Red Lake Massacre

Red Lake Massacre

On March 21, 2005, Red Lake Indian reservation in rural Minnesota experienced a school and community shooting rampage that left 7 people wounded and 10 dead, including the perpetrator. The perpetrator, Jeffrey Weise, was a 16 year old Red Lake student and Red Lake Chippewa tribal member . It is considered the fourth deadliest shooting after Columbine High School Massacre, University of Virginia shooting, and the Virginia Tech Massacre (Langman, 2009; Muschert, 2007; Schiller, 2013).

Risk Factors

Static Risk Factors

References

Protective Factors

Age

Male

Father suicide

Mother Car accident

Suicide attempt

• Lead to him being admitted in to a psychiatric facility for a short period of time; treated for depression

Disruptive family environment

• Physical and emotional abuse
• Alcoholic mother
• Father criminal history

Low SES

Langman. P., (2009). Rampage school shooters: A typology Aggression and Violent Behavior,14, 79-86

Henry, S., (2009) School violence beyond Columbine: A complex problem in need of an interdisciplinary analysis American Behavioral Scientist, 52(9), 1246-1265

Han ners, D. (2005). Driven to a ‘darker path’ Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN). Retrieved October 12, 2013, from Newsbank database

Muschert, G.W., (2007). Research in school shootings. Sociology Compass, 1, 60-80

Schiller, J. (2013). School shootings and critical pedagogy. Educational forum, 77, 100-110

Verlinden,S., Hersen, M., & Thomas, J. (2000) Risk factors in school shootings. Clinical Psychology Review, 20, 3-56

Dynamic Risk Factors

Characteristics and History of shooter

Interesting

Article information

Active symptoms of mental illness

• Depression

Negative affect

Antisocial attitudes

No programs offered on reservation for mental health or counseling

Poor treatment compliance

Poor academic performance

• In special education classes
• Removed from school and placed in home study program by school

Negative attitude

No Social support

Interpersonal relationship problems

No attachments

Environment

Living situations

Cousin who support his plans

A study conducted by Langman (2009) assessed the typologies of school shooters. This report showed a significant indication that the traumatized shooters, the category Jeffrey Weise pertained to, had fathers to not only had criminal behavior backgrounds, and had two of the fathers involved in police stand offs which resulted in them taking their own lives. Another factor that was shown to be significant in this typology was that all the boys in this category had a friend who supported them and their plan in attack the schools. These two factors were differentiating factors compared to the two other typologies presented in the study (Langman, 2009; Muschert, 2007)

Details of the Event

Jeffrey Weise, 16 year old Red Lake Chippewa tribal member. In 1997 his father committed suicide while in a standoff with police. In 1999 his mother was in a car accident which left her with brain damage and in the care of a rehabilitation hospital. He was then sent to live with his paternal grandmother and two aunts Red Lake MN. In 2003 his grandmother died leaving him as a floater living between his home with his two aunts and his paternal grandfather. May 2004 he attempted suicide and was hospitalized for a short period of time and treated for depression. In June of 2004 he was admitted into a psychiatric facility for severe suicidal ideations. He was diagnosed with Major Depression, prescribed Prozac and released after 72 hours (Hanners, 2005; Mushert, 2007). He attended therapy for approximately two months before he stopped going all together. He had last seen the psychiatrist the month prior to the shooting, in which the doctor increased his dosage of Prozac.

Prior to the Shooting

Weise showed marked changes in his personality throughout the year leading up to the massacre, looking on the Internet for Neo-Nazi Web sites and posting violent self-made videos on several blogs. He used the handle name “native nazi” and "Todesengel", which translates to Angel of death. One of the video games that were created by Weise showed details within the game of his plans for future event. The video game was named “Target practice” (Muschert, 2007; Schiller, 2013).

At School

Injured

Victims

He was bullied for his appearance repeatedly by classmates. Considered an outcast, he was alone and withdrawn. He was considered a student who on the outside circle of social popularity at his school and felt not valued and respected. Weise was bullied or humiliated at school by his peers because of the way he dressed and was considered a loner. In October 2004, he was removed from the school and placed on “homebound instruction” which is a home schooling program for children of the reservation. Additional school reports indicated that he was banned from school five weeks before the attack due to a conflict with one of the teachers (Muschert, 2007; Schiller, 2013).

Risk Management

Ryan Auginash, 14

Steven Cobenals, 15

Lance Crowe, 15

Jeffrey May, 15

Cody Thunder, 15

Daryl Lussier, 52 (grandfather)

Michelle Signa, 31 (girlfriend)

Neva Wynkoop, 62 (teacher)

Derrick Braun, 28 (guard)

Dewayne Lewis, 15

Chase Lussier, 15

Chanelle Rosebear, 15

Thurlene Stillday, 15

Alicia White, 15

March 21, 2005

Weise killed his paternal grandfather, Daryl Lussier with a .22 pistol while he slept and waited and killed his grandfather’s girlfriend, Michelle Signa, when she arrived home. After killing them, he took his grandfathers police issued gun belt with 9 mm hand gun, pump action shotgun, bullet proof vest, and ammunition; he then drove to Red Lake high school in his grandfather police vehicle.

Upon arriving at the school at approximately 2:45 p, Central Standard Time, he approached the school entrance and shot school security guard Derrick Braun, who was manning the metal detector. He then entered the school where he began shooting, killing two students and a teacher in the hallways. He proceeded to enter a classroom where he shot one student before being stabbed in the neck with a pencil by a student and pushed back allowing students to flee from the classroom before being shot in the neck. When back in the hallways he began shooting at students in the hallway killing an additional two students before they exited the school building. When police arrived he was in a shot out with police for approximately four minutes before entering back into the school and barricading himself in a classroom where he shot himself in the head with a shot gun (Langman, 2009; Muschert, 2007; Schiller, 2013; Vernin, 2000).

shotgun.

Suggestions

After the shooting

Providing better services on the reservation in mental health services for the tribal members.

Policies were put in place by tribal leader and tribal elders that offers assistance to those in need of counseling on the reservation. They also put in place a program that is geared at providing services to at risk youth on the reservation (Mushert, 2007; Schiller, 2013).