Someone commented recently that he thought it was the fault of computers, video games and cell phones for all of the deadly gun violence at schools across the land. So I thought I’d see if I could support his theory through a little fact checking. I couldn’t.
Actually, the earliest known shooting to happen on school property was nearly 250 years ago. It was the Pontiac’s Rebellion school massacre on July 26, 1764. Four Delaware Indians entered the schoolhouse near Greencastle, Pa., where they shot and killed schoolmaster Enoch Brown, and killed nine children. Three of the kids survived.
Then there was Matthew Ward in Louisville, Ky., who bought a pistol the morning of November 2, 1853, went to school, and killed the schoolmaster, Mr. Butler, as revenge for what Ward said was excessive punishment of his brother the day before. Ward was acquitted.
On February 16, 1867, in Knights Ferry, Calif., Mr. McGinnis was shot and killed by his daughter’s teacher after McGinnis threatened the teacher for expelling his daughter from school. When McGinnis’s son learned of this, he showed up later at the school and killed the teacher.
In Chattanooga, Tenn. on December 22, 1868, a boy who refused to be whipped by his teacher left the school. The next day he returned with his brother and a friend for revenge. Not finding the teacher at the school, they continued to his house, where a gun battle took place and the teacher and two of the assailants died. The brother survived.
On March 15, 1884, in Gainesville, Ga., in the middle of the day, a group of very drunk Jackson County farmers left the Jug Tavern drinking and shooting their revolvers as they headed down the street, driving people into their homes. As they approached the all-female academy, the girls fled the schoolyard into the school, where the gang followed swearing and shooting, firing several rounds into the front door. No one was hurt.
A few months later, in Cleveland, Tenn., Will Guess went to the school and fatally shot Miss Irene Fann, his little sister’s teacher, for whipping her the day before.
April 9, 1891 was the first known mass shooting in the U.S., where an American citizen shot students. It happened in Newburgh, N.Y., when James Ferguson, 70, fired a shotgun at a group of students in the playground of St. Mary’s Parochial School, causing minor injuries to several of the students.
Unrequited love was behind the December 28, 1898 incident in Sioux City, Iowa. A teacher, May Thomas, was lured out of the schoolhouse by Harry Garvey, who was in love with her. But she refused him, so he pulled out a pistol and killed her, and then killed himself.
On July 21, 1903 in Jackson, Ky., at the Cave Run School, James Barrett and Mack Howard fought a duel with pistols over a card game, killing each other. Another student, James Vires, age 12, was also found shot in the abdomen while sitting at his desk.
On May 18, 1906, in Boston, 18-year old George DeWolfe shot fellow graduate Lillian Thoroughgood during the closing ceremonies of the Cambridge Commercial College. He then killed himself. The bullet was stopped from injuring Lillian by the locket she wore.
The deadliest mass murder at a school happened way back in 1927 in Michigan. The school treasurer, Andrew Kehoe, blew up the Bath Consolidated School by detonating dynamite in the basement, killing 38 people, mostly kids. He then set off a bomb in front of the school, killing himself and four others.