[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 40 (Friday, March 23, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2821-S2822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SCORECARD OF HATRED
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, in just the last few weeks, two California
high schools a few miles apart, suffered the same terrible fate when
troubled students opened fire on both classmates and teachers. These
remind of us of the many acts of gun violence committed by young people
in American schools since the attack at Columbine High School almost 2
years ago. In last week's Time magazine, an article called ``Scorecard
of Hatred,'' lists in detail the many varied plans of copycat attacks
since Columbine, including those planned by teenagers who, thankfully,
failed in their attempts. Each of the more than 20 different attempts
by young people to ``pull a Columbine,'' the phrase that some teenagers
now use to describe these acts of violence, is disturbing in its own
right. As a whole, these acts are beginning to become an epidemic.
I often wonder why these acts of school violence are so uniquely
American. The warning signs most commonly associated with teens who
engage in school shootings--disturbing patterns of behavior,
depression, increased fascination with violence, sometimes
inappropriate living conditions--are no doubt experienced by teens in
other countries. Yet, even though the gun shots at Columbine were
witnessed by teens across the world, teens in other countries are not
routinely committing terrible acts of school violence.
Last May, on the 1-year anniversary of the Columbine shootings, there
was one act of copycat violence in Ottawa in the province of Ontario,
Canada. According to an article in the Ottawa Citizen, a 15-year-old
boy, who was teased mercilessly by his classmates, became obsessed with
the Columbine school massacre and the violent perpetrators of the
tragic event. He posted pictures of the young men in his lockers and
began counting down the days until the anniversary. But when the moment
came, and the young boy in Canada attempted to carry out his copycat
crime, instead of brandishing an arsenal of firearms, he brandished a
kitchen knife. Instead of 15 dead and countless more injured, 5 people
were stabbed, none with any life-threatening injuries.
In Littleton, CO and Ottawa, Canada, the circumstances were similar,
but the outcomes were substantially different. It seems that the one
crucial difference in this and other such incidences is not religion or
music, entertainment, or peer influence, it is access to guns. In most
of these school shootings in the United States, our young people have
relatively easy access to guns. Here are some of the examples used in
the Time magazine article: two 8th graders in California were found
with a military-sniper rifle, a handgun, and 1500 rounds of ammunition;
a 15-year-old in Georgia gained access his stepfather's rifle; a 7th
grader from Oklahoma took his father's semiautomatic handgun; a 6-year-
old in Michigan discovered a semiautomatic handgun; a 17-year-old in
California amassed an arsenal of 15 guns as well as knives and
ammunition; a 13-year-old in Florida picked up a semiautomatic handgun.
Mr. President, the lists goes on and on. We must do something to
limit our youth's easy access to guns and end the epidemic of gun
violence in our Nation's schools and community places.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record the
Time magazine article, Scorecard of Hatred.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From Time magazine, Mar. 19, 2001]
Scorecard of Hatred
(By Amanda Bowen)
May 13, 1999--foiled
Port Huron, Mich.
Their plan, police said, was to outdo Columbine
perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold by arming
themselves, forcing the principal of Holland Woods Middle
School to call an assembly and then killing teachers,
classmates and themselves. Jedaiah (David) Zinzo and Justin
Schnepp, both 14, made a list of 154 targets, stole a
building plan from the school custodian's office and plotted
to use one gun to steal more. Classmates caught wind of the
plot and reported it to the assistant principal. Zinzo and
Schnepp were sentenced to four years' probation.
May 19, 1999--foiled
Anaheim, Calif.
When police searched the homes of two eighth-graders at
South Junior High, they found two bombs, bombmaking
materials, a military-surplus rifle, a Ruger Blackhawk .45-
cal. handgun, 1,500 rounds of ammunition and Nazi
paraphernalia. They were tipped off by a student who heard
that the boys, whose names were not released, were
threatening to blow up the school.
May 20, 1999
Conyers, Ga.
Thomas Solomon Jr., 15, aimed low with his stepfather's .22
rifle and wounded six fellow students at Heritage High
School.
