Dedrick Owens (born in 1993) is an American who killed Kayla Rolland in his Mount Morris Township, Michigan school, Theo J. Buell Elementary School, while 6 years old and in the first grade.

Shooting

Owens lived with his mother, Tamarla Owens, and her uncle, after the boy's father was jailed for a parole violation. He acquired the .32 caliber semi-automatic pistol used to commit the crime from his uncle's house and brought it to school to show off.

On the day of the shooting, (February 29, 2000) he pulled the gun from his pants and pointed it at his six-year-old classmate Kayla Rolland and yelled, "I hate you, Kayla!" before fatally shooting her in the neck. Apparently they had gotten into a playground scuffle the day before.
Rolland died soon after being shot, despite the teacher's call for emergency services.

Owens' name was not revealed to the press for some time after the shooting because of his age.

In addition to heating up the debate on gun control, the shooting also raised racial tensions because Owens is black and his victim was white. The debate also brought up the question of environment - the shooter was raised in a home situation which nurtured his actions.

Notes

This is the youngest school shooting on record, both in terms of the shooter and the victim.

This story was featured in the Michael Moore film Bowling for Columbine.

As was revealed in Bowling For Columbine, after the shooting the boy was unaware of the seriousness of his actions.