search for meaning — and it was not coming easy.

Chip Fair, whose daughter Hannah had been close friends with Emily since grade school, said he felt consumed by the pressure to do something. Mr. Fair paced in his house Wednesday night, he said. On Thursday he arrived at the church just after noon, having come from the bank where he had started a fund in Emily’s name, though he is not sure yet what the fund will do.

“You’re up one minute and you fall to pieces the next,” Mr. Fair said. “That’s kind of the way it’s going.”

A spokesman for the Keyes family, Louis Gonzalez, stood outside the church and asked the world to practice “random acts of kindness” in Emily’s name.

A deputy sheriff distributed pictures of Emily and the last text message she managed to send to her family about an hour and half before she was shot. “I love U guys,” it read.

Tera Daughtry and Niamh Connell, both recent graduates of Platt Canyon High, held hands as they walked outside the church talking to other young people and to reporters about their last memories of Emily. As they spoke, they laced their fingers together for support.

“I wasn’t even there and I’m having nightmares,” Ms. Daughtry said.

People described Emily as a smart and articulate student who excelled on the speech team.

“We are heartbroken at just really how random these things can be,” said Ellen Campa, 54, who has lived in Bailey for 30 years and is a friend of the Keyes family. Ms. Campa said she had watched Emily grow up.

“She was a sweetie, just a typical teen,” Ms. Campa said. “A neat kid and you look at her and think of all the potential — she’ll never get to grow up now.”

Gov. Bill Owens, who visited the school and the church Thursday afternoon, said he thought school security improvements made in Bailey after the 1999 attack at Columbine High School in nearby Littleton had probably kept Wednesday’s attack from being worse. The school was built with evacuation fully in mind, including a system that allowed students in adjoining classrooms to escape quickly, Mr. Owens said.

The town also got money after Columbine for a full-time police officer at the high school. But when Mr. Morrison arrived at the school late Wednesday morning, the officer was off campus at the town’s police building, Mr. Wegener said.

Katie Kelley contributed reporting from Denver.

    Shooting Leaves Loss of Life, and Innocence, NYT, 29.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/us/29hostage.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Girl in school standoff told family: "I love you"

Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:09 PM ET
Reuters
By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - A 16-year-old Colorado girl killed by a drifter during his standoff with police at her high school sent a text message to her family before her death, telling them simply, "I love you guys," police said on Thursday.

Emily Keyes sent the message, using a cell phone she had just been given for her 16th birthday, during the more than three hours she was held hostage by Duane Morrison in a classroom at Platte Canyon High School in the small mountain town of Bailey, Colorado.

The 53-year-old gunman, who police say sexually assaulted some of the six girls he took hostage before releasing four of them, shot Keyes to death and then turned the gun on himself as police stormed the building.

The sixth girl ran to safety during the confrontation between Morrison and police. The scene drew comparisons with the 1999 Columbine massacre that took place in nearby Littleton, Colorado.

Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener told reporters that sexual assault may have been Morrison's motive for taking the students hostage. The intruder apparently approached a male student earlier in the day asking about a list of girls at the school, according to Wegener.

Wegener said detectives were also trying to determine if an assault rifle found nearby belonged to Morrison, a drifter with a record of petty crimes who was living out of his beat-up yellow Jeep. The car was found parked near the school after the shooting.

The incident has hit hard in the tightly knit community of Bailey, home to less than 5,000 people. Classes were canceled at the high school until next week.

Wegener, who knew the murdered girl's family, defended his decision to raid the school, saying that Morrison had set a 4 p.m. deadline for police to back off and claimed to have a bomb in a camouflage backpack he carried. No explosives were found.

"Did I do everything I could to ensure the safety of these individuals? Yes I did," he said. "Am I going to regret for the rest of my life that Emily died? You betcha. What would you do in my position?"

Wegener declined to elaborate on the sexual assaults but said earlier in the day that reports that the girls were being "traumatized" also motivated him to act quickly.

The gunman had made few demands other than "leave me alone" and "get out of here," during talks with police negotiators, Wegener said.

On April 20, 1999, Columbine High School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 13 people and wounded 21, then committed suicide in what has been called the worst school shooting in U.S. history.

(Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb)

    Girl in school standoff told family: "I love you", R, 28.9.2006, http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-09-29T000911Z_01_N27413845_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-COLORADO.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C5-domesticNews-2

Homeless man named as Colorado school gunman

Thu Sep 28, 2006 12:31pm ET
Reuters

DENVER (Reuters) - The gunman who took students hostage at a Colorado high school and killed a girl was 53, lived out of his car, and sexually assaulted at least one hostage, police said on Thursday.

The gunman, who shot the girl, then himself, as police stormed the classroom on Wednesday, was named as Duane Morrison of Denver by Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener. The sheriff said the motive remained a mystery and the killing had scarred the small commuter town of Bailey, Colorado.

"He did traumatize and assault our children ... he's terrorized our community," Wegener told reporters in a news conference in Bailey. "My small county's gone," he said.

He characterized the trauma to the hostages as "sexual in nature" but gave no more details.

Two weapons -- a revolver and a semi-automatic pistol -- were found on Morrison when authorities removed his body early on Thursday, Wegener said.

The shooting drew comparisons to the 1999 Columbine killings that took place 30 miles away in Littleton, Colorado. At Columbine High School, two students shot and killed 13 people and wounded 21, then committed suicide.

