The arrest of school shooter Brenda Spencer, shortly after her infamous I dont like Mondays quote. In all, the standoff lasted over six hours. Chief Nisleit says he wants civilianize the department, as labor leaders say large raises are needed to fill those jobs. San Diego Union-Tribune/Wikimedia Commons (cropped)The arrest of school shooter Brenda Spencer, shortly after her infamous I dont like Mondays quote. Testosterone is the most potent poison known to man. All Local Sales are FREE! Her standoff with SWAT lasted more than six hours. For 20 minutes, Spencer continued to fire about 30 rounds into the crowd. [5][7] Police officers found beer and whiskey bottles cluttered around the house but said Spencer did not appear to be intoxicated when arrested. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Her teachers said that she barely talked to anyone in class but was excellent in the arts, especially photography, winning the first prize in a competition run by the Humane Society. It's an incident that will never leave my mind. The principal of the school, Burton Wragg, was killed during the attack. Neighbors claimed Spencer had a history of petty theft, drug abuse, and truancy. Both have since died, and two surviving sons dont like to speak publicly about it, family members said. It's used mostly for teacher workshops. The house I graduated high school from looked over at San Quentin State Prison. His widow, Karen Barnes, said her husband always believed that the Lord had protected him from Spencer during the shooting. He was wearing his brand-new blue down vest that day, he recalls, and a matching shirt. Then, she aimed it out the window and began firing at the kids. After her parents separated, she lived with her father, Wallace Spencer, in poverty. brenda spencer father, wallace. To this day, Cam Miller hesitates before dressing in blue. Her next opportunity for a parole hearing will be in 2025.[21][22][23][24]. This is known as restitutiongiving back what was taken unlawfully. Spencer came out of her house about 2:30 p.m., laying her .22 rifle and a pellet rifle on the ground, then boxes of ammunition. Thats right, 3 heavily armed gates you have to pass through to get to the prison. At her 2016 parole eligibility hearing, she cried frequently demonstrating emotional instability, Sachs said. "I didn't talk about it. At her first hearing, in 1993, Spencer said she had hoped police would shoot her, and that she had been a user of alcohol and drugs at the time of the crime, although the results of drug tests done when she was taken into custody were negative. Privacy PolicyTerms of ServiceSign Up For Our NewslettersSite Map, Copyright 2023, The San Diego Union-Tribune |, KB homes were built on the former site of Cleveland Elementary School in San Carlos. She wrote to me saying she was glad shed done it because Id made her famous, Geldof said. Her father went on to marry Spencer's 17-year-old Juvenile Hall cellmate but they later divorced. First, on the television news from his hospital bed, which showed police leading away a petite freckled girl with long red hair and aviator glasses. She remembers how her dad used to walk her slowly through the hospital corridors, and how they would stand in a breezeway and watch the lights of passing cars on the freeway below. Brenda's father Wallace Spencer remarried shortly after the shootings to a young girl who was Brenda's cellmate whilst she was being held at juvenile hall. Another 9-year-old, Christy Buell, was pretending to ice-skate on the frosty grass before the final bell rang. By this point, she had fired a sum total of thirty rounds. He was particularly struck by Spencer's claim that she did it because she did not like Mondays, and began writing a song about it, called "I Don't Like Mondays". "It brings back memories," he acknowledges, "but as time goes on, you heal. [dead link][5][7] [8], Acquaintances said Spencer expressed hostility toward policemen, had spoken about shooting one, and had talked of doing something big to get on television. Cam Miller was wearing the down vest he had just gotten from Santa Claus. by Michael Thomas Barry. Your email address will not be published. A custodian, Michael Suchar, was also killed as he attempted to pull a student to safety. Officers found around 200 rounds of unspent ammunition in the house. [1][10], In December, a psychiatric evaluation arranged by her probation officer recommended that Spencer be admitted to a mental hospital for depression, but her father refused to give permission. One of those children was Miller, who believes Spencer targeted him that morning because he was wearing a down vest in her favorite color: blue. McGlinn believes Spencer's accounts that her divorced father, Wallace Spencer, sexually abused her and that under his influence she began dressing as a boy and learned to hunt and shoot with him. First introduced in 1964, the Ruger 10/22 is likely the most successful .22 rifle ever devised. The receiver is an investment casting, while many of the components are polymer. Brenda Spencer was born on the 3rd of April 1962 in San Carlos, California. She said that it was from her own home and added Yeah, who do you thinks doing the shooting? When asked why she did it, she gave an answer that completely shocked the public and was highly publicized:I just dont like Mondays. CAPTION: (Photo ran in an earlier edition) Police rush to the scene of a sniper attack on Grover Cleveland Elementary School in a San Diego suburb 20 years ago. "I don't like Mondays," 16-year-old Brenda Spencer calmly explained to a reporter who reached her by phone during a siege that would last six hours. "I went over there father-to-father, hoping to talk to him," he recalls. "I think it's really sad all those kids are going to have to go through what I've gone through all my life," he says. When the principal rushed out and tried to help the children, he was immediately shot and killed by Brenda. The community may eventually have a hard time remembering the 1979 shooting. She fired 36 rounds. He once