EmergencyNet News Service - *FLASH* Report

05/21/98 - 10:43CDT

By: C. L. Staten, ERRI Senior Analyst

Springfield, OR (EmergencyNet News) preliminary reports are coming in from EmergencyNet News sources regarding a multiple shooting at a high school in Springfield, OR. According to Chief Dennis Murphy, at least 7 ambulances, including mutual aid units from Eugene, OR, have been dispatched to the scene of the incident. Unofficial reports say that a student opened fire with a rifle in a cafeteria of the Thurston High School, this morning, shortly after 08:00PDT.

05/21/98 - 12:33CDT

By C. L. Staten, ERRI Sr. Analyst

Springfield, OR (EmergencyNet News) According to a police spokesperson, at total of 24 students have been transported to area hospitals from the Thurston High School, the scene of an early morning (08:05PDT) multiple shooting.

Hospital officials report that one person was confirmed dead at the scene, 4 of the wounded are listed in "critical" condition, 5 are listed in "serious condition" and several others are thought to have less serious injuries. At least one local paramedic told EmergencyNet News that it is possible that the death toll may rise, due to the fact that one or more of the victims were struck in the head and severely wounded. Several victims are still in surgery at the time of this report. No names of the victims have been released pending the notification fo the next of kin.

Sources close to school officials say that they believe that the murder weapon may have been a .22 caliber semi-auto rifle with a "cut-down" butt stock. A handgun may have also been involved in the incident. One suspect, described as a student dressed in combat fatigues and an overcoat, is believed to be in police custody at the time of this report. Few other details of the incident are being released by authorities as the investigation continues there.

Unconfirmed reports are coming in at this hour of a police search of the home of the suspect, where an additional incident may be unfolding. Details of the search and circumstances thereof are sketchy at the time of this report. This is still an evolving story.

ESR CLOSE UP

From the ERRI Watch Center

SPRINGFIELD, OREGON (EmergencyNet News) - A troubled student who had been expelled on Wednesday for carrying a gun to school, returned to the school on Thursday and opened fire. one person was killed and seven others were critically wounded. Fifteen other people were injured in the shooting. Later, when police went to the home of the 15-year-old suspect, they found the bodies of the boy's parents.

The latest in a series of school shootings in the United States happened at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, just before 0800 PDT in the cafeteria, where up to 400 people had gathered. Witnesses said they saw the 15-year-old suspect, dressed in a cream-colored trench coat, run through the cafeteria firing his rifle from the hip. A student wrestler who had been shot tackled the boy and held him down until police arrived. Springfield is a city of 51,000 people about 110 miles south of Portland.

About 90 minutes later, sheriff's deputies found the bodies of two adults in the boy's home in a rural area just outside the suburb of Eugene, Oregon. Prosecutors say the suspect will be charged as an adult, but is ineligible for the death penalty because of his age.

The suspect was identified as Kipland P. Kinkel, who had been arrested, expelled and released to his parents' custody Wednesday on a charge of possession of a stolen firearm. Police said Kinkel had been in trouble before for throwing rocks at cars from a highway overpass. Several fellow students said they knew him as freckle-faced freshman who played on the football team. Some said he once gave a talk in speech class about how to build a bomb.

One fellow student said, "He always said that it would be fun to kill someone and do stuff like that. Yesterday, he told a couple of people he was probably going to do something stupid today and get back at the people who had expelled him."

Police said the boy parked his car outside the school and walked inside, carrying a .22-caliber rifle, a .22-caliber handgun and a Glock semi- automatic handgun.

One 16-year-old girl said she was sitting one table away while the shooter, dressed in a cream-colored trench coat and hat, apparently focused on one table and drew his rifle from the hip. She said, "I thought it was fake. I had never heard a gun go off. It was like a movie and you were there. I felt so calm. I knew it was real when I saw him point the gun at someone and heard a girl yell, `Tressa!' I knew she wouldn't joke."

A 15-year-old girl said she was sitting at a table when the guy came in and "started going bananas" with the gun. She said she ducked under the table and her best friend was shot in the head.

School officials said there were between 300 and 400 students in the cafeteria when the gunfire erupted. One of the school wrestlers, Jake Ryker, despite being shot himself, tackled the shooter, got the gun away from him and held him down. Ryker was reported to be in critical condition with a wound to his abdomen.

One teacher at the school said, "You don't make sense out of this. There is no sense to it. I think we ought to disarm. If this isn't a reason to, what is? I can flunk a kid and he can walk in and blow me away. Any kid who takes a gun to school -- why he isn't put under observation for a few weeks is beyond me."