Morrison initially took six girls hostage and released all but two. Wegener said he decided to storm the classroom at Platte Canyon High School after Morrison set a deadline and warned "something would happen."

The gunman had made few demands other than "leave me alone" and "get out of here," during talks with police negotiators, Wegener said.

Morrison had no known connections with the area, and a "very minor" criminal record, he said. Investigators were interviewing Morrison's family members.

Autopsies would be performed on Thursday, he said.

    Homeless man named as Colorado school gunman, R, 28.9.2006, http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-09-28T163140Z_01_N27413845_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-COLORADO.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C5-domesticNews-2

School Attack Was ‘Sexual in Nature,’ Sheriff Says

September 28, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:19 p.m. ET
The New York Times

BAILEY, Colo. (AP) -- The gunman who took six girls hostage in a high school classroom, killing one, had sexually assaulted at least some of them, the sheriff said Thursday.

''He did traumatize and assault our children,'' Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said. ''I'll only say that it's sexual in nature.''

Wegener identified the suspect as Duane R. Morrison, 53, and said was he from the Denver area but had been living in his car. He said investigators had not established any previous connection between him and the hostages.

State records showed he was arrested in July in the west Denver suburb of Lakewood on a charge of obstructing police in another suburb. He was also arrested for larceny and marijuana possession in 1973.

Authorities said Morrison had let four of the hostages go before a SWAT team stormed the Platte Canyon High School classroom where he had been cornered Wednesday.

The gunman fatally wounded one of the girls and killed himself as the deputies charged in. The other girl escaped.

The victim was identified by acquaintances and a co-worker as 16-year-old Emily Keyes, shown in a yearbook photo as a smiling blonde who played volleyball and was on the high school debate team.

She was pronounced dead at a Denver hospital after Wednesday's standoff, which reminded many people of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High, less than an hour's drive away.

''This is something that has changed my school, changed my community,'' said Wegener, a 36-year resident of Bailey. ''My small county's gone.''

Wegener said Morrison made few demands. ''Most of the demands were, 'Leave me alone, get out of here,''' he said.

Asked about his decision to storm the classroom, Wegener said:

''Being a sheriff in a small community, knowing all the parents, knowing the kids -- my daughter graduated last year, my son's a junior here -- it is very difficult. Because I'd want whoever was in my position to do the same thing. And that is to save lives,'' he said.

Morrison began the takeover by ordering students to line up at the chalk board as he tapped each with his gun and told them to stay or go, a student in the classroom said.

Cassidy Grigg, 16, said the man walked in, fired a warning shot at the floor and ordered the students to line up. He told some to leave and others -- all girls -- to stay.

''You could tell that he wanted the females,'' Cassidy said on NBC's ''Today'' Thursday. ''He tapped me on the shoulder and he told me to leave the room. I told him, 'I don't want to leave.'''

''He told me that if I didn't go then he would pretty much kill me,'' Cassidy told ABC's ''Good Morning America.'' ''I noticed that he wanted to keep the females in the class. That's the main reason why I didn't want to go because I'm sure the girls would have felt more support if there would have been some males in the class with them.''

No one recognized the man, who seemed to be dressed as a student, Cassidy said.

''He was just an old guy who came on a mission, and I think he got what he wanted,'' he told ''Today.''

''We are a community in mourning,'' schools superintendent Jim Walpole said. ''Our thoughts, our prayers are with our students, staff and their families. Especially the family of the student we lost.''

Residents gathered quietly Thursday morning at the Cutthroat Cafe, where Keyes had been a waitress for about two years, to grieve and remember, said Bobbi Sterling, a waitress and cook there.

''It's very sad here. You know, the family lost their daughter but as a community, we lost a child,'' she said. ''We're just sitting here, numb and in shock. We're all just kind of stunned. People are here for mutual support.''

Wegener was at a loss to explain a motive.

''I don't know why he wanted to do this,'' Wegener said, his voice breaking.

The gunman claimed he had explosives in a backpack and was wielding a handgun, authorities said. He released four hostages one by one, then abruptly cut off communication with authorities and set a deadline that forced authorities to act.

He said authorities used explosives as they entered the classroom, only to have the suspect fire at officers, shoot one of the girls and then himself.

School was canceled for the rest of the week at the high school and the adjoining middle school in this tiny mountain town.

The lines of students fleeing the schools, the bomb squads and the frantic parents scrambling to find their loved ones evoked memories of the Columbine attack, where two students killed 13 people before taking their own lives.

Michael Owens, who has one son at the middle school and another in the high school, said the anxiety was worse because the memory of Columbine was still fresh.

''Things that are out of your control, you just do what you can do,'' he said. ''It's like an earthquake.''

Sophomore Zack Barnes, 16, said his class moved to a room that turned out to be next to the one where the hostages were being held. They turned out the lights and sat in silence in the dark for about 20 minutes before police guided them out.

''I was just praying it wasn't a mass killing,'' Barnes said.

The schools have an enrollment of about 770 students, with 460 in the high school.

On the Net:

High school site: http://plattechs.tripod.com/index.htm

    School Attack Was ‘Sexual in Nature,’ Sheriff Says, NYT, 28.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-School-Evacuation.html?hp&ex=1159502400&en=203ded2bc0fbb637&ei=5094&partner=homepage

High school hostages were sexually assaulted

Shooting victim identified as 16-year-old junior

September 27, 2006
The Rocky Mountain News
By Rocky Mountain News Staff and Wire

The teenage girl shot to death during a hostage standoff at Platte Canyon High School has been identified as Emily Keyes, a 16-year-old junior, by friends and classmates.

