Three dead, including gunman, after shooting at St. Louis high school, officials say
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 3 years ago • 60 commentsBy: Mirna Alsharif and Tim Stelloh
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Three people are dead, including a 19-year-old gunman, after a shooting at a St. Louis high school Monday morning that also sent multiple people to hospitals, police said.
Chaos unfolded shortly after 9 a.m. when authorities learned of a shooter with a long gun inside Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. The school and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, which is in the same building, were locked down.
After a gunfight with authorities, the suspect was taken into custody and later pronounced dead, a St. Louis police official told reporters.
He was identified as a recent graduate of Central with no criminal history, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Interim Chief Mike Sack told reporters at an evening news conference.
Sack said the gunman entered the school with a rifle in an "aggressive, violent manner."
"There was no mystery about what was going to happen," he said. A motive remained unclear; Sack said the apparent gunman may have been experiencing a mental illness.
Sack declined to provide additional details, saying investigators were still gathering information.
People gather outside after a shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis on Monday. Jordan Opp / St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP
"While on paper we might have nine victims, eight who were transported and one remained, we have hundreds of others," Sack said earlier. "Everyone who survived here is going to take home trauma."
Jean Kuczka, a health teacher at the high school, was killed, said Abbey Kuczka, her daughter.
"I found out just a few hours ago," she said Monday afternoon.
Jean Kuczka was a mother of five, a grandmother of seven and a bike rider who participated in an annual charity event to raise money for juvenile diabetes, which her son has, according to her profile on the high school's website.
Kuczka began working for St. Louis Public Schools in 2002 at Carr Lane Visual Performing Arts Middle School before she transferred to the high school in 2008 to teach health, personal finance and physical education.
Sack identified the other fatally wounded victim as a 16-year-old girl who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Four of the victims who were injured were 15, Sack said. Three others were 16. They sustained injuries from gunshot wounds to a fractured ankle and facial abrasions, Sack said.
'I need to stay alive'
Shortly after the shooting, harrowing stories of survival started to emerge, offering a glimpse of the frightening moments inside the school and the lengths some teachers and students went to to escape.
Adrienne Bolden, a freshman, said he and his classmates had to jump out a window to escape.
Asked what was going through his mind at that point, he said "that I need to stay alive."
'I need to stay alive': Student describes fleeing St. Louis high school shooting
Bolden said he initially thought the shooting was an intruder drill, but that changed when he started hearing sirens outside.
"The teacher, she crawled over, and she was asking for help to move the lockers to the door so they can't get in," he said.
Bolden helped his teacher move the lockers before he tried to jump out a classroom window overlooking concrete.
"So we had to wait a little longer before the assistant principal came up to one of the windows that was locked, and when we opened it, the teacher said to come on, and we all had to jump out of the window."
Freshman Jawae Bronner said that after someone announced a code word indicating a threat inside the school, his visual arts teacher immediately locked the classroom door and ushered about 20 students into a closet.
At one point, during the roughly hour and a half they were inside the space, the teacher announced that he could hear gunfire, Bronner said. Bronner said he searched for exits — a window and a vent were inside the closet — but then reconsidered.
Bronner texted his mother where he was and what was happening and saying he was OK, and he read a Bible verse — John 3:16 — to his class.
"He knows to call on God when he's in trouble," said his mother, Jordette Barnes.
Doors were locked; unclear how gunman got in
Sack said the doors at the school were locked, which slowed the gunman. He did not clarify how the gunman was able to get into the school.
Seven security guards were in the school building, school officials said.
The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded. The FBI's St. Louis field office asks anyone with pictures or videos of the shooting to submit them to authorities.
Emergency personnel at the scene of a school shooting in St. Louis.KSDK
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones called the shooting "a devastating and traumatic situation."
"I'm heartbroken for these families who send their children to our schools hoping that they will be safe," she said at the news conference. "Our children shouldn't have to experience this. They shouldn't have to go through active shooter drills in case something happens. And unfortunately, that happened today."
The school district said: "Counselors are on site and will continue to avail themselves to students, staff and families for as long as needed. Administrators and counselors are meeting with families."
Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., was at the school talking to students and their families.
"We've been going from family to family talking with the students," Bush, whose district includes St. Louis, told NBC affiliate KSDK. "Some of the students are still here because they just they don't feel ready to leave yet."
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I’m a civil engineer and I spent the last two years working on a new high school just outside of DC, in a not so great area. The site is being designed to be welcoming to the community to enter the grounds to walk around, exercise, etc.. The new building is going to be built while the old building is still in use. The old building and site are a total train wreck. The new building will have a ridiculous number of entry points, like sixty or so. It’s currently a $330 million dollar project, and expected to go well over that. On the first day of school this year, two kids were caught carrying guns and others were caught dealing drugs in the school.
Here’s the best part - the whole time I’d worked on the job I had not visited the site personally because I had not gone through the mandatory fingerprinting and background check to enter the property. Lol, yes - I’m the threat. Anyone living in this ghetto area is supposed to be welcome to use the new site as a public space, but if you’re a professional engineer trying to design it from an hour away you need to be considered a potential threat. Considering the backwardness of the whole project, I predict the new school will have a good shot at being another future mass shooting site, and then they’ll decide to tear down the new bazillion dollar building. I just quit that job a few days ago.
