| Red Lake massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | Red Lake, Minnesota, United States |
| Date | Monday, March 21, 2005 2:49 p.m. – 2:58 p.m. (UTC-5) |
| Target | Red Lake Senior High School |
| Attack type | School shooting, murder-suicide, massacre, spree killing |
| Weapon(s) | .40 caliber Glock 23 pistol, Ruger .22 caliber pistol, Remington 12 gauge shotgun |
| Death(s) | 10 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 5 |
| Perpetrator | Jeffrey Weise |
The Red Lake massacre was an incident of spree killing that occurred in two places on the Red Lake reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota, United States. The first murders began on the morning of March 21, 2005, when 16-year-old Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend. He later drove his grandfather's police vehicle to Red Lake Senior High School, where he shot and killed seven people on the school campus, comprising five students, one teacher and an unarmed security guard, and wounded five others. The shooting ended when Weise committed suicide.
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The incident began at noon when Weise killed his paternal grandfather, Daryl Lussier, Sr., with a .22 caliber pistol while Lussier was sleeping. It is not known how Weise obtained the pistol, but he is believed to have possessed it for as long as one year before the shooting. Weise then stole Lussier's two police-issue weapons, a .40 caliber Glock 23 pistol and a Remington 12 gauge pump-action shotgun. He then shot and killed Michelle Leigh Sigana, Lussier's girlfriend.
Weise then drove his grandfather's squad car to Red Lake Senior High School, arriving at around 2:45p.m. Central Standard Time (19:45 UTC). Passing through the building's main entrance, he encountered two unarmed security guards, who were manning the school's metal detector. Weise shot and killed security guard Derrick Brun, while the female security guard managed to escape. Weise then proceeded in the school's main corridor. He later began shooting into an English classroom,[1] killing three students and one teacher, and wounding three students. Jeffrey May, a 16-year-old sophomore, tried to wrestle Weise inside the classroom, and had managed to stab him with a pencil.[2] This allowed students to evacuate the classroom, however Weise shot May in the neck and jaw, leaving him in serious condition. Another student, Chase Lussier (no relation to Daryl Lussier), was rumored to have taken a shotgun blast to save another student.[3]
Witnesses say Weise smiled as he was shooting at people. One witness said that he asked a student if he believed in God,[1] a link commonly believed to be reminiscent of the events that took place during the Columbine High School massacre.
At around 2:52 p.m. Weise returned to the main entrance where he killed two students and wounded two others. FBI special agent Paul McCabe stated that Weise had engaged in a shoot-out with the police, that lasted about four minutes. Weise eventually retreated to a vacant classroom after sustaining two gunshot wounds to the abdomen and right arm.[4] None of the officers were injured.[1] Weise then committed suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound.
After the massacre, police investigators began searching for reasons why Weise carried out his violent actions. According to reports, Weise was often bullied in school by classmates for his appearance, however he usually did not respond to their taunts. He was considered an outcast by many of his fellow students, and remained withdrawn and alone. Weise was known to wear a black trench coat and other black clothing to school all-year round, and was labeled as a "Goth kid" by many of his classmates.[11]
Weise allegedly had a history of troublesome behavior at school, including getting into fist-fights with students. On one occasion, he reportedly engaged in a fist-fight with another student whom he referred to as a "Communist". In April 2004, the faculty of Red Lake Senior High School suspected Weise of threatening to "shoot up" the school on April 20, the day the Columbine High School massacre occurred. Although Weise claimed that he was unfairly accused, he was expelled from public schooling, and was placed in a home-schooling program.
Weise was discovered to have been active on the Internet, and to have listed numerous postings on many websites. According to The Smoking Gun, Weise created two violent Flash animations for Newgrounds.com, using the alias "Regret". One animation entitled Target Practice, depicts an individual who murders three people with an assault rifle, blows up a police car with a grenade, and kills a Klansman. The animation ends after 30 seconds when the shooter takes his own life. Weise had created another Flash animation entitled Clown, in which a clown strangles a man to death.[12]
Weise has also posted 34 messages on the Neo-Nazi Internet forum of the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party under the aliases NativeNazi and Todesengel (German for "angel of death"). The posts revealed an admiration for the ideas of Adolf Hitler, and interests in persuading other Native Americans as to the merits of those ideas.
A LiveJournal account apparently created by Weise contained just three entries posted between December 2004 and January 2005. The weblog was customized to be rendered in black and white, and Weise expressed feelings in his few writings including a desire for change and salvation in his life.
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