Infamous American School Shootings
A review of some of the well known US school assaults
Apr 23, 2007
School shootings aren’t an occasional phenomenon. They have occurred everywhere, throughout the world, with alarming regularity and frequency. The reasons behind them have varied, depending on the circumstances. Not all shootings are due to psychologically inbalanced individuals. In fact the psychology of school shooters is varied in many respects. A minute number have been due to terrorism, such as the siege at Beslan, in the Caucasus region of the Russian Federation on September 1st 2004. Some were retaliatory shootings stemming from political protests and unrest. Regardless of the reason, the results have been uniformly tragic. Below are three US school shootings that shocked our nation and received much press.
The tower
On August 1st 1966, Charles Whitman, a student at the University of Texas in Austin and a Marine, climbed twenty-seven stories up the university’s tower carrying a small arsenal. Upon reaching the top, he barricaded himself on the observation deck, after killing several people inside, and proceeded to randomly shoot people from there. According to Wikipedia, the sniper fire started shortly before noon and continued for several hours, until several police officers managed to gain entry to the observation deck, killing Mr. Whitman. It was later learned that Charles Whitman had complained about severe headaches and that he had a brain tumor, leading to much conjecture that this was the reason for his instability. Mr. Whitman, all in all, killed fifteen people, including his mother and wife the day before, and injured thirty-one. The University of Texas at Austin massacre, prompted police authorities to consider formation and use of SWAT teams, in dealing with situations that go beyond the call of regular police activities.
The Ohio guard
Sources quoted in Wikipedia state that the Kent State Shootings or May 4th massacre was a retaliatory shooting by guardsmen in an attempt to breakup civil unrest, due to a protest. The date was May 4th 1970. The Vietnam War was in full swing, and the president of the time, Richard Nixon, launched a full-scaled invasion into Cambodia, the week before. Many students of the time were against the war and against being drafted and saw this invasion as an escalation of hostilities. Students throughout the country, organized protests to be held on different campuses for the first week in May. The Kent State protest was to take place on May 4th, despite pleas from the university to cancel it. Due to some civil unrest at the university a few days before the scheduled protest, the mayor summoned the Ohio Guard to come in an maintain peace.
On the that day, guardsmen tried to disperse students by various means and students retaliated by throwing various objects at them. After a few hours of confrontation, several guardsmen for an inexplicable reason, started to shoot into some of the student groups that were dispersed throughout the common areas. All in all 67 shots were fired. Four students were killed and another nine wounded. The aftermath included violent protests, trials of guardsmen resulting in non-convictions, trials of several students for civil disobedience and vandalism resulting in some convictions and a reevaluation of how to deal with crowd control. The song Ohio, written by Neil Young of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young was written to formally memorialize the events of that day.
An afternoon in April
A shocking recent school shooting occurred on April 20th 1999, in Columbine Colorado. Wikipedia states that the Columbine High School Massacre, at the time, was the second deadliest school shooting in US history. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two students at the high school, transported a small arsenal of guns, knives and homemade explosives to the school shortly before noon and started a killing spree that resulted in the deaths of 12 students, a teacher and the wounding of 24 others, before committing suicide. The killings spawned a myriad of debates over issues such as gun control, the lack of morals and religion in today’s society, cliques, bullying and violent video games. The shooting also prompted schools to review and implement new security features, including lockdown procedures. Many schools implemented new anti-bullying procedures and zero tolerance for weapons and threatening behavior as well.
Although there are other notorious shootings that have engrossed the US public, these stand out for their impact to our society, and their lasting impression historically. Unfortunately, with the newest shooting at Virginia Tech, this subject will not dissipate and newer events will become subjects for public scrutiny, outcry and moral introspection.