She died about 4:30 p.m. after undergoing emergency surgery at St. Anthony's Central hospital, according to hospital spokeswoman Bev Lilly.

Keyes underwent emergency surgery about 4 p.m. after being flown from the school.

The full horror of the days events are still emerging. A knowledgeable law enforcement source who spoke on the condition he not be identified said that the gunman sexually assaulted some of six female students who were held hostage at the school.

The gunman has not been identified. He carried a handgun into the school about 11:30 a.m. and fired a shot into the ceiling as he took over a second floor classroom.

Authorities negotiated the release of four of the girls one by one over the course of the afternoon. An unknown number were sexually assaulted before they were released, the source said.

One of the two hostages who were not released, a 16-year-old junior, died after being shot by the attacker when police burst into the room about 3:45 p.m. to end the stalemate.

Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said he made the decision to send officers in to end the stalemate about 3:30 p.m. because the gunman had given a 4 p.m. deadline. In a Wednesday night press conference he was asked if he was second-guessing himself.

"Yes, I eventually have to go face a family who’s daughter is dead," Wegener said. "Yes. What would you do?"

The sheriff said his own son was in the school building when gunman took over the school.

Wegener said the man shot at officers who stormed into the classroom, then shot the victim and then killed himself, as officers rushed in.

Emily Keyes, 16, was shot during the standoff. She died at about 4:30 p.m. after undergoing emergency surgery.

The other remaining hostage was pulled to safety by deputies.

The sheriff said investigators have some leads on the identity of the gunman but are not yet certain who he was. His body remains in the school.

He said the gunman talked with negotiators and released four of his six hostages one by one until negotiations broke off around 3:30 p.m.

The gunman ordered all of the male students out of the classroom when he took over, and made all of the girls stay, according to accounts from students in the classroom next door.

Authorities found at least one suspicious device that looked like a bomb and are still checking the school.

The school sits in a narrow, winding canyon carved by the South Platte River about 35 miles southwest of Denver. and shares a campus with Fitzsimmons Middle School. The two schools have an enrollment of about 770 students, with 460 in the high school.

Superintendent James Walpole said there will be no school Thursday or Friday at the schools because the campus is a crime scene. Counselors will be made available to students and staff, he said.

Communication among the law enforcement agencies on the scene worked better than they did at the Columbine shootings April 20, 1999, when officers with various jurisdictions were unable to talk to one another because of incompatible radio systems.

The Metro Area Communication vehicle was sent to the scene to help the multiple agencies communicate. The technology in the truck allows the different radio systems to be patched together to create one large radio system.

"It was purchased for this very reason, when you have a multi-agency incident," said Sonny Jackson, spokesman for Denver Police Department. "This is the first time it has been called out of the Denver area."

The U.S. Department of Justice purchased 25 of the trucks for cities across the nation. One of the $500,000 vehicles was sent to Denver about a year ago.

"It's a better means of communicating," Jackson said.

    High school hostages were sexually assaulted, Rocky Mountain News, 28.9.2006, http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5024828,00.html

Events in Bailey rattle Columbine survivors

September 27, 2006
Rocky Mountain News
By Lynn Bartels

Connie Michalick and her son, Richard Castaldo, sat in a Social Security office this morning, trying to explain to a newcomer to Colorado about the Columbine shootings that left Castaldo paralyzed.

Michalick turned on her television this afternoon to see frightened students running for school buses.

"Oh my God," she said. "This is actually giving me chills. I want to cry.

"I hope some poor parent doesn’t have to stand and wait for a bus and a child who doesn’t come home."

A hostage situation at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey revived harrowing memories for those parents whose children who attended Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.

Terry Savage’s son, John, was in the school library that day when seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold stormed Columbine.

John, who was hiding under a table, moved. One gunmen said, "Halt, who goes there?"

John knew Klebold and asked him what he was doing.

"I’m killing people," Klebhold calmly replied.

"Are you going to kill me?" John asked.

"No, get out of here," Klebold said.

John escaped, but his parents wouldn’t know that for more than two frantic hours.

"I get very tense when I think about it," Savage said in a trembling voice. "This thing in Bailey brings back memories, doesn’t it?"

Klebold and Harris killed 12 students and a teacher before commiting suicide.

They injured about two dozen more, including Castaldo, a junior who was sitting outside the school with friends when he was shot in the chest, back and arm.

His mother recalled waiting at nearby Leawood Elementary School for hours that day.

After police finally stormed Columbine, classrooms were emptied and students ran from the schools to waiting buses that took them to Leawood.

"We were all standing there and a bus would come. You would look for your child. You would say, ‘Surely he’ll be on the next bus.’ The crowd kept getting smaller and smaller and finally they said, ‘That’s the last bus,'" Michalick said.

"The parents that were left were in a panic. It was excruciating."

Only then did she learn that her son was in the hospital.

In the days that followed, TV stations endlessly replayed footage of students running from the school to the buses.

Michalick said it seemed almost unreal to think that earlier Wednesday, she and her son were talking about the Columbine shootings with a Social Security administrator.

Castaldo, now 25, is a paraplegic and receives disability payments.

Michalick said the Bailey situation on top of shootings recently in Montreal are too much to compehend.

"This is just horrible," she said. "I just don't know what the answer is."

