treelizard

By JOE MILICIA, Associated Press Writer

CLEVELAND - A 14-year-old suspended student opened fire in his downtown high school Wednesday, wounding four people as terrified schoolmates hid in closets and bathrooms and huddled under laboratory desks. He then killed himself.

A fellow student at SuccessTech Academy alternative school said Asa H. Coon, who was suspended for fighting two days earlier, had made threats in front of students and teachers last week.

"He's crazy. He threatened to blow up our school. He threatened to stab everybody," Doneisha LeVert said. "We didn't think nothing of it."

Armed with two revolvers, Coon fired eight shots and may have targeted teachers, Police Chief Michael McGrath said.

Math teacher David Kachadourian, who was treated at a hospital for a minor wound to the back of one shoulder, said Coon had been a student in a beginning algebra class he taught. But the 57-year-old teacher said he had not disciplined Coon and knew of no reason why Coon might target him.

"I never felt personally threatened or personally at risk," Kachadourian said after leaving the hospital. "I had concerns about him, yes. He seemed like an angry young man. I did not fear for my own safety."

Police found a duffel bag stocked with ammunition and three knives in a bathroom but found no suicide note, McGrath said.

Parents were angry that firearms got into a school equipped with metal detectors that students said were intermittently used.

Coon spent time in two juvenile facilities after a domestic violence episode and was given home detention, and he was suspended from school last year for trying to injure a student, according to juvenile court records obtained by The Plain Dealer. He had a history of mental health problems and threatened to commit suicide last year while in a mental health center, the paper reported.

"That's the most basic, profound and saddest part of the whole thing, knowing he was in so much pain and torment," Kachadourian said. "Anytime someone takes his own life, it shows he was desperate."

Officials said two teachers and two students were shot, and that a 14-year-old girl fell and hurt her knee while running out of the school.

Witnesses said the shooter moved through the converted five-story downtown office building, working his way up through the first two floors of administrative offices to the third floor of classrooms. Officials said he was wearing a Marilyn Manson concert shirt, black jeans and black-painted finger nails.

Police released audio from three 911 calls — two from students who had fled the building after the first two shots and one from a distraught mother, calling on behalf of her son, who was huddled in the back of a fourth floor classroom.

"They just shot somebody in his room!" the crying mother told the dispatcher.

The first person shot, 14-year-old student Michael Peek, had punched Coon in the face right before the shootings began, said student Rasheem Smith, 15.

Coon "came out of the bathroom and bumped Mike and he (Mike) punched him in his face. Mike started walking. He shot Mike in the side," Smith said.

Antonio Deberry, 17, said he and his classmates hid under laboratory tables and watched the shooter move down the hallway. "I saw him walking past. He didn't see us, we saw him." The shooter swore and shot several times, Deberry said.

LeVert said she hid in a closet with two other students after she heard a "Code Blue" alert over the loudspeaker. She said she heard about 10 shots.

Darnell Rodgers, 18, was walking up to another floor when the stairway suddenly became flooded with students.

"It took me a couple of minutes to realize that I was actually shot, when I felt my arm burning in the area, that's when I realized that I had got shot," Rodgers said.

"They were screaming, and they were saying, 'Oh my God, oh my God.' I knew something was wrong, but thought that it was probably just a fight, so I just kept going," Rodgers said.

Rodgers was released from a hospital after treatment for a graze wound to his right elbow.

Coon had been suspended since Monday for fighting near the school that day, said Charles Blackwell, president of SuccessTech's student-parent organization. He did not know how Coon got into the building Wednesday.

Blackwell said that there was a security guard on the first floor, but that the position of another guard on the third floor had been eliminated.

Student Frances Henderson, 14, said she often got into arguments with Coon, who once told her, "I got something for you all." He would often wear a trench coat, black boots and a dog collar, she said.

Students stood outside the building, many in tears, hugging one another and on cell phones. Others shouted at reporters with TV cameras to leave them alone. Family members also stood outside, waiting for their children to be released.

Michael Grassie, a 42-year-old history teacher, was in fair condition at Metro Health Medical Center after about two hours of surgery. The hospital would not disclose the nature of the surgery.

The other two injured teens were taken to a children's hospital, which would not release their names, ages or conditions.

People at Coon's home declined to comment Wednesday evening.

