Jourdain to be tried as juvenile:
Louis Jourdain was the 16-year-old kid who was arrested in connection with the Red Lake school shooting. The charge was never announced, since he is a juvenile.
Now according to family members of Jourdain, he is going to be tried as a juvenile. So we may never know what Louis Jourdain is being accused of.
Survivor of Red Lake shootings looking forward to school:
Read about what’s happened to one of the Red Lake survivors…
Steven Cobenais, 15, lost an eye and suffered a severe brain injury but didn’t lose his sense of humor. Doctors predicted he’d face a life of paralysis and severe mental incapacity, but he has beaten the odds. He’s walking and hopes to learn to drive, though doctors aren’t sure how far he’ll progress and his parents say he has changed.
Cobenais told the station he remembered gunman Jeff Weise as a “goth” and “weird,” but didn’t know the 16-year-old well and had no idea why Weise targeted him.
“He asked me if I believe in God, and I said ‘Yeah,’ and he shot me,” he recalled.
Cobenais’ parents never left his bedside at MeritCare Hospital in Fargo, N.D. When they made it back home to the Red Lake Indian Reservation, they found their home had been vandalized and many of his most treasured possessions had been stolen.
“All my games, and clothes,” he said.
His father lost his summer job after Cobenais had a seizure in June. Because of the vandalism and expenses the family gave up their home and moved in with Steven’s grandmother.
Cobenais still faces two more major reconstructive operations: one to put a metal plate in his head and one to put in a prosthetic eye.
And some people have the nerve to say Jeff Weise is a victim.
A fund has been set up to help the Cobenais family with their expenses. Donations can be mailed to: Steven Cobenais Fund, Deerwood Bank, P.O. Box 1278, Bemidji, MN 56607
Feds Want To Try Jourdain As An Adult:
For those of you who may not remember, Louis Jourdain was arrested in connection with the Red Lake shootings back in March. He is also the son of Red Lake Tribal Chairman Floyd Jourdain Jr.
He is alleged to have been some kind of an accomplice to Jeff Weise.
Not a lot of information has been released about his case because he is a juvenile.
Since the federal government has jurisdiction over the Red Lake Reservation, he would be tried in federal court and the feds want to try him as an adult. If he were to be convicted as a juvenile, he’d be free at the age of 21. He is 17 now. If he were to be convicted as an adult, he would be facing life in prison. A hearing to determine his status is scheduled to take place this week.
UPDATE: I found an interesting bit of information from this article from the Pioneer Press…
Sources with knowledge of the federal investigation have said that Weise and Jourdain wrote e-mails back and forth in which they planned the shooting spree.
Those sources have also said there were to be additional targets besides the school.
Student Injured in Red Lake Shooting Leaves Hospital:
Some good news out of Red Lake for once. Jeffrey May was allowed to leave the hospital today. May suffered a stroke after being shot by Jeff Weise while May was trying to defend two other students. Unfortunately, his mother Jodi is still in guarded condition after suffering a stroke believed to have been brought about by the stress of the situation. My thoughts and prayers are still with the May family at this time.
Tribe leader’s son faces 2 federal charges in reservation shootings:
Louis Jourdain, son of Red Lake tribal leader Floyd Jourdain Jr., is being charged with two federal charges in connection with the Red Lake shootings. However, since Louis Jourdain is a juvenile, the nature of the charges have not been released.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press is trying to get the records made public…
After reporters were excluded from initial court hearings for the youth in Duluth, Minn., attorneys for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and its sister paper, the Duluth News Tribune, filed motions to open the court proceedings and unseal the records.
The newspapers argued that while juvenile cases are normally private, the newsworthiness of this case made it unique. “It’s not a run-of-the-mill juvenile case,” said Joseph J. Roby Jr., the Duluth attorney who represented the papers.
Wounded Student’s Mother Shows Signs Of Recovery:
I guess we can officially say the Red Lake shootings have claimed another victim.
I told you about Jeff May here and how he was shot in the face by Jeff Weise after stabbing Weise with a pencil while trying to defend two girls. After he was shot, Jeff May suffered a stroke. His mother, Jodi May, also suffered a stroke on April 30th. Family members attribute it to the stress of the unimaginable situation that she and her family are going through.
It’s been a week since Jodi’s surgery, and her family has seen what they believe to be signs that she will recover. Doctors have removed the tube that was draining fluid from her head.
“She gives us the thumbs up or down when we ask her questions,” Trisha said, the same communication Jeff used during the earliest stages of his recovery.
“She opens her eyes,” Shane added. “She squeezes our hands when we ask her to.”