Another Columbine parent, Sue Townsend, had also waited that day at Leawood for a bus that never came. Her stepdaughter, Lauren Townsend, had been killed in the library.

Sue Townsend heard about the hostage situation at Platte Canyon High School on the radio, but declined to immediately turn on the TV.

"It just dredges up all those emotions," she said. "I don’t want to relive it.

"I’ll say a prayer for the families involved."

    Events in Bailey rattle Columbine survivors, Rocky Mountain News, 27.9.2006, http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5025199,00.html

Student and Gunman Die in Colorado High School Standoff

September 28, 2006
The New York Times
By KIRK JOHNSON

DENVER, Sept. 27 — A gunman and a teenage girl he had taken hostage in a high school southwest of Denver both died Wednesday as a SWAT team stormed a classroom in an attempt to save the student and the man opened fire, shooting her and then himself, the police said.

The gunman was pronounced dead at the scene; the student died later at a Denver hospital.

The four-hour drama, which began just before noon, convulsed the town of Bailey, about 40 miles southwest of Denver, prompting the evacuation of two schools and the closing of highways leading to town. For many it was a frightening reminder of the 1999 killings at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colo.

“It’s hard,” Sheriff Fred Wegener of Park County said in a news conference, adding that his son also attends the school, Platte Canyon High. “The community’s probably going to be in shock right now and rightfully so.”

Sheriff Wegener, said he did not yet know the gunman’s identity. He said the man took six female students hostage in a classroom, then released four of them one by one. About 3:30 p.m., the he broke off negotiations, the sheriff said, and a decision was made to send in a SWAT team. As the team burst into the classroom, the gunman shot one student and then himself, Sheriff Wegener said.

The student died shortly after 4:30 p.m. after being flown to St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver, a hospital spokeswoman said. The police did not release her name, but The Associated Press, citing acquaintances and a co-worker, identified her as Emily Keyes, 16, a member of the volleyball and debate teams. The remaining hostage was not seriously hurt, the sheriff said.

The standoff, though very different from the situation at Columbine High, evoked immediate and visceral memories. Bailey, a town of about 15,000, is about 30 miles from Littleton, and for many residents, the memories remain fresh.

“We have never had anything this extreme happen,” said Candice Staples, who lives about four miles from Platte Canyon High.

But like many others in the area, Ms. Staples, 28, has a personal connection to Columbine. Her sister-in-law was a student there on April 20, 1999, when 12 Columbine students and a teacher were killed before the two gunmen took their own lives.

Experts in school safety, who monitored the evacuation of the Bailey high school and the adjoining middle school, with a total of about 800 students, said that improvements in emergency preparedness across the country and in Colorado had been uneven but that the Bailey system appeared to have worked fairly well.

After Columbine, the Colorado Legislature required districts to create enhanced information systems so that the police and school officials could better share reports that might head off violence. A statewide hot line for anonymous tips about potential school violence was set up with help from a foundation.

But many schools, burdened by budget cuts and pressures to improve test scores, have let evacuation and preparedness plans grow dusty on the shelves.

“It’s a very mixed picture,” said Prof. Del Elliott, the director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado. “In some cases, there have been real substantial gains. But across the board, most schools have still not gone very far.”

Katie Kelley contributed reporting.

    Student and Gunman Die in Colorado High School Standoff, NYT, 28.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/us/28hostage.html

Gunman Takes Hostages at Colo. School

September 28, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:05 a.m. ET
The New York Times

BAILEY, Colo. (AP) -- A gunman took six girls hostage at the high school in this mountain town Wednesday, using them as human shields for hours before he shot and fatally wounded a girl and then killed himself as a SWAT team moved in, authorities said.

The confrontation at Platte Canyon High School unfolded just a short drive away from Columbine, the site of one of the nation's deadliest school shootings. The gunman, believed to be between 30 and 50 years old, was cornered with the girls in a second-floor classroom, and he released four of them, one by one.

Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said authorities decided to storm the classroom after the man cut off negotiations and set a 4 p.m. deadline. Wegener wouldn't say what the man threatened to do. He said authorities used explosives as they entered the classroom, only to have the suspect fire at officers, shoot one of the girls and then himself.

The man was not immediately identified -- one official declared him a virtual John Doe -- and the sheriff was at a loss to explain a motive.

''I don't know why he wanted to do this,'' Wegener said, his voice breaking.

Authorities were investigating whether any of the girls were sexually assaulted, said Lance Clem, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

''That's one of the things that we're trying to look into right now,'' Clem said.

The wounded girl -- identified by acquaintances and a co-worker as 16-year-old Emily Keyes -- was taken to a Denver hospital in critical condition, but was declared dead, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The last hostage was unharmed and spoke with authorities. School was canceled for the rest of the week.

''We are a community in mourning,'' schools superintendent Jim Walpole said. ''Our thoughts, our prayers are with our students, staff and their families. Especially the family of the student we lost.''

Keyes was a member of the volleyball and debate teams and was getting involved with cheerleading, said senior Desaray Trujillo, 17, who had known her since the second grade. Keyes also worked as a waitress at a restaurant in town.

''I'm feeling a lot of things right now, I'm feeling rage, I'm mourning,'' said her boss, Chip Thomas. ''The senselessness of it all, is where the rage comes from. She was a good kid, she'll be missed.''

After the suspect entered the building, hundreds of students were evacuated. The sight of students fleeing the high school in long lines, and of frantic parents scrambling to find their children, evoked memories of the 1999 attack on Columbine High School, where two students killed 13 people before committing suicide.

