In the Christmas of 1978, her father Wallace gave Spencer a .22 caliber rifle. On January 29, 1979 she started shooting randomly at the Cleveland Elementary School which stood just opposite of her house. The shooting began as children were waiting outside for principal Burton Wragg to open the gate. In the end, eight students and one police officer were injured, while principal Wragg and head custodian Mike Suchar were killed. Wragg was killed while trying to protect the youngsters whereas Suchar was killed trying to pull Wragg to safety.
After firing thirty rounds, Spencer barricaded herself inside her house for almost seven hours, warning police that she was going to "come out shooting." But eventually she surrendered to the police. When asked why she went on her rampage, she replied, "I just did it for the fun of it. I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day. I have to go now. I shot a pig. I think and I want to shoot more. I'm having too much fun." She also said, "I had no reason for it, and it was just a lot of fun"; "It was just like shooting ducks in a pond"' and "[The children] looked like a herd of cows standing around; it was really easy pickings."
Neighbors claimed that Spencer had a history of violence and drug abuse and classmates alleged that the week before the shootings she had told them that she wanted "to do something big to get on TV." In 1993, Spencer claimed that she had been under the influence of drugs and alcohol and at a parole hearing in 2001, Spencer claimed that her violence grew out of an abusive home life.
The 16 year-old Spencer was tried as an adult. She pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to prison for 25 years to life. She has been denied parole four times and will not be eligible again until 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment