USATODAY.com – Police: Boy opens fire with handgun, injures 2 students:
The shooter was an eighth-grade student who has no known connection with the two victims…
“It appears he decided to engage in school violence,” the officer said. “He brought a gun to school today and randomly targeted these two students.”
The shooter is being charged as an adult and is being held on $150,000 bail on attempted murder charges.
There was a school shooting at Pine Middle School in Reno, Nevada today. Two students were injured when a seventh or eighth grader opened fire in a hallway with a .38-caliber pistol…
Reno Police Lieutenant Ron Donnelly says a boy was wounded in the upper arm and taken to Washoe Medical Center for treatment. A girl received a superficial wound to the leg from shrapnel and was treated at the scene.
No word on a motive or how the gun was obtained.
More on this as information becomes available.
RHS school shoot motive, details remain under wraps:
Roseburg police investigating the shooting at Roseburg High state they have narrowed down a motive for the shooting of Joseph Monti by Vincent Leodoro. However, they’re remaining tight-lipped for now…
Roseburg police Lt. Pat Moore said this morning details of the motive cannot be released until the prosecuting entities — including the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office and the Douglas County Juvenile Department — agree to do so.
He provided a vague description of a tense relationship between the two Roseburg High School students and their social circle which is believed to have led to the early morning campus shooting.
“There haven’t been any real variations from that,” he said, adding that most rumors police have checked into have been found to be unsubstantiated.
School shooting victim in fair condition after Thursday surgery:
Meanwhile, Joseph Monti underwent surgery to remove bullet fragments near his spine and is said to be in fair condition. He has also lost some feeling and control of his left foot.
254 children killed in schools since Dunblane:
Today is the 10th anniversary of the school shooting with the highest child death toll, the Dunblane massacre. For those of you not familiar with Dunblane here is a summary of the massacre from Crime Library…
On March 13, 1996, Thomas Hamilton, 43, left his home at 7 Kent Road in Dunblane, Scotland, with only one thing in mind — murder. At about 9:30 a.m., he drove to the Dunblane Primary School with a pair of pliers, four handguns and more than 700 rounds of ammunition. Once there, he cut the telephone wires on a nearby pole and then proceeded with weapons in hand to a side entrance of the school.
Hamilton burst into the assembly hall, where a class of 5- and 6-year-old children was having gym lessons and opened fire. He first shot at several of the teachers. Hamilton then turned his guns on the frightened children and shot at them as they tried to scramble to safety under chairs and inside closets. Screams echoed through the gymnasium as tiny bodies sunk to the floor in pools of blood.
Hamilton momentarily stepped outside the gym into a hallway where there were other classrooms and open fired again. Several more people were struck down before Hamilton returned to the gym and began shooting again. He then put the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger. He died instantaneously, leaving behind a ghastly trail of death and devastation.
The brutal rampage left 17 people murdered, including one teacher and 16 children. Another 17 would survive the horrifying incident but be haunted with nightmares for the rest of their lives. The sleepy, rural town was forever changed by the horrors of that day. It was considered one of the deadliest massacres in recent history.
According to the article, no service or memorial is being held as the people of Dunblane would like to forget this tragedy. Also, according to the article, 254 children have been shot in schools worldwide, including the terrorist attack in Beslan in 2004.
Guns fascinate teen, court told:
This is scary…
A 14-year-old boy charged with gunning down a classmate in a courtyard at Roseburg High School has a fascination with guns and recently researched how certain ammunition could penetrate body armor, a prosecutor told a judge during a hearing Monday.
This is funny…
At Monday’s brief court appearance, Bruce Tower, Leodoro’s court-appointed attorney, asked Millikan to consider a conditional release for the accused shooter. He argued that because his client doesn’t have a criminal background, he doesn’t pose a danger to the community.
You’re kidding, right? Why do these lawyers try to get their clients released before trial, stating they have no criminal background, when they’re being held for shooting someone?
Vincent Leodoro shot Joseph Monti multiple times with a Wyoming Arms 10 mm semiautomatic loaded with hollow point bullets. So we can just expect him to act like a good little boy while he’s awaiting trial? Hell no. Luckily, he was held without bail.
Also, it sounds like the prognosis for Joseph Monti was not as rosy as we were led to believe…
Monti, meanwhile, is recovering from his wounds at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, where he is listed in serious but stable condition. Doctors said he should recover fully from gunshot wounds to his chest, abdomen, and elbow.
But Monti’s half-brother, Eric Allison of Sacramento, wonders. He said Monti is in pain and will have to undergo reconstructive surgeries. Allison said he plans to fly his brother to medical facilities at Stanford University.
“I don’t know why everyone is saying that he’s going to be OK,” Allison said. “He’s got huge holes in him. We’re worried that he has signs of infection and this is going to be a long road to recovery.”
