16 y.o. boy kills 2 at Alaska high school
Jen1orbit
Hello,
Here's the story of 16 year old Evan Ramsey, who went on a shooting
rampage at his high school on Wednesday morning. Killed two people, the
school principal, and a popular fellow student who had teased him. Well,
certainly not a major mass killing spree, but if you're gonna kill someone
at your school, the principal is certainly a good choice.
The news report says the rampage took 20 minutes. That's a lot of time,
I'm surprised he only managed to kill two. Perhaps it's because he was
armed with a shotgun, rather than a semi-auto, high capacity rifle or
pistol.
Evan's past is interesting. His father was in prison for over 10 years,
before being released on January 13, 1997, a little over a month ago. This
article also says that he is "the foster son of the school
superintendent". Strange. Perhaps he was adopted by the school
superintendent.... or perhaps his mother merely remarried, and her new
spouse was the superintendent?? I'm not clear on this detail. Perhaps a
local Alaska newspaper will have a clearer profile of Evan.
Certainly it seems odd that Evan's biological father was in prison from
1986 until January 13, 1997, and Evan went on his rampage just a little
over a month after his father got out of prison.....
Take care, JOE
Here is the Associated Press report:
BETHEL, Alaska (AP) -- High school students say they were waiting for
class when a 16-year-old loner who had talked of killing the principal
walked into the lobby with a shotgun and a paper bag full of shells.
The teen-ager fatally shot a popular student and the principal and wounded
two other students during a 20-minute rampage Wednesday morning in this
small Alaska town, police said.
``Everybody better run,'' students quoted him as saying.
``I was running out of the school thinking, `I'm running for my life,'''
said Kathleen Kline, 14.
The teen, a junior at Bethel Regional High School, eventually surrendered
after exchanging shots with police, authorities said. He was to be
arraigned Thursday.
Josh Palacios, a junior, was shot in the lobby and died 10 hours later at
an Anchorage hospital. Ron Edwards, principal at the 435-student school
for four years, was ambushed in a hallway and died at a nearby hospital.
The two other students were treated at a hospital and released.
Police would not release the arrested teen-ager's name because he's a
juvenile, but witnesses in the town of 4,700 identified him as Evan
Ramsey, foster son of the school superintendent and son of a locally
notorious ex-convict.
Ramsey's father, Donald Ramsey, was released Jan. 13 after serving a
decade in prison for assaulting the publisher of the Anchorage Times in
1986.
Armed with a rifle and a revolver and convinced that Alaska's political
leaders were out to get him, the cab driver chained the newspaper's doors
behind him, tossed smoke bombs and fired several shots into the ceiling
before he was tackled by publisher Bob Atwood, then 79.
Students who gathered at the Yup'ik Museum and Cultural Center on
Wednesday afternoon said the younger Ramsey was a loner with a violent
streak who had talked of bringing a gun to school. Several said he had
mentioned killing Edwards.
``People knew about it but they didn't think he was going to go through
with it,'' said Rayna Blakesley, 15.
Authorities aren't yet sure what sparked the shooting, but several
witnesses offered some clues.
Palacios was a gregarious, popular student who sometimes teased Ramsey,
and Edwards, a father of three, was a disciplinarian who frequently gave
Ramsey detention, students said.
Ramsey wandered the hallways after shooting Palacios, firing sporadically
as teachers tried to talk him into dropping the shotgun, said Erick
Hodgins, a senior who hid behind a planter in the lobby, afraid to move
until the siege was over.
``I really wanted to help him because he'd been shot, but the guy with the
shotgun was still out there,'' Hodgins said of Palacios.
The school was closed and counselors were brought to the cultural center,
where about 50 students discussed the shooting in hushed tones. School is
also closed Thursday and most civic events have been canceled.
Bethel, at the mouth of the Kuskokwim River about 400 miles west of
Anchorage, is the regional center for the dozens of river villages that
dot the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in southwest Alaska.
AP-NY-02-20-97
Jen1orbit
Hello,
Here are a few additional details on Evan Ramsey, and his experiences at
school that perhaps led him to go on his shooting spree. Human beings are
mirrors, they reflect the reality that is inflicted upon them. Many people
refuse to accept this, and lay blame at the feet of the killer, condemning
him as evil or insane. But the fact is that people who are angry and full
of rage have reasons for being angry and full of rage. Those reasons are
valid, and the need/urge to seek vengeance is valid.
That's what Evan did. He sought vengeance. And whether you accept or
reject his right to seek vengeance is irrelevant. He saw his truth, and he
acted upon his truth.
Take care, JOE
Here is the updated report on Evan's rampage:
BETHEL, Alaska (AP) - They called him a ``spaz,'' talked behind his back
about how he was weird, how he was always talking about violence and
getting even.
On Wednesday, 16-year-old Evan Ramsey fatally gunned down his high school
principal and one of his tormentors, surrendering his shotgun only after
exchanging shots with police.
