[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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