Deberry's mother, Lakisha Deberry, said she was upset that metal detectors at the school were not always in use.

"You never know what's going on in someone's mind," said Deberry, adding that she was required to go through a metal detector and present an identification card whenever she wanted to drop off something at school for her children.

Students were being sent to the FBI office across the street.

Classes at all schools in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District will be canceled Thursday, said Eugene Sanders, chief executive officer of the district. Counseling will be available Thursday for students at recreation centers throughout the city, Sanders said.

SuccessTech Academy is an alternative high school in the public school district that stresses technology and entrepreneurship for about 240 students, most of them black, with a small number of white and Hispanic students. It opened five years ago and ranks in the middle of the state's ratings for student performance. Its graduation rate is 94 percent, well above the district's rate of 55 percent.

"It's a shining beacon for the Cleveland Metropolitan School system," said John Zitzner, founder and president of E City Cleveland, a nonprofit group aimed at teaching business skills to inner-city teens. "It's orderly, it's disciplined, it's calm, it's focused."

Associated Press writers James Hannah, Terry Kinney, M.R. Kropko, John Seewer, Thomas J. Sheeran and Andrew Welsh-Huggins contributed to this report.

__________________
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. --Louisa May Alcott

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Ghost

this seems to be more of an american phenomenon, anyone know why this specifically happens in america. its awful every time it happens.

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“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

John McCain promo vid:
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treelizard

March 13, 1996
Dunblane, Scotland
16 children and one teacher killed at Dunblane Primary School by Thomas Hamilton, who then killed himself. 10 others wounded in attack.

March 1997
Sanaa, Yemen
Eight people (six students and two others) at two schools killed by Mohammad Ahman al-Naziri.


April 28, 1999
Taber, Alberta, Canada
One student killed, one wounded at W. R. Myers High School in first fatal high school shooting in Canada in 20 years. The suspect, a 14-year-old boy, had dropped out of school after he was severely ostracized by his classmates.

Dec. 7, 1999
Veghel, Netherlands
One teacher and three students wounded by a 17-year-old student.

March 2000
Branneburg, Germany
One teacher killed by a 15-year-old student, who then shot himself. The shooter has been in a coma ever since.

Jan. 18, 2001
Jan, Sweden
One student killed by two boys, ages 17 and 19.

Feb. 19, 2002
Freising, Germany
Two killed in Eching by a man at the factory from which he had been fired; he then traveled to Freising and killed the headmaster of the technical school from which he had been expelled. He also wounded another teacher before killing himself.

April 26, 2002
Erfurt, Germany
13 teachers, two students, and one policeman killed, ten wounded by Robert Steinhaeuser, 19, at the Johann Gutenberg secondary school. Steinhaeuser then killed himself.

April 29, 2002
Vlasenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina
One teacher killed, one wounded by Dragoslav Petkovic, 17, who then killed himself.

Sept. 28, 2004
Carmen de Patagones, Argentina
Three students killed and 6 wounded by a 15-year-old Argentininan student in a town 620 miles south of Buenos Aires.


Sept. 13, 2006
Montreal, Canada
Kimveer Gill, 25, opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon at Dawson College. Anastasia De Sousa, 18, died and more than a dozen students and faculty were wounded before Gill killed himself.

__________________
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. --Louisa May Alcott

For a good time, visit http://www.dirttime.org

Ghost

yeah thats not exactly much compared to america which seems to be every few weeks
compared to what you listed which is 1 such shooting or 2 per country ever.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4371403.stm
The BBC News website charts the history of gun violence in US schools.


October 2007: A teenage gunman reportedly shoots and wounds five people at a high school in Cleveland, Ohio, before killing himself.

April 2007: At least 32 people are killed in two shooting incidents in the campus of Virginia Tech university in Virginia.

