TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: Red Lake High School

  • The Myth Spreads Like Cancer III

    The Myth Spreads Like Cancer III

    Schools learn bullying can plant seed for tragedy:

    Yet another article that’s designed to garner sympathy for school shooters and would be school shooters because they were allegedly bullied.

    While, of course, I think bullying is a problem, there’s a big difference between bullying and killing. And like I keep saying, all these Columbine wannabes are taking the focus away from bullying and putting it on identifying would be school shooters.

    Anyway, back to my main point. As usual, the article is rife with inaccuracies…

    The massacre at Columbine High School outside Denver on April 20, 1999, was the deadliest school shooting on record. Two teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who dressed in Goth attire and felt like misfits, went on a rampage that left 13 dead and 24 wounded before killing themselves.

    Wrong. They were not goths, they had plenty of friends, and most importantly, they were bullies themselves. One only needs to go as far as this to learn the truth.

    And secondly…

    For instance, a 16-year-old who went on a rampage that left eight dead at a high school in Red Lake, Minn., a year ago fit the profile. School personnel described him as a loner who wore black and routinely was teased.

    Wrong again. Weise may have been teased, but when you’re a self-proclaimed Nazi you’re kind of inviting it on yourself. Not only that, but I read more than one report that said Weise used to bully kids who listened to rap.

    But hey, let’s not let facts get in the way of “journalism”.

  • A year later, more Red Lake details released

    A year later, more Red Lake details released

    Weise planned a far more lethal assault:

    Anonymous sources within the investigation have revealed to the Pioneer Press that Jeff Weise’s assault on Red Lake High School could have been much deadlier than it already was…

    Jeff Weise, who killed nine people at the Red Lake Indian Reservation before taking his own life, envisioned a higher body count and wanted friends to help him turn his high school into a death trap, a yearlong investigation into the shootings found.

    His original aim was to lead an attack on Red Lake High School when it was sure to be crowded, possibly on prom night or the first day of school, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.

    Weise’s massacre would have targeted the school’s gymnasium as a central “killing zone,” the sources said. Details of Weise’s initial scheme have not been previously disclosed.

    The troubled teenager considered executing his plot on April 20, the birthday of Adolf Hitler, one of the boy’s idols. That date would have marked the anniversary of the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, the deadliest school shooting in American history.

    Weise’s intent was to eclipse that tragedy, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Weise wanted to station armed accomplices at the school’s exits and in main hallways, where those who survived the gym assault would run for safety or escape, the sources said.

    “The plan was to have them picked off like sitting ducks as they came out,” said one of the sources.

    Why Weise chose March 21 to launch his assault in Red Lake remains a mystery.

    What amazes me is the fact that the article states that 39 people knew that Weise had thoughts of shooting up the school, yet none of them thought to go to school officials or law enforcement with that information.

    Remember, kids, it isn’t always “just talk”.

  • Red Lake families meet with U.S. Attorney

    Red Lake families meet with U.S. Attorney

    Prosecutor: Dozens knew school shooter’s plans:

    Family members of the victims of the Red Lake shooting met with U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger today, and some interesting things came to light…

    Nearly 40 people knew that 16-year-old Jeff Weise had planned some sort of violence at Red Lake High School before he went on a rampage, according to family members who met with U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger on Monday.

    Heffelfinger met behind closed doors with those who lost loved ones in the March 21 shooting, when Weise killed nine people before killing himself.

    “It’s horrid. I just got a headache,” said Barbara Brun, who lost her son, Derrick, a security guard, in the shooting. “I wasn’t this angry before I came. I haven’t been this angry since March 21st.”

    Brun said Heffelfinger told those gathered at a hotel here that 39 people knew Weise planned a shooting at the high school, and of those, four or five had direct knowledge. Brun said that Heffelfinger told the group Weise had been talking about the shooting since 2003.

    “Why didn’t someone take him seriously?” she asked.

    39 people knew, and not one person said anything. And some people say that as a society, we’re overreacting to perceived threats of school violence. I’d rather there be an overreaction and save lives than there be no reaction with scores dead.

  • The Actual Victim II

    The Actual Victim II

    Fighting Power Helps Red Lake Shooting Victim:

    I’ve done entries before about Steven Cobenais. He is one of the surviving victims of the Red Lake shootings. Gunman Jeff Weise asked Steven Cobenais if he believed in God. When Cobenais said yes, Weise shot him in the face. Steven Cobenais ended up losing an eye and having a severe brain injury.

    Last summer, Cobenais suffered a major seizure. For a while, he wore a helmet to protect him from falls. He is back at Red Lake High School now, where he struggles with short-term memory loss.

    During his recovery, his father, Llewellyn Thunder, spent weeks at his son’s bedside and lost his job because of it. During that time, their home was vandalized and robbed, leaving it uninhabitable. Now they live in subsidized housing that is only guaranteed through next month.

    And again I say, how can anyone in their right mind call Jeff Weise a victim?

    The Thunders said they were grateful to people who contributed to a community fund set up in their son’s name.

    Donations are accepted at the Steven Cobenais Fund, Deerwood Bank, P.O. Box 1278, Bemidji, MN 56601.

  • More on Jourdain sentencing

    More on Jourdain sentencing

    Jourdain sentenced in Red Lake shooting:

    Just some more information on the sentencing of alleged Red Lake co-conspirator Louis Jourdain in addition to the previously posted sentence…

    The teenager will be on probation until he is 21, and during that period, a federal judge will have discretion to send him to other facilities as a condition of probation, the paper reported.

