[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 145 (Friday, October 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13063-S13064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     A LESSON LEARNED THE HARD WAY

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, it is with great sadness that I 
reveal yet another tragedy in my state. Early this week, in the 
dormitories of Kalamazoo College, a 20 year old student allegedly shot 
and killed his former girlfriend, before turning the gun on himself and 
committing suicide. Now, two students are dead, and the relatively 
small campus in Kalamazoo is in deep shock over the loss of their 
fellow classmates.
  The apparent murder-suicide was announced in a campus-wide email, 
sent to all students to inform them that classes and school events 
would be canceled, trained counselors would be on hand, and a mass 
grieving assembly would take place on the campus quadrangle. To many, 
such an announcement must have seemed like a terrible nightmare. But 
students soon realized that this tragedy was not a dream and this week 
they have been trying to make sense of such senseless violence.
  This week, students are being taught the most valuable lesson they'll 
ever learn in college. Unfortunately, it's a lesson learned the hard 
way. What they will take away from this tragedy is the knowledge that 
guns can destroy innocent lives and devastate families; guns can result 
in pain, suffering, and loss of quality of life; and gun violence will 
continue to be a reoccurring nightmare for our young people unless 
Congress controls the easy access of guns among minors.
  I ask that an article about this tragedy be printed in the Record.
  The article follows:

              [From the Kalamazoo Gazette, Oct. 19, 1999]

   K-College Students Search for Answers--Murder-Suicide Leaves Many 
             Wondering What They Could Have Done to Stop It

                     (By Lynn Turner and Mark Fisk)

       The students came in groups of two or 10, quietly walking 
     toward ``The Quad'' of Kalamazoo College just before noon on 
     Monday.
       By the time college President James Jones stepped to the 
     portable podium on the east end of the grassy clearing, more 
     than 300 students had gathered--eerily silent--to hear words 
     that, maybe, would answer the question ``Why?''
       Why had junior Neenef Odah, 20, a computer science major, 
     shot sophomore Margaret Wardle, 19, to death and then turned 
     the shotgun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide?
       Could others have recognized some sign and stopped the 
     carnage?
       ``There is, to date, not a single indication that any of us 
     could have foreseen what was festering in Neenef's mind and 
     what drove him in the end to commit such a deed,'' Jones said 
     as an occasional sob was heard from those at the gathering. 
     ``I ask you, therefore, on this serene quad, on this autumnal 
     day, not to second-guess yourself.
       ``We shall not succeed today to make any sense of this 
     endless night and their senseless deaths. All we mortals can 
     do is hold tight to each other.''
       After Jones ended his 15-minute speech and walked away, the 
     students continued to stand and sit in a ragged semicircle 
     until some began shifting, forming knots of hugging students 
     who cleared away each other's tears.


                        jealousy possible motive

       Witnesses told police they heard a heated argument coming 
     from within Odah's dorm room in DeWaters Hall around midnight 
     Monday.
       ``They heard a female yelling, then some loud bangs,'' said 
     Capt. Jerome Bryant of the Kalamazoo Department of Public 
     Safety.
       If Odah planned the shooting, he kept his intentions 
     private. Several students told the Kalamazoo Gazette there 
     were no warning signs that Wardle's life was in danger.
       Police combing the school for clues also came up empty-
     handed.
       Even talks with Wardle's mother and stepfather, and Odah's 
     father on Monday shed no light on any problems between the 
     two, Jones said.
       Jealousy is considered the prime motive in the incident. 
     The two had dated on and off for the past year.
       ``There was a homecoming dance over the weekend in which 
     both people were in attendance,'' Bryant said. ``She was 
     dancing with another K-College student and possibly this is 
     what invoked his rage.''
       The weapon used was a bolt-action shotgun, Bryant said. 
     Wardle was shot at least twice.
       ``He had purchased it legally from a Kalamazoo-area gun 
     dealer earlier this month,'' Bryant said.