Students said the bearded suspect wore a dark blue hooded sweat shirt and a camouflage backpack. The sheriff said the man claimed to have a bomb in the backpack and threatened to set it off. The man was also toting a handgun.

Tom Grigg said his 16-year-old son, Cassidy, was in a classroom when the man walked in, fired a gun and began telling some students to leave and others -- all girls -- to stay.

''He stood them up at the blackboard,'' Grigg said. ''He hand-picked the ones he wanted to get out.''

The gunman told Cassidy to leave, but he said he wanted to stay with the girls, Grigg said.

''The guy flipped him around and put the gun in his face and said, 'It would be in your best interest to leave,''' Grigg said.

Students described a chaotic scene inside after the intercom announced ''code white'' and everyone was told to stay in their classrooms.

The high school and a nearby middle school were soon evacuated. Jefferson County authorities -- who also handled the attack at Columbine -- sent a bomb squad and SWAT team to the high school.

''I'm just terrified. I'm terrified,'' said Sherry Husen, whose son plays on the high school football team and was told not to return to school from his part-time job. ''I know so many kids in that school.''

Students from the high school and a nearby middle school were taken to another school for a head count. Ambulances were parked in the end zone of the high school's football field, and a tank-like SWAT team vehicle was parked nearby on a closed highway.

Parents pressed authorities for details but had little information on their children.

Bill Twyford said he received a text message from his 15-year-old son, Billy, a student at the high school, at about 11:30 a.m. It said: ''Hey there, there's a gun hijacking in school right now. I'm fine, bad situation though.''

Michael Owens, who has one son at the middle school and another in the high school, said the anxiety was worse because of the memory of Columbine.

''Things that are out of your control,'' he said. ''It's like an earthquake.''

Tom Mauser, whose son Daniel was among the students slain at Columbine, said: ''Any adult who holds kids hostage is reprehensible.''

The schools are in a narrow, winding canyon carved by the South Platte River about 35 miles southwest of Denver. They have an enrollment of about 770 students, with 460 in the high school.

Husen's family moved to Bailey from suburban Denver about 14 years ago.

''We moved up here for the mountain solitude, and I just never thought this would happen in this school, but it happens everywhere,'' she said.

Associated Press writers Pat Graham, Don Mitchell, Jon Sarche, Catherine Tsai, Judith Kohler, Robert Weller and photographer David Zalubowski contributed to this report.

    Gunman Takes Hostages at Colo. School, NYT, 28.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-School-Evacuation.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Boy Badly Hurt in Shootout With Intruders

September 25, 2006
The New York Times
By FERNANDA SANTOS

Three intruders walked into a Long Island home with nine people inside, one of whom owned a gun, leading to a shootout that left a 9-year-old boy in “extremely critical condition” with a bullet in his head yesterday, the Nassau County police said.

Two others were hit by bullets, including one of the attackers, during the home invasion late Saturday night in Inwood. Despite being shot, the attacker was still at large last night, as were the other two intruders.

The boy, whom relatives identified as John Henry Romano Jr., underwent several hours of surgery at Schneider Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park, said Detective Lt. Dennis Farrell, the commander of the Nassau County Police Department homicide squad.

“He’s in the fight of his life,” the boy’s grandmother, Janet Anglero, said at the hospital, where she stood vigil with at least a dozen relatives and friends. “All I want is to get these guys who did this to my grandson.”

The police were not sure last night whether the bullet that hit the boy, who is called Henry, came from the homeowner’s gun or from one of the guns used by the intruders. Lieutenant Farrell said the homeowner, who was licensed to own a gun, fired several shots, hitting one of the intruders at least once in the leg.

A 22-year-old man at the home also was hurt in the shootout, but his injury was not life-threatening, the lieutenant said. The police did not release the name of the homeowner or the injured man. No residents were at the house yesterday afternoon.

According to property records, the home is owned by Albert R. Aloisi, a construction worker who neighbors said has been on disability with a broken foot.

Six people inside the house, at 47 West End Avenue, were residents, including a pregnant woman, her parents and her son. Henry and two adults were visiting for the weekend, the police and neighbors said.

Exactly what happened inside the modest single-family house, in one of the communities that make up the area known as the Five Towns, remained sketchy yesterday. The intruders walked in through the front door, which was open, about 11:10 p.m., but it was unclear if they knew anyone who was inside the house, the police said. Investigators were also trying to figure out whether the intruders chose the house at random or if it was their target, and seemed unsure if the intruders meant to burglarize the house, because nothing was stolen.

Miguel Mendosa, 28, who lives nearby, said he heard what sounded like five gunshots and when he looked out the window, he saw two men running north on West End Avenue. A car parked by the stop sign in front of the house was driven away with its headlights off, following the men, Mr. Mendosa said.

Just three hours before the shooting, Henry was tossing a football on the street with an 8-year-old cousin who lives in the house, relatives said.

“He loves to play football,” another of his cousins, Judy Rodriguez, 19, said as she stood outside the grandmother’s house in Far Rockaway, Queens. Henry lives in the same neighborhood and attends school there, Ms. Rodriguez said. He is a fifth-grader at Public School 43 on Beach 29th Street.

One of the people in the house drove Henry to a hospital after he was shot and from there, he was taken by ambulance to the Children’s Hospital, part of North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Lieutenant Farrell said. “The next 48 hours will be very telling about the degree of his injuries,” he said.

The 22-year-old man was shot in the arm and was being treated at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside.

Looking exhausted and on the verge of bursting into tears, Ms. Anglero said she was praying for Henry, her only grandson, but as much as she tried, she could not make sense of what happened to him.

“Why where there’s children?” she asked. “Why would they start shooting where there’s children, where there are innocent kids?”

Michael Amon and Daryl Khan contributed reporting.

    Boy Badly Hurt in Shootout With Intruders, NYT, 25.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/nyregion/25invasion.html

Civilians Stopped Armed Capitol Intruder

September 22, 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:04 a.m. ET
The New York Times

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An armed man who ran through the U.S. Capitol this week was stopped by civilian employees, not police officers, authorities said Friday, reversing course in what was already an embarrassing security breach.

Carlos Greene, 20, was arrested Monday after allegedly crashing an SUV into a police cruiser, then darting into the Capitol armed with a handgun. Following the arrest, acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher McGaffin said his officers subdued Greene outside a basement office that distributes flags to lawmakers.

Federal prosecutors added details to the story Tuesday, saying an officer stopped Greene at the point of a shotgun, and only after Greene tried to grab the gun.

On Friday, Capitol Police said unarmed employees of the flag office had stopped Greene seconds before officers arrived.

''It was the civilians who did have him corralled or subdued,'' said Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman. ''We were hot on his trail. We just didn't get there in time.''

She said Greene may not have been trying to grab the gun from police and may only have been trying to push it away.

The new details won't affect the criminal case against Greene, who is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, but they add a new blemish for police in a case that lawmakers have already criticized.

Schneider called the security breach unacceptable and said police are reviewing procedures to ensure it can't happen again. Lawmakers also have said they want to review the incident and find out what went wrong.

It was the worst security breach since the 1998 shooting deaths of two Capitol police officers. In that case, a man with a history of mental illness ran through a first-floor door of the Capitol, shot to death one officer at the door and another inside the adjacent office of then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

Security has increased significantly since that event and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Schneider praised the ''valiant efforts'' of the civilians but said police still recommend people call them rather than getting involved in security threats.

    Civilians Stopped Armed Capitol Intruder, NYT, 22.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Capitol-Arrest.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Suspect Is Held in Duquesne Shooting Case

September 19, 2006
The New York Times
By IAN URBINA

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 19 — A man suspected in the shooting of five basketball players at Duquesne University was taken into custody early this morning, and a female student was charged in connection with the shooting, police officials said.

The student, Brittany Jones, 19, helped six men, including some she knew had guns, to enter a dance at the school, according to an affidavit filed in court. The shooting broke out after an argument over a girl early Sunday morning outside the dance.

Ms. Jones was charged with recklessly endangering another person, carrying a firearm without a license and two counts of criminal conspiracy.

Her lawyer, James M. Ecker, said she was arraigned on $2,000 bail and was in the process of being released after posting bond.

Local news media reported that the arrested man was charged early this morning, but the police declined to comment.

The police have been seeking two men as possible gunmen, as it remained unclear whether one or both fired the shots that wounded the five players.

The police said that the shooting occurred at 2:15 a.m. after a group of basketball players had an argument with several men who were not students, and that at least one of those men pulled out a gun.

All five players survived. Two remained hospitalized, including one listed in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head.

The main suspect and possibly one other person fired as many as 12 times before fleeing the scene.

The affidavit filed against Ms. Jones said she was called on her cellphone Saturday evening by a friend, Kenneth Eason, who asked if he could join her at the dance along with his brother. When Mr. Eason and his brother arrived, four other male friends were with them.

“While they were walking to the dance party, she was made aware several of the males that were with Kenny had guns concealed on them, and they asked her if they were going to be patted down by doormen prior to entering the dance party,” the affidavit said. Ms Jones asked a guard whether they were patting people down and was told no, at which point the group entered the dance, the document said.

The university said the incident was the first time in the 128-year history of Duquesne, a Roman Catholic institution, that a student had been shot on the campus, which sits on a scenic bluff overlooking the Monongahela River near the Hill district, one of the city’s more crime-ridden district.

“There is still a sense of disbelief for our students, who have come to expect our campus to be safe,” said Charles J. Dougherty, president of the university.

Mr. Dougherty added that while officials would study whether the campus needed new security measures, he did not want to ruin the open environment of the campus.

“Remember that what we are dealing with is an act that is irrational, and something that even reasonable people couldn’t anticipate, without this turning into a police state,” Mr. Dougherty said. “We’re not a monastery, and we don’t intend to become one.”

On Monday, while the police searched for the gunman or gunmen, university officials tripled the number of armed officers on campus, and posted signs in dormitory hallways informing students about counseling services.

“My friends were joking, ‘We left the ‘hood, only to end right back up in it,’ ” said Reneicia Frazier, a senior from Pittsburgh who helped organize the dance on behalf of the Black Student Union.

Ms. Frazier said that in her four years of arranging events for the union, no one had even shown up drunk at one of the events, or had a fight.

While some students said they were now more wary walking around the campus, many seemed almost resigned, saying crimes like the shootings were bound to occur at an institution like Duquesne.

“I mean, we’re a city school,” said Bridget Fitzpatrick, 19, a sophomore from Scranton. “We’re still a safe school. We’ve still got lots of campus police. But you can’t prevent everything.”