My thoughts and prayers are with the Monti family, and I hope Joseph recovers soon.
Bail denied for suspect in Roseburg High School shooting:
The gunman in the Roseburg High shooting, Vincent Leodoro, has been ordered to be held without bail…
Douglas County Circuit Judge Robert Millikan denied a defense motion to allow Vincent Leodoro to be released from juvenile detention after the prosecution argued he posed a danger to society and himself.
The trial has been scheduled for April 18th.
Students Return To Classes After H.S. Shooting:
Vincent Wayne Leodoro, the suspect in the Roseburg high shooting of Joseph Monti, is set to appear in court today. Leodoro will have a court-appointed attorney.
Roseburg students also returned to class today.
Teenager faces charges in Oregon high school shooting:
Charges were filed yesterday of attempted murder, assault, and firearms violations against 14-year-old Vincent Wayne Leodoro, the suspect in the shooting at Roseburg High in Oregon. Authorities allege that Leodoro shot 16-year-old Joseph Monti. Leodoro will be tried as a juvenile because under Oregon law, no one under 15 can be tried as an adult. Leodoro missed being tried as an adult by one week when he will turn 15.
Suspect, Victim Identified In School Shooting:
According to this article, Leodoro got the gun from a relative who did not realize it was missing. And that if he is convicted as a juvenile the max he is looking at is 11 years. Monti is expected to make a full recovery.
Also…
Investigators say there was an ongoing disagreement between Monti and Leodoro, but the exact motive was not released.
During yesterday’s arraignment of Leodoro, Monti’s brother, Eric Allison, was at the arraignment and called Leodoro a coward several times. Can’t say that I disagree. According to the article, it also appears that Leodoro kept shooting Monti after he was already hit…
Authorities now say it appears that Leodoro fired bullets into Joseph Monti even after he was already down. Allison says his brother does remember being shot. “He was talking to two girls. All of the sudden he was on the ground with no warning. Not like hey I’m going to get you or anything. He just got shot,” said Allison.
Sounds cowardly to me.
There is no confirmed motive, but Monti’s brother had this to say…
Allison says his brother knew the suspect and attributes their conflict to teens talking big and speaking out of turn. Meanwhile, authorities say there is no confirmed motive for the shooting beyond the fact that “there was some ongoing conflict between the two parties.”
A trial date will be set for Leodoro on Monday.
Police: Victim may have been shot while he was down:
Some scary details from this article…
Dunbar said a search of Leodoro’s room found some evidence of pending violence but he declined to elaborate.
Dunbar said Monti was shot with a Wyoming Arms 10mm semiautomatic pistol, equal to a .40-caliber, that Leodoro got from home, apparently without permission.
He said it was loaded with hollow-point bullets, which expand on impact and do maximum damage.
10MM with hollow points? It’s a miracle that Monti is still alive. It also goes to show Leodoro’s level of intent and premeditation.
Also, the article states that a group of students knew there would be some kind of confrontation but didn’t know a gun would be involved, so they did not notify school authorities.
More as details become available.
High School Freshman Shoots Sophomore:
The shooter is a 14-year-old freshman, while the victim is 16-year-old sophomore Joseph Monti.
Still no word on a motive.
Teen injured in Oregon high school shooting today:
This is a follow-up to the school shooting out of Oregon that happened this morning that put one victim in the hospital…
A teenager armed with a handgun shot and wounded a 16-year-old student at the high school here this morning and then walked to a restaurant, where customers watched in horror as he stood outside and put the gun to his head.
The shooter then surrendered to police.
Students milling around the courtyard at Roseburg High watched in shock as the teen — using what doctors said was a large-caliber handgun — shot a student in the chest and abdomen just before classes were to begin, hitting him four times.
Police spokesman Sgt. Aaron Dunbar said the shooter appeared to be a student at the high school, and that he is also a 16-year-old.
Police cars followed the teen to Charley’s BBQ restaurant, their sirens blaring, said Kenny Russell, the restaurant cook.
The 35 customers in the restaurant “were all freaking out. Some of them were getting under the tables,” Russell said.
The teen looked through the restaurant window and put the gun to his head, according to Russell.
Police officers confronted the teen, their guns drawn, according to Russell. The teen was then led away in handcuffs.
It was not clear what provoked the shooting, and whether the assailant knew his victim.
Their identities were not released.
Kathleen Nickel, the hospital spokeswoman, said the victim was shot twice in the abdomen and once in the chest, and a bullet grazed his left elbow. She said surgeons believe he was shot from behind.
A surgeon talked to the victim, who was conscious when he got to the hospital, Nickel said. “He didn’t have any recollection of what occurred,” she said.
More details as soon as they become available.