                             Sorting it out

       About 25 minutes after the meeting, about 100 students 
     remained in the quad. The mood remained heavy despite the 
     sunshine.
       The Rev. Ken Schmidt, pastor of St. Thomas More Student 
     Parish, and pastoral team member Andy Lothschultz wandered 
     among the students, offering hugs and shoulders on which to 
     cry.
       ``I don't have anything to tell them that can make sense of 
     something that doesn't make much sense,'' Schmidt said. ``All 
     I can do is listen and help them to process it for 
     themselves.''
       Jessie Sheidt, finance director for K-College's Student 
     Commission, was one of those trying to make sense of things. 
     Although she didn't know either student directly, Sheidt 
     said a friend of hers was a friend of Wardle's.
       ``There's a total trust between students on this campus,'' 
     she said of the 1,300-member student body.
       Bad things don't happen here, she said. At least they're 
     not supposed to.
       Simone Lutz, president of the Student Commission, said that 
     belief was the topic at hand during early morning meetings 
     she had with students.
       ``We all think it doesn't happen here, but in all reality 
     it does,'' she said.
       But it hasn't shattered the bonds between students.
       ``The cocoon is still very much intact,'' Lutz said. ``When 
     something happens, we all come together. It develops a much 
     closer bond to see people out here who care so much about the 
     people who we've lost. . . . It's amazing, and I think it's 
     an incredibly heartwarming thing.''


                       Zero tolerance for weapons

       During a media briefing following Jones' speech at the 
     quad, his patience slipped--showing the toll of the previous 
     12 hours--when he was asked what, if any, new information he 
     had.
       ``We don't know any more than we knew this morning,'' he 
     said curtly. ``We have two dead students and a grieving 
     campus.''
       Outside counselors are augmenting the college's staff at 
     residence halls and Stetson Chapel, he said.
       When asked about the weapon used in the apparent murder-
     suicide, Jones said that neither he nor Odah's roommate had a 
     clue as to when it came into the dorm room or how long it had 
     been there.
       The roommate, who has not been identified except as a 
     Hornet football player, was working in the college's ceramics 
     studio at the time of the incident. He, along with two suite-
     mates, have been moved to new quarters, Jones said.
       K-College has long had a zero tolerance policy for having 
     weapons on campus, including weapons used as theatrical and 
     sports-related equipment, said Marilyn LaPlante, a vice 
     president there. This fall it became the basis for 
     suspension.
       Jones called for tighter gun control measures during his 
     talk to students.
       ``I wish every congressman in Washington who has taken a 
     position against gun control could walk on this campus this 
     tragic day,'' he said. ``I would imagine that a moment or two 
     here would drive them to change the laws of the land tomorrow 
     morning.''
       Wardle showed much promise.
       Although few could make sense of Monday's tragic events, 
     everyone agreed that Wardle was a young woman full of 
     potential.
       A science teacher called the National Honor Society member 
     one of two of the most intelligent students he'd encountered.
       Plainwell High School Principal Linda Iciek called her ``a 
     lovely young woman of character . . . an outstanding student 
     who will be missed by students and staff alike.''

[[Page S13064]]

       Little is known of Odah. Jones said Odah was not an athlete 
     on any school team. He didn't have information regarding any 
     of Odah's extracurricular activities.
       Sarah Ayres, Wardle's best friend, said Wardle was good at 
     ``anything she did.
       ``She was really smart, she was top-notch, but she was so 
     modest she would never flaunt it,'' Ayres said. ``She was the 
     kind of person that had great things coming.''
       Ayres and her boyfriend had gone on a double date with 
     Wardle and Odah, but saw nothing to lead her to believe their 
     relationship would end in violence.
       ``He seemed like a normal person and she never said 
     something'' to indicate anything was wrong, Ayres said. ``I 
     think he was thinking it was more serious than she did. She 
     broke it off with him this year and started going out with 
     other people this summer. . . . I know he wanted her back the 
     whole time.''
       Ayres' father had the task of informing his daughter of the 
     deaths by telephone Monday. Ayres is studying in Mexico 
     through a Hope College program.
       ``I couldn't hardly believe it at first,'' Ayres said. 
     ``She was like the fourth daughter in my family, so my dad 
     was real shook up, too. We're all shook up. She was such an 
     extraordinary person.''

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