Warning Signs.--Solomon told classmates he would ``blow up
this classroom'' and had no reason to live. He was being
treated for depression and was teased by a popular sports
player whom Solomon believed was the object of his
girlfriend's affections.
Aug. 24, 1999--foiled
Northeast Florida
Two teenagers were charged with conspiracy to commit
second-degree murder after a teacher saw drawings, one of
which depicted a bloody knife, a shotgun and an assault
weapon. The teens allegedly described themselves as Satan
worshippers and claimed they were planning to leave a
deadlier trail than the one at Columbine. Charges were
dropped for lack of evidence, and the boys were released from
house arrest.
Oct. 28, 1999--foiled
Cleveland, Ohio
Adam Gruber, 14, and John Borowski, Benjamin Balducci and
Andy Napier, all 15, were white students planning a rampage
at their mostly black school. It was to end, one of the boys'
friends said, in a suicidal shoot-out with police, with one
survivor to ``bask in the glory.'' Officials were tipped off
to the plot by another student's mother.
oct. 24, 2000
Glendale, Ariz.
Sean Botkin dressed in camouflage, went to his old school,
entered a math class and with a 9-mm handgun held hostage 32
former classmates and a teacher, police say. After an hour,
the 14-year-old was persuaded to surrender.
WARNING SIGNS.--Botkin said in a television interview last
month that he was picked on, hated school, had a troubled
family life and couldn't recall ever being truly happy.
``Using a gun would get the attention more than just walking
into school and saying, `I need help' or something,'' he
said.
Jan. 10, 2001
Oxnard, Calif.
Richard Lopez, 17, had a history of mental illness, and
police apparently believe he ``had his mind made up to be
killed by a police officer'' when he marched onto the grounds
of his old school, Hueneme High, took a girl hostage and held
a gun to her head. Within five minutes of SWAT officers'
arriving, he was shot dead. Lopez's sister said her brother
had wanted to commit suicide, but his Catholic faith forbade
it.
WARNING SIGNS.--Family members said Lopez had been in and
out of juvenile facilities and attempted suicide three times.
``He needed help, and I cried out for it,'' his grandmother
said.
Jan. 29, 2001--foiled
Cupertino, Calif.
The Columbine gunmen were ``the only thing that's real,''
according to De Anza College sophomore Al Joseph DeGuzman,
19. He allegedly planned to attack the school with guns and
explosive devices. The day before, however, he apparently
photographed himself with his arsenal and took the film for
developing. The drugstore clerk alerted police.
Feb. 5, 2001--foiled
Hoyt, Kans.
Police were alerted to Richard B. Bradley Jr., 18, Jason L.
Moss, 17, and James R. Lopez, 16, by an anonymous hot-line
tip. A search of their homes revealed bombmaking material,
school floor plans, a rifle, ammunition and white supremacist
drawings, police
[[Page S2822]]
said. They also reportedly found three black trench coats
similar to those worn by the Columbine gunmen.
Feb. 7, 2001--foiled
Fort Collins, Colo.
Just 66 miles from Littleton, Chad Meiniger, 15, and
Alexander Vukodinovich and Scott Parent, both 14, were
allegedly hatching an elaborate plan to ``redo Columbine.''
Police were tipped off by two female classmates of the boys,
who said they had overheard them plotting. Officers say they
found a weapons cache, ammunition and sketches of the school.
nov. 19, 1999
Deming, N.M.
Victor Cordova Jr., 12, fired one shot into the lobby of
Deming Middle School and hit Araceli Tena, 13, in the back of
the head. She died the next day.
WARNING SIGNS.--Cordova reportedly boasted the day before
the shooting that he would ``make history blasting this
school,'' but no adults were told. Since losing his mother to
cancer, Cordova was reportedly suicidal.
dec. 6, 1999
Fort Gibson, Okla.
Seventh-grader Seth Trickey was a religious, straight-A
student. But then, police say, he came to school, stood under
a tree, pulled out his father's 9-mm semiautomatic handgun
and fired at least 15 rounds into a group of classmates. Four
were wounded.