No one can say for sure whether she understands everything they say. But they believe.
Please keep the May family in your thoughts and prayers.
More Red Lake Details Released:
But not many. Basically, the only details released at the press conference were things that most of us already knew. They gave a little more detail in how Weise exchanged gunfire with police…
At 2:57 p.m. Weise encountered armed Red Lake officers and exchanged gunfire with them. Investigators believe Weise was struck three times from police gunfire: once in the lower back, once in the leg and once in the right arm.
Other than that, the press conference was a bitchfest aimed at the media…
“A significant amount of what has been published and broadcast in this case is simply false,” he said. “The publishing of this false information and rumors has hindered the investigation, endangered the rights of individuals, and worst of all, harmed in a further way the people of Red Lake, by creating an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, hindering the community’s ability to heal, interfering with the return of students to the Red Lake High School, and violating the privacy rights of individual tribal members.”
Heffelfinger declined to say which reports had been wrong. He said his office was looking into news leaks for possible prosecution of the sources for obstruction of justice.
So basically, it was a non-event.
Press conference scheduled regarding Red Lake High School shooting:
I’ll just quote…
U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger and FBI special agent Michael Tabman will hold a press conference today regarding the shootings at Red Lake Indian Reservation last month.
I’ll keep you informed if I hear anything else.
When I read the headline, I thought, “Finally someone who gets it.” Well, after reading the article, I was only half-right.
The author of the article is Kathy Hersh, who is co-chair of the Miami-Dade Community Task Force to Eliminate Bullying. While she admits that school shootings can happen anywhere, her reasoning is questionable.
While trying to eliminate bullying is indeed a noble cause, she’s guilty of perpetuating the myths that bullying led to Columbine and Red Lake…
A Miami-Dade County grand jury convened last year to answer that question. The jury studied 37 deadly incidents in schools across the nation, hoping to find a common characteristic among the perpetrators that could be used to profile potential killers and possibly prevent a similar tragedy. The only common factor that it could identify was that all the killers had been the victims of persistent bullying, victimized to the breaking point.
And…
The same day that we visited Arza to try to persuade him to support the bill, a boy in Red Lake Reserve, Minn., shot his grandfather and his companion, then went to school and killed 10 classmates before turning the gun on himself. Michael Weise had been a frequent target of bullies, and he couldn’t take it anymore.
First off, it was Jeff Weise, not Michael, and he was a bully, not the bullied. Secondly, I’d like to know which incidents they studied because I can name several where bullying was not a factor.
The fact that a legitimate organization that aims to end bullying does not have their facts straight is scary. Not only that, but since they buy into the bullying myth, it just lends legitimacy to would be school shooters who think they are justified in what they are doing.
And the three things that students asked for to help with the bullying problem don’t sound like things that students would request. I mean, did students really request an “active peer-mediation programs”. That sounds like something feel good adults who forgot what school was like came up with.
If a victim were to engage a bully in an active peer-mediation program, it would just lead to more bullying. The only thing that can be done to stop bullying is to catch bullies in the act. If you don’t, bullying will remain the age-old problem of the victim’s word against the bully’s.
And the myth just continues to perpetuate.
Tribe Gives Out Victims’ Assistance Money:
Some of the families of the victims of the Red Lake shootings are not happy about Jeff Weise’s family receiving victims’ assistance money from the Red Lake Tribal Council…
Apr. 14, 2005 – Red Lake Tribal Council gave $5,000 to the family of the 16-year-old gunman in last month’s school shootings as part of a victims’ assistance effort, angering those who think the shooter should not be treated as a victim.
The council gave that amount to 15 families Wednesday as the first distribution from a memorial fund that has received more than $200,000 in donations. The council decided Jeff Weise, who committed suicide at the end of the rampage, was a victim and his family should get some assistance.
“Why are they considering him to be a victim when he killed everybody?” asked Victoria Brun, sister of slain guard Derrick Brun. “The people who donated the money have a right to know and question how the money is divided.”
Donna Lewis, mother of victim Dewayne Lewis, 15, stormed out of a council meeting after hearing that members were considering it. “He ain’t no victim in this,” Lewis screamed, as she stood near the makeshift memorial outside the school. “He was a murderer.”
The tribal council explained it this way…
Tribal Secretary Judy Roy said Weise’s family needs help with his funeral expenses, but expects nothing more. “It’s understandable that some people would feel dismayed that his family would have a share in the fund,” she said.
To be honest, as much as I believe that Jeff Weise was in no way a victim, I have no problem with this. I mean, Weise killed his closest family member, and this will allow his family to bury him and get it over with.