U.S. News
St. Louis school gunman leaves note about mass shooting [Video]
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- The 19-year-old gunman who fatally shot two people at a St. Louis high school on Monday left a handwritten note about conducting the school shooting.
- The gunman had an AR-15-style rifle and at least 600 rounds of ammunition, authorities said.
- The suspect was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police officers.
The 19-year-old gunman who opened fire at a St. Louis high school left a note in his car describing that his feelings of loneliness were “a perfect storm for a mass shooting,” authorities said Tuesday.
Police said they found a blue notebook in the car that the shooter drove on Monday morning to the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. The suspect, Orlando Deshawn Harris, fatally shot a 61-year-old teacher and a 16-year-old female student. Several others were also wounded.
Police said they killed the teenage gunman in an exchange of gunfire.
Police Commissioner Michael Sack read a portion of the handwritten note, calling it a “manifesto,” at a press conference on Tuesday.
“I don’t have any friends,” Sack read the note, “I don’t have any family. I never had a girlfriend. I never had a social life. I’ve been an isolated loner my entire life. This was the perfect storm for a mass shooter.”
The commissioner said the gunman may have suffered from mental illness and the notebook shed some light on his state of mind.
“He feels isolated, he feels alone,” Sack said. “Quite possibly angry and resentful of others who have, it appeared to him, to have healthy relationships, so a desire to lash out.”
Sack added that Harris had no previous criminal record and told reporters he was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and had 600 rounds of ammunition.
Harris was a former student at the high school. St. Louis authorities said the gunman entered the locked building at about 9:10 a.m. on Monday but did not reveal how he managed to get inside. The incident lasted about 15 minutes before police stormed the building.
Police said in a statement that officers found the gunman barricaded inside a third-floor classroom. Officers ordered Harriss to drop his weapon and surrender but fired his rifle instead. Officers exchanged fire and killed him.
Reports said that a number of students had barricaded themselves in classrooms and some even jumped out windows to escape the rampage.
Four other students suffered gunshot wounds while three others sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Source: Reuters
Patty
October 26, 2022 at 7:13 pm
AGAIN……TIME AND TIME AGAN…..WE SEE THIS TYPE OF YOUNG PERSON……HE ATTENDED SCHOOL THERE AND YET HE DID NOT EVEN HAVE 1 PERSON HE COULD RELATE TO???????? NO ONE RECOGNIZED HIM AS A PERSON!!!! A PERSON WHO HAD A MENTAL ILLNESS!!!!! WHEN WILL THE SCHOOLS LEARN THE SIGNS???????? THE TEACHERS NEED LESSONS????????? THEY NEED TO KNOW HOW TO “PROFILE”!!!!!!! WHERE ARE THE COUNSELORS WHO CAN HELP STUDENTS??????? I AM SURE THAT EVERY SCHOOL HAS THEM!!!!!!!! WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE DO DURING THE DAY?????? ARE THEY THAT BUSY………THAT THIS TYPE OF STUDENT IS RECOGNIZABLE BY THEIR ACTIONS??????? I DID NOT GO TO COLLEGE……BUT I CAN CERTAINLY RECOGNIZE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE………AND I DO NOT SEE THE SAME PEOPLE EVERYDAY??????
C D
October 26, 2022 at 7:52 pm
Must be so nice to be so sure you would have noticed this invisible student. High school students go about their days self absorbed. They notice their own niche only because they are in it.
I could go to a high school reunion and the people there would pretend to remember me, out of politeness or pride. Most would not remember my name or what activities I was involved in. That does not automatically make me a potential killer, or them inherently bad people. It is just the way it was… It is still that way, but the media and weak public audience gush over these people and give them fame and recognition, some of these sick kids crave.
It is repulsive and inexcusable, on everyone’s part.
Doris
October 27, 2022 at 1:27 pm
How about giving blame to parents who fail to nurture their children? As a former educator who worked with emotionally disturbed students, we were constantly putting emotional “bandaids” on the children when more than 90% of the problem was with the parents and home environment. And yes, at least one caring (the operative word) teacher should probably have picked up on the fact that this boy had issues.
Cindy
October 26, 2022 at 8:18 pm
If he had no friends or family he would have been totally isolated during the Covid lockdowns. How many kids who had loving families committed suicide during lockdowns. Maybe instead of sending billions to Ukraine, that money should be used for mental health facilities for these damaged kids. Like planned parenthood, only it saves lives.
G. L. Lawritson
October 26, 2022 at 8:38 pm
This is what happens when kids are not taught coping skills or practical life skills. I worked as a Security Supervisor for a well known college prep boarding school for 5 years. The school had opened its doors to students in 1928. During my first year (1989), I saw which kids were behavior problems, anti-social, and a danger to self and others. I was approached by one of their ‘leaders ‘ of misfits and was asked for help on how to address valid concerns of the kids. I held an after school impromptu meeting with about 20 boys and girls and gave them a technique on not only addressing the issues, but how to present them to the Headmaster in an orderly, structured manner. These kids were Juniors and Seniors all living on site boarding. It was as though the lights were turned on. They asked me why the school didn’t teach these coping skills(?). Long story short, I was threatened by insinuation, from the Administration, that I’d be fired if this ever happened again. They said it caused more trouble by addressing issues that didn’t concern the kids than it would if the kids were to just follow rules … or else get expelled regardless if what was expected was nurturing young minds .vs the school’s “my way or the highway” mentality. That was in 1992 … seems it has nationally gotten worse since those years. That particular school closed in 1994… graduating many young adults with allot of mental baggage over the decades.
Doris
October 27, 2022 at 1:38 pm
“Loving” in a family nowadays often means that parents are super involved in their own lives and provide “things” for their children but don’t know much about their children’s emotional and social lives. There’s a lack of communication and parents are clueless.