Sheriff: La. 8th-grader planned school shooting

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By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer Mary Foster, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 15 mins ago

LAROSE, La. – A Louisiana middle school student stormed into a classroom and fired a gunshot over a teacher's head Monday before shooting himself in a bathroom, authorities said. Investigators found a suicide note and plans for a rampage in the teen's journal.

The 15-year-old student, whose name was not released, fired once around 9 a.m. inside a classroom at Larose-Cut Off Middle School, then shot himself in the head, said Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. He was in critical but stable condition. The teacher had never taught the teen.

Webre said investigators found a note describing the boy's plans to "gear up" before his spree, along with a drawing of how he'd dress. The boy also scribbled "I am king" and "y'all will die!" on a sheet of paper investigators found.

Although he apparently was intent on killing people, he was armed with only four bullets for the .25-caliber, semiautomatic pistol he had taken from his father's home during the weekend. The boy's mother noticed he seemed nervous before school, but he said he was just worried about seeing his standardized test results, which were released Monday, Webre said.

About 500 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders attend the school in a rural community of about 7,000 people, some 45 miles southwest of New Orleans. Webre said the boy had no disciplinary problems at school and hadn't been in trouble with the law. The teen had no reason to be in the classroom, he said.

He was a year or two older than most of his classmates, who described him as a quiet boy who never talked about guns or violence.

Webre said investigators found inside the boy's bookbag a completely filled journal and two loose sheets of paper that appeared to be a plan for the shooting and a suicide note. The school has both standing and handheld metal detectors, but they aren't used all the time and weren't in use Monday.

Webre said the boy arrived at the school in uniform — white shirt, khaki pants — but changed into camouflage pants shown in his drawing. In an expletive-laced note, he wrote, "First, I will tell my art class teacher that I had to go to the bathroom. Then I would go to the last stall and 'gear up.'"

Eighth-grader Dustin Sevin said the boy has been his friend for several years and that he never talked about guns or violence. At the end of second period, his friend said he needed to see the nurse and left with his backpack.

The teen apparently headed to another classroom, walked to the front of the room and pointed the pistol at the whiteboard, said sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Lesley Hill-Peters. He tried to fire at the board, but it wouldn't go off. He then stepped forward, pointed the gun at the teacher, raised it and fired a single shot over her head.

Coley Gaspard, 14, said he was in his seventh-grade English and reading class when the boy came in. The teen yelled for everyone to get down, cursing at the class.

Nobody moved. Gaspard knew the boy, whom he described as quiet and nice, and thought it was a dramatic enactment for some sort of lesson. Then, he said, the boy walked over and pointed the gun at the teacher, ordering her to say, "Hail Marilyn Manson," referring to the shock-rock icon, Gaspard said.

She said nothing. He fired into the wall and told another boy to get up. The seventh-grader stayed in his seat, and the teen left.

Hill-Peters, the spokeswoman, said she couldn't confirm Gaspard's account.

"After a situation like this you're going to have a lot of kids, a lot of parents, a lot of people saying a lot of stuff," she said.

The school was scheduled to reopen Tuesday with enhanced security and several counselors on hand.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090518/...chool_shooting

[samanthajane13]

Boy wrote threatening note before school shooting
By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer Mary Foster, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 53 mins ago

LAROSE, La. – A middle-school student who fired a gunshot at a teacher in a classroom and then shot himself left a handwritten journal and an apparent suicide note that described his intention to kill other people, authorities said.

The eighth-grade student, who has not been identified by authorities, was in critical condition early Tuesday after undergoing surgery following Monday's shooting. No one else was injured.

Afterward, investigators found a profanity-laced note that said "U all will die."

"The letter indicated his intention was to kill people," Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said.

The student left during homeroom Monday morning, a fellow student said. He went to the bathroom and changed from the khaki uniform pants the school requires to a pair of camouflaged pants. He then stormed into the classroom across the hall from the restroom — gun in hand, said Coley Gaspard, 14, who was in the room.

Investigators believe the boy chose the room because of its closeness to the restroom, not because he had any agenda concerning the teacher or students.

He tried to shoot the teacher, Webre said, but the gun did not fire.

Webre said the boy made an adjustment, then fired over the teacher's head. As he left the room he asked one of the students to go with him, but left alone when the youngster remained seated.