October 2006: A 32-year-old gunman shoots dead at least five girls at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, before killing himself

September 2006: Gunman in Colorado shoots and fatally wounds a teenage schoolgirl, then kills himself; two days later a teenager kills the headteacher of a school in Cazenovia, Wisconsin

November 2005: Student in Tennessee shoots dead an assistant principal and wounds two other administrators

March 2005: Minnesota schoolboy kills nine, then shoots himself

May 2004: Four people injured in shooting at a school in Maryland

April 2003: Teenager shoots dead head-teacher at a Pennsylvania school, then kills himself

March 2001: Pupil opens fire at a school in California, killing two students

February 2000: Six-year-old girl shot dead by classmate in Michigan

November 1999: Thirteen-year-old girl shot dead by a classmate in New Mexico

May 1999: Student injures six pupils in shoot-out in Georgia

April 1999: Two teenagers shoot dead 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine School in Colorado

June 1998: Two adults hurt in shooting by teenage student at high school in Virginia

May 1998: Fifteen-year-old boy shoots himself in the head after taking a girl hostage

May 1998: Fifteen-year-old shoots dead two students in school cafeteria in Oregon

April 1998: Fourteen-year-old shoots dead a teacher and wounds two students in Pennsylvania

March 1998: Two boys, 11 and 13, kill four girls and a teacher in Arkansas

December 1997: Fourteen-year-old boy kills three students in Kentucky

October 1997: Sixteen-year-old boy stabs mother, then shoots dead two students at school in Mississippi, injuring several others

__________________
Skills: Numchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills.
Favourite animal: Liger, bred for its skills in magic.

“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

John McCain promo vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWS-F...eature=related

darrianation

I am sure the reason behind all this is the evil gun. If we could just get rid of all those guns we would be a happy, peaceful, fun loving society.

HUGS not guns.

__________________
In hills, as well as in villages and cities, hazards and predators find those who walk backwards.- Ezekiel Sanchez

Ghost

hahaha, well whats odd is that its mainly white middle class kids doing this, so i would say its something to do with social conditions rather than guns being legal.

__________________
Skills: Numchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills.
Favourite animal: Liger, bred for its skills in magic.

“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

John McCain promo vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWS-F...eature=related

treelizard

Or it might have to do with schools with white middle class kids taking less precautions or having less prevention mechanisms in place.

The school I work at is definitely not middle class, but we have an SRO, prevention specialists, intervention specialists, etc. out the wazoo and other systems in place that would make it more difficult (not impossible) for a suspended student to make it back into a classroom with a weapon.

__________________
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. --Louisa May Alcott

For a good time, visit http://www.dirttime.org

gregimotis

For a school that is so calm and orderly, there sure seem to be a lot of students having fights and attacking each other.

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Ghost

there is definately something wrong at the core if you need any of that, i have no idea what any of it is tbh. i dont think any of this exists outside of the states so something is causing this socially.

gregimotis

You don't think any of this exists outside the U.S. except the stuff Tree posted.

Is what you meant to say.

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I am Tired. Tired. Tired.

Ghost

no, the rest of the world is debating as to why this keeps happening in the US, its been all over radio shows and tv. so im asking the same question. i know it does happen elsewhere, but its often referred to as an american phenomenon because the rate at which it happens in the US is FAR beyond other 1st world countries and specifically affecting white middle class kids/schools more than anyone else.

im asking a social related question, not pissing on the US.

Mike Brewer

I still think it has to do with parents putting their kids on Ignore rather than taking a more active hand in their upbringings. I can remember kids of my generation spending their time camping, going on family road trips and eating dinner together. Nowadays, camping involves RVs and DVD players. Road trips rarely involve looking out a window because kids are absorbed in the iPod or their personal seat-mounted DVD monitor. Dinner is usually a matter of eating on the couch while watching prime time TV.
I hate being one of those people who says, "In my day..." but in many cases, it's true. In past generations, parents took the hard right and disciplined their kids with enough meaning and resolve to see that it stuck. Spankings are hard to hand out as a parent, but they work based on a very basic, natural mechanism: Pain = Don't do that anymore. Parental involvement, discussions, and responsibility in teaching kids responsibility are not as prevalent as they once were, and the more we drift away from those values, the more I think we'll see these sorts of tragedies in the news. Kids today are more and more likely to be this kind of self-centered, narcissistic, attention starved personalities than they were when they actually experienced personal feedback from real human beings like parents. I hate to say it, but I also put some of the blame on the educational system as a whole. Before you tear my head off, tree, let me explain. What I mean is, I think that teachers are so hard-pressed anymore to develop basic relations with their students that they miss a lot of these kinds of signs. They have to focus on testing standards instead of personal development, and they get sued if they ask too many personal questions. Teachers, in many cases, spend more time with kids than their parents do, and they ought to have the ability - the responsibility - to learn and relate to their students in much the same way a parent might. But we've become such a standardized, hands-off, don't-get-personal, litigation happy society that teachers can't say, "Hey, I think this kid is going to end up doing something dangerous!" without a parent hiring a lawyer and filing some kind of charge.