Perhaps the most troubling part of the tragedy is that Ramsey's friends,
and even some kids who teased him, suspected that morning that the skinny,
sullen boy was getting ready to follow through on his threats.
Two friends, whose names police have not released, told investigators that
Ramsey said Saturday he planned to kill principal Ron Edwards and student
Josh Palacios. He mentioned it again Tuesday night, according to an
affidavit released at his arraignment Thursday.
``He was always saying things like `I'm going to bring a gun to school.
You'll see who's better then,' '' said Erick Hodgins, 18, who hid behind a
planter during the shootings.
Hodgins and dozens of other students were sitting in the Bethel Regional
High School lobby when, they say, Ramsey walked in, shot Palacios, 16, in
the stomach, fired into the ceiling and told the students to run.
Toting his gun and a paper bag full of shells, Ramsey roamed through the
school hallways for several minutes, firing intermittently and killing
Edwards, 50, in his office, police said.
State Trooper Sgt. Mike Marrs, who heads the investigation, said police
still don't know precisely why Ramsey wanted to kill his principal and
Palacios. His fellow students have theories.
Several students who witnessed the first shooting said Palacios was a
popular, gregarious basketball player who sometimes teased Ramsey,
wrestling with him and calling him names. Edwards, a Vietnam veteran, was
a strict disciplinarian who frequently put Ramsey on the detention list.
Ramsey, who is being tried as an adult, faces consecutive 99-year
sentences if found guilty. At his arraignment, he did not enter a plea and
was ordered held on $500,000 bail. He is to be moved to an Anchorage jail,
400 miles to the east, in the next few days.
AP-NY-02-20-97
Laura H
Another Ramsey? This mean anything? Geez!
LauraH
Hoover
Thanks for that one, Joe. I wasn't the victim myself of serious
high-school-society abuse, but that's only because I calculatedly avoided
it.
Interesting how society will forgive popular people and not forgive
unpopular people. I guess it's no great revelation why, but us devotees
of irony can't resist pointing it out anyway.
If some townspeople kill a town bully, society will jump on the
townspeople's bandwagon. If a sympathetic wife or teenager kills their
abusive mother or husband, society will also jump on the shooter's
bandwagon.
But if the shooter is an *outcast* who kills a popular sociopath/athlete
or respected adult figure, as in your little gem, then society will
crucify the shooter.
The lesson is that it really doesn't matter whether you are justified. It
just matters how much you are liked.
Jen1orbit
Hello,
Here are a few more details on Evan Ramsey and his shooting spree at his
high school in Alaska. This info is from the KTUU-TV, Anchorage, Alaska
based TV station. They also have a good photo of Evan at their site. Go
to: http://www.msnbc.com/local/KTUU/default.htm to see Evan's face and
get more updates on his rampage.
Even Ramsey profile
Evan Ramsey, 16,
allegedly shot and
killed his high
school principal
and a basketball
player and wounded
two other students
Wednesday.
Channel 2 News talked to an Anchorage family
who knows Ramsey.
Kathryn Fritch and her family lived in Bethel, a
village of about 5,000 people, for 2 1/2 years.
They said Ramsey spent a lot of time in their home
and although he was never violent in their
household, they said he has a history of violence.
They describe him as an angry and troubled teen,
with a lot of problems at home and at school.
“I think the most upsetting thing is that no one
paid attention to him,” Fritch said.
Fritch thinks the greatest tragedy is the possibility
that Wednesday’s tragedy could have been
prevented. “Evan is not the monster,” she said.
“He’s a victim, like everyone else was (that day).”
Ramsey was placed in a foster home when his
father was sent to prison. His foster parent is a
school superintendent.
Jen1orbit
>it.
Hello J. Edgar,
Thank you for an insightful and well stated explanation of yet another
way that society is clearly hypocritical and operating on a level of
deranged logic. Your analysis is brilliant, and right on the money. I
couldn't have said it better myself.
Take care, JOE
"Justice is incidental to law and order"-------J. Edgar Hoover. You
did NOT say this, my friend. But the REAL J. Edgar Hoover, head of the
FBI, DID! :) Quote is from 'The Bad Guys' Quote Book'.
Reality's Bitch
: Jen1orbit (jen1...@aol.com) wrote: Human beings are mirrors, they
: reflect the reality that is inflicted upon them. Many people refuse to
: accept this, and lay blame at the feet of the killer, condemning him as
: evil or insane. But the fact is that people who are angry and full of rage
: have reasons for being angry and full of rage. Those reasons are valid,
: and the need/urge to seek vengeance is valid.
Joe's parents were mirrors, they reflected the reality that was inflicted
upon them. Joe refuses to accept this, and lays blame at the feet of his
parents, condemning them as evil and insane. But the fact is that, even
though joe has every reason to be as angry and full of rage as his parents,
(at this point) the need to seek vengeance has probably done more internal
damage to him than they did...
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" She who has mellowed into fine wine was first stomped in the vat of Life. "
vcz
Born to Opine