Mr. Dougherty said that a university committee was being convened to decide whether to add metal detectors or to ban nonstudents from attending events on campus. He said it was important for Duquesne’s minority students to be free to invite guests from other local colleges, because Duquesne’s student body is overwhelmingly white; otherwise it would be difficult, he said, for minority students “to have a robust social life.”

In 2005, Duquesne had 350 African-American students and 250 members of other minorities out of a total student population of 8,500.

Mo Mozuch, a graduate student who edits the student newspaper, said that although the shooting surprised him, it was not the first time that violent crime had affected the campus.

“The administration likes to paint a rosy picture, but these things happen here, too,” Mr. Mozuch said, recounting that as a reporter he covered the last major crime involving students, in 2002.

In that incident, two Duquesne football players living off campus who were involved in a drug ring killed a man they suspected of having robbed them, and dumped his body in the Ohio River.

Tammy Ewin, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh police, said violent crime has been falling in Pittsburgh, with 323 aggravated assaults with guns this year through, down from 376 in the same period last year. Through Monday, the city had 36 reported homicides in 2006, down from 47 at the same point last year, Ms. Ewing said.

The three students who suffered minor injuries in the shooting were Kojo Mensah, 21, and Sean James, 23, both juniors from Brooklyn, and Aaron Jackson, 20, a sophomore from Hartford, who were all treated and released.

Stuard Baldonado, 21, a junior from San Andrés, Colombia, who was shot in the arm and back, underwent reconstructive surgery on his arm on Monday and is expected to recover, though a bullet remains lodged in his lower back muscles.

The most critically injured player was Sam Ashaolu, 23, a junior power forward from Toronto who was shot in the head and remained in the intensive care unit at Mercy Hospital today.

“All I’ve been thinking about is whether Sam will survive,” said Andrew Badowski, who was standing near the site of the shooting and who cradled Mr. Ashaolu’s head in his lap until an ambulance arrived.

After returning to his dormitory, Mr. Badowski said, he waited as his mother drove from Harrisburg, about three hours away, to counsel him.

“My mother called today to say that she got the blood out of the jersey I was wearing,” he said.

Sean D. Hamill contributed reporting from Pittsburgh and John O’Neil from New York.

    Suspect Is Held in Duquesne Shooting Case, NYT, 19.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/us/19cnd-shoot.html?hp&ex=1158724800&en=adfe18644254592a&ei=5094&partner=homepage

3rd person arrested in Wis. school plot

Updated 9/16/2006 10:49 PM ET
AP
USA Today

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Police have arrested a third person in a foiled Columbine-style plan to bomb and shoot students at a high school, investigators said Saturday.

Two 17-year-olds were arrested Thursday at East High School after a student went to an associate principal. A detective said Friday that one boy wanted to enact the plan Thursday but that the other talked him out of it.

Bradley P. Netwal, 18, was arrested Friday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit homicide and conspiracy to commit arson, according to a police department news release Saturday.

Police learned from interviews that Netwal, a former student at the school and a friend of the 17-year-olds, participated in the planning, police said.

William C. Cornell and Shawn R. Sturtz were arrested Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit first-degree intentional homicide and conspiracy to commit arson. Brown County District Attorney John Zakowski said he planned to file charges on Thursday.

Court Commissioner Jane Sequin ordered Cornell and Sturtz jailed on $500,000 bond Friday, and the three were being held in the Brown County jail. Netwal was scheduled to make an initial court appearance Monday.

Cornell's lawyer, Shane Brabazon, did not immediately return messages Saturday. No one answered the door Saturday at Cornell's home and no phone number could be found for Netwal.

East High School Principal Ed Dorff said Saturday he was not surprised by the third arrest.

"I don't know how much deeper this goes," he said. "We knew there was contact with others. We didn't know the level of contact."

Meanwhile, the mother of one of the suspects told the Associated Press on Saturday that the boys were victims of bullying and harassment at school.

Elizabeth Sturtz, 48, said her 300-pound son who has a learning disability was often bullied and that she understands how he could have been angry. But she said she saw no signs that he would plot such an attack.

"I'm glad they are in jail and I am not going to their funerals. I am sorry they are there," she said. "I am grateful for the kid who came forward."

Superintendent Daniel Nerad said that he didn't know the specifics of the teen's situation but that the school district has made stopping bullying a priority and has a strong stance against it.

Police Detective Tom Molitor testified at a hearing Friday that the 17-year-olds, who are seniors, told police they had been plotting the massacre for several years.

They planned to set off bombs near bathrooms, light exits on fire with jelled gasoline so no one could escape and shoot people they had problems with, Molitor said.

Police found nine rifles and shotguns, a handgun, about 20 "crudely made" explosive devices, camouflage clothing, gas masks, two-way radios and hundreds of rounds of ammunition at Cornell's house, police Capt. Lisa Sterr said. She said Cornell had made several of the improvised explosive devices about two months ago.

At Sturtz's home, police found knives and ammunition, Sterr said.

Police said they also found mannequin heads that appeared to have been used for target practice, and suicide notes.

No dangerous materials were found at the school, Sterr said.

Tiffany Brittain, 18, said Saturday that she hung out with Sturtz and Cornell and that she heard them talking about suicide and attacking the school.

"I thought they were joking. I never took it seriously," she said.

The two teens had long been fascinated by the April 1999 Columbine massacre in Littleton, Colo., in which two students armed with guns, knives and bombs killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves, Sterr said.