Prince George's County, MD?
Yep
I don't know the particulars, but it's been proven over and over again that community engagement reduces crime and increases health.
I don’t necessarily doubt that, but how much sense does it make to require a professional engineer to undergo fingerprinting and background checks to enter the property that he was hired to help redesign? As a civil engineer I wouldn’t even have any reason or desire to enter the building, but only to make observations and measurements on the property. The environmental consultant for the project has been on the property several times, and said every time there were students hanging out in a wooded area of the site smoking pot. Something tells me that their security protocol objectives are in disarray if students smoking pot on the premises is a daily reality.
This past Labor Day followed one of the worst months for homicides in county history (24 in Aug) and the county put a youth curfew in place.
The curfew for 17 year old and younger is between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:59 p.m. and 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Since the curfew, overall crime decreased by 20% during the curfew hours in Sept. Carjackings, contact shootings and violent crime in general also dropped.
I don't get it either, and not knowing anything about it... (shrug). If they are getting any federal funding it may be some crazy federal rule. I've seen it before.
OMG!!! Reefer madness! That was called Shop Class when I was in high school.
I went to a Jesuit high school. Even a hint of being high in school would get you expelled, much less having weed on you. I got high at least three times a week when I was in high school, but even I would disagree that school is a forgivable place to be getting high at. There’s a time and place for everything. Getting high at school is like eating Cheetos before sitting in the dentist chair.
I'm not saying its a good thing. Only that it's pretty common. I wasn't that kid either. I had enough problems getting through HS, I didn't need to add to them on purpose.
You are just figuring that out in the Public School System!
MD has always tried to be progressive with their schools.
When I went to primary, the school was called a school in the round. Each grade, through up to grade five, had four classrooms around a center gathering space, all open.
It doesn't seemed to have worked well for Baltimore. $21,606 per student in Baltimore City Schools:
I had a good school system. For the people that failed, there was vo-tec.
I also don't see where you got your stats.
Probably made them up. He has a problem with blue cities
I just realized Baltimore is not part of a county. It is an independent city.
Anyway, Texas and California seem to have the worst graduation rates.
$21,606 per student in Baltimore City Schools :
70% Grad rate
Maryland IG for Education reveled that more than 12,000 failing grades in the Baltimore City Public Schools were changed to passing grades during 2016-20
No need to make it up, the info is there at our fingertips. You just have to quarry. You don't believe what is sent to you, maybe you would value the info more if find it yourself.
Isn't Baltimore City right next door to you, surprised thatr you don't already know this about this very blue city.
What city or county?
Where Are the Highest and Lowest High School Graduation Rates in the United States?
There are no statewide school districts, much more useful to drill down to the specific school district as there can be a wide disparity within a state. An example is the difference between Montgomery County MD and Baltimore City MD.
Which is why I guess the above link I gave divided it into counties.
Exactly, that's why I was surprised when you summarized into TX and CA and now again in 3.3.11.
Now again? No where in comment 11 did I say anything about CA or TX.
No where on the article does it say anything about GEDs.
I thought you were talking about the link I gave you....
Funny though, with all these stats, the government doesn't have any info on Texas or Illinois.
Wonder why that is...
I say if it adds people that get a GED so what. Technically they got a diploma.
The other links I gave do not do that and you seem to ignore them.
Funny thing though, every site has different stats, which is why I went to the government site, which Texas has not reported....
Some projections. Graduation rates for several years in the future....
It is stats. Whether or not one likes them.
It seems no stats on this match up.
Not by much. If anything it inflates the numbers, so they would be worse than shown.
3.3.4.
You haven't explained shit, just complained.
I just went to countyhealthrankings.org and plugged in my county, which is Nassau, and low and behold, 92% graduate high school, yet my county, which is one of the biggest in NY (1.4 million), is not on that list. Maybe it's an issue with how and who the US Career Institute lists.
Again, he has a problem with blue cities, especially BALTIMORE.
Gee, I wonder why?
Why would I look it up? I work in Baltimore City and I hear your dog whistles loud and clear.
If you're familiar with the info, why did you accuse me of making it up?
3.3.3
Amazingly, that is the largest and wealthiest Black-majority county in the US.
I found some stats for you - TOP FIVE STATES WITH HIGHEST HOMICIDE MORTALITY RATES
Those are indeed some stats, why did you look up some on a different topic?
The St Louis City Police need to be COMMENDED for their fast response, decisive action, putting their lives on the line and dispatching the shooter in ten minutes time. The loss of life is tragic, and my thoughts and prayers go out to the families. Even in the face of a "defund the police" Mayor and Congressperson (Cori Bush) they still performed as true and brave professionals.
Imagine if every school shooter was handled in this manner!!!
Reading this it sounds like the teachers took most action.
Which teacher?
Read the article. Several teachers did things to help the students.
I did, why do you think I asked "which teacher", no teacher did anything to stop the shooter! Had the police not responded in time and taken the action that they did, there would have been more loss of life.
That is their job. At least they didn't sit around for an hour.
Meanwhile teachers were hiding and helping students escape.
That's their job!