WARNING SIGNS.--A juvenile court heard that Trickey was
receiving psychological counseling and was deeply influenced
by the Columbine shootings. Psychologists said he was
obsessed by the military, in particular General George S.
Patton, and the shootings may have been Trickey's way of
proving he could hold his own in battle.
feb. 29, 2000
Mount Morris Township, Mich.
A six-year-old boy, whose identity has not been released,
left the crack house where he lived and went to school at
Theo J. Buell Elementary. He called out to fellow first-
grader Kayla Rolland, left, ``I don't like you!'' ``So?'' she
said. The boy swung around and shot her with the loaded .32
semiautomatic handgun he had taken from home. Kayla died soon
afterward.
WARNING SIGNS.--The boy was reportedly made to stay after
school nearly every day for violent behavior, attacking other
children and cursing. His hellish home life--mother a drug
addict, father in prison--had been the subject of complaints
to police, but there was no response. On the day of the
shooting, another student reported the boy was carrying a
knife. It was confiscated, but he was not searched for other
weapons.
may 18, 2000--foiled
Millbrae, Calif.
A 17-year-old senior at Mills High school, whose name has
not been released, was arrested after another student
reported being threatened with a gun. Police said they found
an arsenal of 15 guns and rifles, knives and ammunition at
the boy's home, all apparently belonging to his father. In
the eight months before his arrest, the boy had allegedly
threatened seven other friends with guns and bragged he was
going to ``do a Columbine'' at school. The victims said they
were too scared to report the threats.
may 26, 2000
Lake Worth, Fla.
Nathaniel Brazill, 13, was sent home for throwing water
balloons. Police say he returned with a .25-cal.
semiautomatic handgun, went into an English class and shot
and killed teacher Barry Grunow, 35.
WARNING SIGNS.--Brazill had apparently shown others the gun
and talked about hit lists. In his bedroom, police say they
found a letter he had written saying, ``I think I might
commit suicide.''
Feb. 11, 2001--foiled
Palm Harbor, Fla.
Scott McClain, a 14-year-old eighth-grader, reportedly
wrote a detailed e-mail to at least one friend describing his
plans to make a bomb and possibly target a specific teacher
at Palm Harbor Middle School. The friend's mother alerted
sheriff's deputies, who said they found a partly assembled
bomb in McClain's bedroom that would have had a ``kill
radius'' of 15 ft.
Feb. 14, 2001--foiled
Elmira, N.Y.
Jeremy Getman, an 18-year-old senior, passed a disturbing
note to a friend, who alerted authorities. A police officer
found Getman in Southside High School's cafeteria, reportedly
with a .22-cal. Ruger semiautomatic and a duffel bag
containing 18 bombs and a sawed-off shotgun. An additional
eight bombs were allegedly found in his home.
March 5, 2001
Santee, Calif.
Charles Andrew Williams, 15, allegedly opened fire from a
bathroom at Santana High, killing two and wounding 13.
WARNING SIGNS.--Williams was bullied, a pot smoker, trying
to fit in. He told at least a dozen people, including one
adult that there would be a shoot-out. When he later said he
was joking, they believed him.
March 7, 2001
Williamsport, Pa.
Elizabeth Catherine Bush, 14, was threatened and teased
mercilessly at her old school in Jersey Shore and transferred
last spring to Bishop Neumann, a small Roman Catholic school.
There she allegedly took her father's revolver into the
cafeteria and shot Kimberly Marchese in the shoulder.
WARNING SIGNS.--Bush was reportedly still being teased and
was depressed. As she fired the gun, she allegedly said, ``No
one thought I would go through with this.'' It is unclear
whether she had told anyone of her intentions.
March 7, 2001--foiled
Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Cori Aragon, left, with her mother, was one of 16 students
at Monument High School in the Mojave Desert to discover that
their names were allegedly on the hit list of two 17-year-old
boys arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder and
civil rights violations. Tipped off by a female student who
overheard the boys' plans, police said they found a rifle in
one home, the list in the other. The boys' names were not
released. This was the most serious case to follow the Santee
shootings. But 14 other California children were either
arrested or under observation for making threats. Around the
U.S., dozens more copycat threats were reported.
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