He apparently returned to the bathroom and shot himself within minutes, Webre said.

The young man got the gun, a .25-caliber, nickel-plated semiautomatic, from his father's house during the weekend, Webre said.

The school has both standing and handheld metal detectors, but they aren't used all the time and weren't in use Monday. The school was scheduled to reopen Tuesday with enhanced security and several counselors on hand.

About 500 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders attend the school in a rural community of about 7,000 people, some 45 miles southwest of New Orleans. Webre said the boy had no disciplinary problems at school and hadn't been in trouble with the law.

"He makes reference to himself as an outcast," Webre said, referring to the journal. "But nothing in his record reflects that."

He was a year or two older than most of his classmates who described him as a quiet boy who never talked about guns or violence.

The boy's mother said he seemed nervous before leaving for school, but when she asked him about it, he attributed it to getting the results of the "LEAP" tests that eighth-graders must pass to be promoted.

Gaspard said he was in his seventh-grade English and reading class when the boy came in. The teen yelled for everyone to get down, cursing at the class.

Nobody moved. Gaspard knew the boy, whom he described as quiet and nice, and thought it was a dramatic enactment for some sort of lesson. Then, he said, the boy walked over and pointed the gun at the teacher, ordering her to say, "Hail Marilyn Manson," referring to the shock-rock icon, Gaspard said.

She said nothing. After firing into the wall, the youngster told another boy to get up. The seventh-grader stayed in his seat, and the teen left.

Webre said he couldn't confirm Gaspard's account.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090519/...chool_shooting

[samanthajane13]

La. 8th-grader detailed shooting in 'deadly diary'
By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer Mary Foster, Associated Press Writer – 34 mins ago

LAROSE, La. – Justin Doucet's friends saw him as a quiet, friendly kid — they had no idea what macabre fascinations apparently lurked in a skeleton-adorned journal and a notebook labeled his "deadly diary."

The day after the eighth-grader shot himself in the head with a tiny pistol in a school bathroom, authorities displayed journals Tuesday that detailed his plans to shoot four students and his disappointment that he wouldn't have enough bullets left to kill a police officer.

Authorities offered no motive for his desire to kill other students, and ultimately he only hurt himself. He fired a shot over a teacher's head but didn't hit her. No one else was injured.

Doucet, who remained in a coma Tuesday, was apparently fascinated by the Columbine High School shootings in 1999 in Littleton, Colo., when two teens went on a rampage that left 12 high school students and a teacher dead.

"The writing shows a very troubled person who has some anger issues," Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said on Tuesday. "He was fascinated with the Antichrist and the end of the world."

A small journal with a black cloth cover decorated with tiny skeletons and a spiral notebook labeled "Deadly Diary II" in pencil were in Doucet's camouflage backpack, Webre said.

Among the items in the backpack was a pencil drawing of himself, with the words "Disturbed Mind" next to the head, wearing a shirt with the rock band AC/DC's logo and their song "Highway to Hell" written on it. He also is shown wearing camouflage pants and combat boots.

Underneath the picture were the words "The LCO Gunman," referring to the Larose-Cut Off Middle School, where Doucet donned camouflage pants, went into Jessica Plaisance's classroom, and fired a shot. Then he went into the restroom and shot himself.

His .25-caliber, nickel-plated pistol had two spent shells and three bullets in it, Webre said.

The young man, who had no disciplinary problems at school and hadn't been in trouble with the law, gave a detailed description of what he hoped to do Monday, Webre said, including the date and time.

Doucet bemoaned his lack of more firepower, which would keep him from shooting a police officer. He had apparently taken the pistol from his father's house during the weekend and had no additional bullets, Webre said.

The plan was to shoot a sixth-grader, seventh-grader, and two eighth-graders then take his own life, Webre said. No specific targets were named, and authorities do not believe anyone else was involved or even knew of Doucet's plan.

A search of his home turned up a clipping about Columbine, Webre said.

About 500 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders attend the school in a rural community of about 7,000 people, some 70 miles southwest of New Orleans.

The school reopened on Tuesday with about half the students in attendance. Three walkthrough metal detecters were set up at the entrances. Webre was not sure if they would be permanently installed.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090519/...chool_shooting