In Montreal on Wednesday, an attacker killed a student at Dawson College and wounded 20 others before killing himself. Kimveer Gill, 25, had dressed in a black trench coat like the Columbine shooters, posted online photos of himself with weapons and said he liked to play an Internet role game about the Columbine killings.

    3rd person arrested in Wis. school plot, UT, 16.9.2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-09-16-wisconsin-bomb_x.htm

Robberies and Gun Violence Are Up Despite Crime Drop

September 11, 2006
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 — Americans were robbed and victimized by gun violence at greater rates last year than the year before, even though overall violent and property crime reached a 32-year low, the Justice Department said on Sunday.

The increases buttress reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and from mayors and police chiefs that violent crime is beginning to rise after a long decline. Bush administration officials expressed concern but said it was too soon to tell if a new upward trend had begun.

Last year, there were two violent gun crimes for every 1,000 people, compared with 1.4 in 2004, according to the department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. There were 2.6 robberies for every 1,000 people, and 2.1 the year before.

A preliminary F.B.I. report in June on crimes reported to the police showed a 4.8 percent increase in murders and a 4.5 percent increase in robberies in 2005.

Professor Alfred Blumstein of Carnegie Mellon University said the rise in gun violence was particularly troubling.

“A major police effort to confiscate guns helped bring down the surge in violent crime that occurred in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s,” Professor Blumstein said. “But gun distribution is easier now because we have begun to back off gun control.”

The statistics bureau’s victimization report found that the overall violent crime rate was unchanged in 2005 from the year before, at just over 21 crimes for every 1,000 people over age 12.

The property crime rate fell in 2005 from 161 crimes to 154 for every 1,000 people because of a drop in household thefts. Both rates were the lowest since the survey began in 1973.

    Robberies and Gun Violence Are Up Despite Crime Drop, NYT, 11.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/11/washington/11crime.html

When States Allow Concealed Guns (4 Letters)

September 10, 2006
The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “Once a Progressive State, Minnesota Is Now a Fief of the N.R.A.” (Editorial Observer, Sept. 5):

Verlyn Klinkenborg expresses surprise that Minnesota now allows handguns in public places, including libraries filled with kids.

Most Minnesotans were surprised, too, when the “conceal and carry” law passed, since a solid majority of the population opposed it. Yet despite the fact that the conceal-and-carry bill’s sponsor here was defeated at the polls the following election, some Minnesota politicians now believe they must appease the extremists who control the National Rifle Association, even if it means making our streets and schools more dangerous.

And on a federal level, the House is now considering an N.R.A. bill to gut the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to shut down corrupt gun dealers.

We need to wake up to the N.R.A. threat. Just 1 percent of all gun dealers in the United States are responsible for selling nearly 60 percent of the guns used in crimes. Concerned citizens should encourage their representatives to oppose legislation that protects irresponsible gun dealers and join organizations that are fighting the N.R.A.

Heather Martens
President
Citizens for a Safer Minnesota
Minneapolis, Sept. 5, 2006

To the Editor:

Verlyn Klinkenborg claims that right-to-carry gun laws, and the National Rifle Association’s support of them, create “an armed cohort” that endangers society.

As a member of the N.R.A., I can assure Mr. Klinkenborg that we are not a group of prickly individualists itching to answer affronts with gunfire or, as the cynics claim, shoot at Avon ladies.

We do believe that individuals have a moral right to protect themselves and others when confronted by criminals.

Our support of right-to-carry and related gun laws is an effort to extend legal protection to the basic right of self-defense. The police do a fine job of patrolling the streets but can’t be everywhere.

One study found that as many as 1.5 million criminal attacks are thwarted every year in the United States by armed citizens who fend off bad guys without turning homes, streets or public buildings — including Mr. Klinkenborg’s libraries full of kids — into shooting galleries.

Right-to-carry laws do not grant immunity from criminal or civil prosecution if someone uses a firearm irresponsibly.

I don’t own a handgun and have no desire to carry one, but I agree with the N.R.A. and with many other Americans, including those in progressive states like Minnesota, that responsible people should have the legal right to protect themselves and others.

Patrick A. Toensmeier
Hamden, Conn., Sept. 5, 2006

To the Editor:

“Shall issue” right-to-carry permits aren’t dispensed mechanically. Permit holders must submit to multiple background checks and training courses.

Faced with rising crime rates, Florida passed a model “shall issue” right-to-carry law in 1987, prompting a trend nationwide. Today, 40 states have right-to-carry laws.

Based on 2004 crime data, the murder rate in the states with right-to-carry laws is 28 percent lower than states without right-to-carry laws, and the robbery rate is 43 percent lower.

As crime rates dropped in right-to-carry states, more state legislatures adopted this self-defense law.

Self-defense laws are popular because citizens understand that law enforcement simply cannot be everywhere at once. When confronted with a criminal, law-abiding citizens want an effective means to keep themselves and their families safe.

These laws also frustrate criminals, who don’t know if potential victims may be armed.

Chris W. Cox

Chief Lobbyist
National Rifle Association
Fairfax, Va., Sept. 6, 2006

To the Editor:

Verlyn Klinkenborg writes that “no one is safer if gun-carrying civilians believe their rights entitle them to pretend they’re cops.”

That’s improbable. Citizens realize that a law-enforcement badge, not a firearm, signifies police authority.

Michael Strutzel
Alexandria, Va., Sept. 6, 2006

    When States Allow Concealed Guns (4 Letters), NYT, 10.9.2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/opinion/l10guns.html