    Jourdain pleaded guilty to making threatening interstate communications.

  • Victims’ families unhappy with Jourdain sentence

    Victims’ families unhappy with Jourdain sentence

    Families criticize teen’s penalty:

    Louis Jourdain’s sentence hasn’t been made officially public, but according to the article, he will spend less than one year in a private treatment center for children. Jourdain pleaded guilty to making threatening interstate communications in connection with the Red Lake shootings. And the families of the victims are none too happy about it…

    “It doesn’t seem like enough,” said Rose Rosebear, whose 15-year-old granddaughter Chanelle Rosebear was among those killed. “He got the easy way out, I guess.”

    Adding to the frustration, though, is that many in the community do not know Louis Jourdain’s actual role — if any — in the events leading up to the March 21 shootings. And they may never know.

    Jourdain’s juvenile status in the proceedings means court records are sealed.

    Victims’ families say they are frustrated. They are left to speculate about whether Jourdain, who was Weise’s cousin and rumored to have exchanged e-mails and text messages with him regularly, thought Weise might kill his grandfather and take his gun to wreak havoc in the halls of Red Lake High.

    One of the bullets Weise fired struck then-freshman Cody Thunder in the hip. Cody survived but has not gone back to school. A bullet remains lodged somewhere in the teen’s body, says his grandfather, Al Thunder. The lack of detail about Jourdain’s trial and involvement, he said, grates on him.

    “We’re the people that got hurt. Not him,” Al Thunder said. “Now, it seems like he’s the one getting the best deal.”

    Francis “Chunky” Brun still chokes up when he talks about his 28-year-old son, Derrick. Derrick Brun worked as a security guard at the school and was the first person Weise encountered when he stormed the school. Brun, who was lauded for trying to stop Weise, was shot to death.

    Seeing justice done helps ease the minds of those who’ve lost a loved one, Francis Brun said. But there are many who suspect the penalty doled out to Louis Jourdain does not fit whatever role the teen might have played, he said.

    “I can’t prejudge the boy,” he said. “I know he’s going to have to live with this thing, and it’s going to haunt him the rest of his life, just like it’s caused so much grief and sorrow for my family and all family members of people who were killed.”

  • Louis Jourdain Sentenced

    Louis Jourdain Sentenced

    Red Lake Teen Sentenced for Threats:

    A tribal chairman’s teenage son, once accused of conspiring with a 16-year-old friend who killed nine people on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, was sentenced behind closed doors Friday on a lesser charge of sending threatening messages.

    The sentence for Louis Jourdain, 17, wasn’t revealed, and his father, Floyd Jourdain Jr., said he would not disclose it.

    “The judge’s ruling will reflect what I’ve said all along … my son is a good kid,” the elder Jourdain said.

    Attorneys left the court without commenting.

    I’ll let you know if the sentence itself ever becomes known.

  • Jourdain sentencing postponed

    Jourdain sentencing postponed

    Sentencing for Jourdain postponed, no new date set:

    The headline pretty much says it all.

    Louis Jourdain, the alleged co-conspirator in the Red Lake shootings, had his sentencing postponed. If you remember, Jourdain pleaded guilty to threatening interstate communications and charges of conspiracy to commit murder, and conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States were dropped.

    No new date has been set.

    The threatening interstate communications charge carries a maximum five-year sentence.

  • Jourdain pleads guilty

    Jourdain pleads guilty

    Teen Pleads Guilty for Role in Shootings:

    Louis Jourdain, the teen arrested for allegedly being a co-conspirator in the Red Lake shootings, has pleaded guilty to threatening interstate communications. Conspiracy to commit murder, and conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States charges were dropped.

    The docket, some of which had been blacked out, gave few details of the charge, saying only that Jourdain used a computer to conduct interstate communications that “could be taken by an objective observer as threatening” sometime between Jan. 1, 2003 and March 2005.

    No sentencing date has been set yet.

    But according to this article, even though Jourdain may get off easy in criminal court, he’s still looking at problems with possible civil trials.

    “The civil part is just beginning,” Minneapolis attorney Marshall Tanick said. “The end of the criminal case is just the turning point to start the wheels moving in the civil end, of which there’s no shortage of plaintiffs and an abundance of defendants.”

    Personally, I don’t see how a civil suit could be filed unless Jourdain had implicit knowledge of the exact time and place of the attack. Since according to the judgment reached, it doesn’t seem to me that he had such knowledge. Then again, I’m not a lawyer. I really should keep one around here. Any volunteers?

  • Wrongful death suit in Red Lake?

    Wrongful death suit in Red Lake?

    Mother of Jeff Weise seeks to be appointed trustee:

    The mother of Red Lake school gunman Jeff Weise has asked to be appointed as trustee for her son’s next of kin – a move that could be a precursor to a wrongful-death suit.

    According to the article, being appointed trustee would also allow access to information such as medical records or investigative reports.

    For those of you who may not remember the circumstances regarding Jeff Weise’s mother…

    Joanne Weise is still recovering from a brain injury suffered 6 1/2 years ago when she survived a traffic accident that killed the driver of the car she was in.

    Now it’s just speculation at this point, but if she is going to file a wrongful death I wonder who she could possibly sue. Has anyone seen Jack Thompson in the Minnesota area?