High School Killing in MN

nytimes.com

Shooting Rampage by Student Leaves 10 Dead on Reservation
By JODI WILGOREN

Published: March 22, 2005

CHICAGO, March 21 - A high school student went on a shooting rampage on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota on Monday, killing his grandparents, five fellow students, a teacher and a security guard, as well as himself, the authorities said.

A dozen other students were injured in the barrage, which erupted at the 300-student Red Lake High School about 3 p.m., officials said. The grandparents were apparently killed at their home earlier in the day, and the authorities were investigating whether the murder weapon was a revolver taken from the grandfather, an officer on the tribal force.

Neither the gunman nor the victims were identified by the authorities, but the Red Lake Net News, a Web site affiliated with the tribe, named the gunman's grandfather as Daryl Lussier, as did several people in the community in telephone interviews.

"It will probably take us throughout the night to really put the whole picture together," Paul McCabe, an F.B.I. spokesman in Minneapolis, told reporters at a briefing. "It's still a very fluid investigation. Right now there's still a lot of work to do."

Mr. McCabe did say that "we do have evidence that we believe that the shooter is dead," and that "we believe he was acting alone."

The shooting was the worst at a school since the one in 1999 at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colo., where 15 people were killed.

Roman Stately, director of the Red Lake Fire Department, told The Associated Press and local television stations that the police found the bodies of the grandparents an hour after the school shooting, and that the young man used his grandfather's service weapon in the rampage.

"Apparently, he walked down the hallway shooting and then he entered a classroom," Mr. Stately told KARE-TV, the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul. "He shot several students and a teacher, then himself."

Mr. McCabe said the victims at the high school were all found in one room. The dead teacher was a woman, he said, the security guard a man; four students, including the gunman, died at the scene and two more later at the hospital.

"A teacher pulled the kids down on the ground, under the benches," Molly Miron, the editor of the nearby Bemidji Pioneer newspaper, told a radio station after interviewing a teacher who was in the room when the shootings occurred.

The Red Lake reservation, about 240 miles north of the Twin Cities and about 120 miles south of Canada, is home to about 5,000 Ojibwa Indians, commonly called Chippewa. The tribe operates three casinos and other tourist attractions on some half-million acres.

Clyde Bellencourt, founder of the Minneapolis-based American Indian Movement, said he could not "remember anything as tragic as this happening" on a reservation.

"Everyone in the Indian community is feeling really bad right now, whether they're a member of the Red Lake or not, we're all an extended family, we're all related," he said. "Usually this happens in places like Columbine, white schools, always somewhere else. We never hear that in our community."

Mr. Bellencourt and his brother Vernon, another longtime American Indian leader, said that the gunman's grandfather had been on the local police force for perhaps 35 years and belonged to one of the tribe's most prominent families.

"No one would ever think that that type of violence would visit itself in our communities," Vernon Bellencourt said.

"But our young people are not exempt from the same problems young people have across the country," he added, "so our communities are now being victimized by this same kind of violence."

Katie Dunshee, the teenage daughter of the school's principal, Chris Dunshee, said that her father had called home shortly after the shooting, but did not provide any details about the killings. "We don't really know because we've been trying to call him," she said. "He's only said that he's O.K. We haven't really gotten through to him."

Sherri Birkeland, a spokeswoman for North Country Regional Hospital in Bemedji, about a 45-minute drive from the high school, said six victims were treated at her emergency room, two of them later airlifted to MeritCare Healthcare Systems in Fargo, N.D.

One of the remaining four died, Ms. Birkeland said, declining to release information about the conditions of the others or describe any injuries. The hospital was shut for several hours afterwards, she said.

"We just went into our disaster mode," Ms. Birkeland said. "We were concerned about multiple family members and we didn't know the details of the shooting, so we were concerned about security."

In Fargo, Carrie Johnson, a spokeswoman for MeritCare, said the first victim arrived by helicopter at 5:55 p.m. More were expected to be flown in later in the evening.

Mr. McCabe, the F.B.I. spokesman, said Monday evening that the school had been evacuated and was "in lockdown," pending a search of the scene. "They're still clearing the school as a safety precaution even though we believe the shooter is among the dead," he said.

Reporting for this article was contributed by Mikkel Patesfrom Fargo; Kermit Patterson from Minneapolis; and Gretchen Reuthling in Chicago.

That's a pretty idiotic comment.

I certainly wouldn't oppose licensing, insurance, and testing. But in this case, the boy apparently took the guns from his grandfather (whom he killed) who was a respected police offficer. Presumably the owner of these guns then, was licensed and tested. He might have even kept them in a safe place. But no place in your house is really safe from a teenaged family member whom you trust and would never expect to kill you or his classmates.

BTW, his chosen pseudonym, Todesengel, means "death angel" in German.

So fucking naive man, so fucking naive.

Always expecting change when I know nothing ever changes.

I've seen mothers choose their man over their own flesh and blood, I've seen others choose alocohol over friendship.

I sacrifice no more for others, part of me has fucking died and I hate this shit.

I'm living every mans nightmare and that single fact alone is kicking my ass, I really must be fucking worthless. This place never changes, it never will. Fuck it all.

I'm nothin' but your average Native American stoner. I'm mellow half the time, mostly natural, but mostly drug induced as well. I'm not a junkie, or an alcoholic, MJ is my gal' of choice. Enough about that though, I don't know why you're readin' this anyway. I'm gonna roll this joint so I'll c'ya later...

Will the press blame marajuana?

I'd love to see the boomers blame Lennon.