returned after an outing around the county with both his students and a fresh wild turkey. One ripple outward from the shootings sent fear through a third generation in the Wragg family. Brenda Spencer was sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment. Gavin Newson rejected the decision in 2022. ", Buell was jolted by the casual reference, but managed to muster a benign response. Soon after the police arrived on the scene, they realized that the shots had come from Spencers home. Just a few months after the BB gun incident, Spencers probation officer had suggested that she spend some time in a mental hospital for depression. Blue was Brenda Spencer's favorite color, he later heard. I have always hoped that at least us Americans would have the wisdom to forgo our partisan prejudices and vote-in officials that value the rule of law and do their duty to protect law abiding citizens. Why didn't you just pull the gun on yourself? She resembled Brenda. cattaraugus county pistol permit office phone number; louisiana state penitentiary warden; rochelle park police blotter; phillips smith and dunn houses for sale in braunton And despite her efforts to downplay her own crime, Spencer herself has admitted that her actions may have indeed led to other similar attacks. I didn't see blood.". Then, she put the rifle down, barricaded herself inside her home, and waited. It was so bad that the two of them slept on a common mattress in the living room surrounded by empty beer and liquor bottles. [33][34][35], The Investigation Discovery network portrayed Spencer's crimes in one of the three cases presented in the premiere episode of season 2 on the crime documentary series Deadly Women, titled "Thrill Killers", first air date: October 9, 2008.[36][37][38]. This livens up the day. She informed him that she had chosen the kids across the street because they made easy targets. "We just kind of went on with life," she says. He is married to his high school sweetheart, has three awesome adult children, and teaches Sunday School. The justice of a murderer getting life, while their victims get death, is lost on me. He said Suchar and the principal didnt get along all that well, but that day when Wragg was felled in the parking lot, Suchar didnt hesitate to run out and try to help. As 53-year-old Principal Burton Wragg walked out to open up the facility Brenda opened fire with her 10/22. Head Custodian Mike Suchar. In late January 1979, Brenda Spencer killed two adults and injured eight children and one adult because of her hate for Mondays. The MSRP for the base model 10/22 today is $309. Police escorted them to buses to be united with parents at Pershing Middle School. SWAT Officer Jim McGinley said he took up a sniper position on a neighbors roof, his rifle trained on the Spencer back door. For Christmas 1978 her father, Wallace, had given her a .22 rifle as a present. Miller was one of her victims. The morning of the shooting, McGlinn said, Spencer drank alcohol and took her epilepsy medicine, Tegretol. After her parents separated, she lived with her father, Wallace Spencer, in virtual poverty; they slept on a single mattress . [31], The 1982 JapaneseAmerican documentary film The Killing of America depicts the incident. "[30] Spencer disputes ever contacting Geldof. Warning: file_get_contents(index.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /nfs/c05/h03/mnt/79130/domains/spitfirevsbf109.com/html/wp-includes/plugin . Get our email alerts straight to your inbox. [1][5] Although Spencer showed exceptional ability as a photographer, winning first prize in a Humane Society competition, she was generally uninterested in school. Best explanation why the death penalty for deliberate murder is not only just but the society that disregards it deserves to fall. . They said they had a green light to kill Spencer if they had an opportunity. A KB developer sign notes homes available starting at $700,000. The 2006 British documentary I Don't Like Mondays also revisits the case. [3] Geldof has later mentioned that, "[Spencer] wrote to me saying 'she was glad she'd done it because I'd made her famous,' which is not a good thing to live with. Eventually, Brenda grew peckish. (Barry Fitsimmons/San Diego Union-Tribune). According to The Daily Beast, she would later claim that her father was abusive toward her and that her mother "just wasn't there." Unfortunately, thats exactly what happened. For Christmas in 1978, her father, Wallace Spencer, gave her a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle. For Christmas 1978, he gave her a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight and 500 rounds of ammunition. They had a child, and the little girl attended Buell's preschool. They need to talk about their fears, he says. [4][5][6][7] After her parents separated, she allegedly lived in poverty with her father, Wallace Spencer. "I wanted to tell him that I was a single father, too, raising four kids alone, and I know it's a hard job and a thankless job and I know you probably did the best you could, that Christy was going to be okay." The next victim was the schools custodian, who also attempted to bring the children to safety. Principal Wragg rushed into the line of fire to drag children to safety and was shot down as well. Her parents were separated, and she lived in squalor with her alcoholic father, Wallace Spencer. Perhaps you should check out the first several verses in Romans, chapter 13. San Diego police officers Patty Bernathy and Ted Kasniak escort Brenda Spencer to homicide investigators after the shootings at Cleveland Elementary School in 1979. I dont know how Californias female prisons are. Standing 52 tall and weighing 89 pounds, Brenda Spencer was once described as too small to be scary., true stories behind Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Brenda's attorney said that the mother "became like a stone . Born in San Diego on April 3, 1962, Spencer purportedly took an early liking to guns and to stories of violence. 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