I hope against hope that we as a society will start listening to our kids again. I hope we will give them the right kind of attention, which includes teaching them that they are not, in fact, the center of the universe, and their disappointment does not entitle them to anything special, except the opportunity to make a positive difference for themselves. I hope we will once again take active and positive roles in our kids' lives, and I hope we get over the "Time-Out" mentality of discipline and start instilling a healthy amount of respect and fear in our youth for the benefit of our society as a whole.

treelizard

I will say that it's difficult to build relationships with every student in an overcrowded classroom... The ones who I know the best are those who act out, though, and when I meet with their parents I find out they're on probation for drug use, they just lost someone close to them, etc... The parents often say things like "I have no idea what to do."

Here's some more about the shooter:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/11/cle...ing/index.html

I've never heard of teachers getting sued because they are concerned about a child but there are specific reasons why teachers as mandatory reporters are not allowed to ask certain personal questions so as to aid in prosecution. It's pretty frustrating because you are only allowed to ask "what happened" and "where were you when it happened" and are of course legally obligated to contact both CPS and the police, but when you call CPS and the police, investigation is often deemed unnecessary. I'm not really sure what lawsuits would take place for asking any other types of questions... and besides, most teachers have pretty good insurance.

I think it's possible to focus on both testing standards and personal development, but often the students that need it most are the most resistant...

I've been really focusing on quality work lately, going around the room and asking "Is this your best work?" and telling students they need to raise their standards... I'm trying to reinforce effort by having students keep track of effort and achievement. So on some level this is about getting their reading and writing on par but on another it's because research shows that many students don't understand the correlation between effort and achievement... and I think it's pretty important.

I do think it's difficult to be a parent figure to 150 students. While I think building relationships with students is important both for managing a classroom and for creating a positive learning environment, I see my ultimate responsibility as a teacher to help students master performance objectives, learn higher levels of thinking and 21st century learning skills... And honestly, the ones that need positive adult role models in their lives are the ones least likely to reach out or respond when teachers reach out.

One of my kids is on long-term suspension for many many things he did in a short period of time, but the day before his last screw-up we sat and talked for close to an hour. He wrote me an apology letter. We worked out a behavior contract. We had what I thought was a meaningful conversation and then the next day he was up to his old antics again. There are only so many chances you can give someone. It's funny because I worry about my car getting jacked one of these days...

__________________
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. --Louisa May Alcott

For a good time, visit http://www.dirttime.org

darrianation

I think many of these problems begin at home even in well meaning homes where the parents are good people.

Let's face it adults in general these days are less disciplined than a generation ago. Can we expect their children to be more disciplined? No. I think folks in general are pretty comfortable about passing the buck, it is always someone else’s fault and do not take responsibility for their own actions.

As far as school shootings go their are many variables, I don’t' think it can be linked to one single thing, what set of circumstances that caused one young man to pull the trigger, is totally different set of another to shoot.

The libs want to take our guns and repubs too like Giuliani but they don't seem to mind when Hollyweird makes brutally violent movies and parents don't seem to want to monitor or restrict what their kids watch or what video games they play. Parents don’t want to punish their kids for getting in fights at school or staying out past their curfew, or even setting a curfew. Coupled that with the example their own parents are setting with their own lack of discipline among other factors that add up to a generation of kids with no self-restraint

I think there is plenty of blame to go around but it is only going to get worse as these kids grow up and start having kids with even less discipline than they had…it is a cycle and a continuum of factors that lead to these types of tragedies.

__________________
In hills, as well as in villages and cities, hazards and predators find those who walk backwards.- Ezekiel Sanchez

treelizard

I agree that part of the problem is not enough discipline, but I think the WAY you discipline is also important. If children don't get that you're doing it to help them, they're just going to keep doing the same things in a sneakier way... I'm a fan of Love and Logic... Check this out: http://www.loveandlogic.com/pdfs/research_data_bllp.pdf

__________________
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. --Louisa May Alcott

For a good time, visit http://www.dirttime.org