On April 4, 1980, a day after her 18th birthday, she was sentenced to 25 years to life. The stories that came out of there are epic. It was Jan. 29, 1979, and in a tranquil San Diego suburb, Grover Cleveland Elementary School had just become ground zero in an undeclared war. But Haley Wragg, who at age 26 wasnt alive when Spencer killed her grandfather, learned as a child to fear her release from prison. While there, she spoke by telephone to a reporter from The San Diego Union-Tribune, who had been randomly calling telephone numbers in the neighborhood. Hi, LeRoy. 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. She was given an indefinite sentence and remains in prison. Although it did not make the Top 40 in the U.S., it still received extensive radio airplay (outside of the San Diego area) despite the Spencer family's efforts to prevent it. brenda spencer father, wallacebacio di giuda sulla fronte. As reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune, she pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in 1980. It was attributed to an accident on her bicycle. He blacked out briefly. 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. The principal of the school, Burton Wragg, was killed during the attack. I agree. Brenda Spencer was sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Brenda Spencer was a young girl turned deadly killer. That shooting probably affected every person on that campus, Ron Avi Astor, a professor of social work and education, said of the San Carlos shooting. The family was poor. I held it in. Feature Articles, It's used mostly for teacher workshops. She ultimately left the house peacefully in exchange for a meal from Burger King. In 20 minutes she had shot: Principal Burton Wragg. Charles Cam Miller sees the scar on his chest every day and remembers how, when he was 9, a bullet from Brenda Spencers .22 rifle pierced him from back to front. This livens up the day. She informed him that she had chosen the kids across the street because they made easy targets. However, in 2005, Brenda claimed her father was to blame, stating he had drunkenly kicked her in the head when she was fourteen and that she was forced to make up the 'bicycle story.' Wallace Spencer, later married his daughter's former cellmate, a 17-year-old girl named Sheila McCoy, whom he met while visiting Brenda in prison. He was only sentenced to the maximum of 21 years (with the possibility of 5 years at a time being added in the future). Brenda Spencer was born on April 3, 1962 in San Diego, California, USA as Brenda Ann Spencer.Trivia (3)On January 29, 1979, sixteen year old Brenda Spencer pointed her .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle that she had received as a Christmas present from her father out her bedroom window to San Diego's Grover Cleveland Elementary . He and his wife drove the hour and a half through the desert to the California Institution for Women, arriving much too early. She spent 42 days in the hospital and underwent two operations that left a foot-long scar across her stomach. Spencer shot and wounded eight elementary school kids. On Monday, January 29, 1979, a journalist from The San Diego Union-Tribune got the quote of a lifetime from 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer. Wallace Spencer was previously married to Dot Spencer. The next victim was the schools custodian, who also attempted to bring the children to safety. She also told police negotiators the children and adults whom she had shot were easy targets and that she was going to "come out shooting". 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. He vividly recalls the sight of Principal Burton Wragg and head custodian Michael Suchar lying bleeding in front of Cleveland Elementary School in the San Carlos neighborhood. He once returned after an outing around the county with both his students and a fresh wild turkey. Dan Barnes is now principal at Grossmont High School. [16] Crime-scene photos contradict these accounts. The house I graduated high school from looked over at San Quentin State Prison. [18] Early reports indicated that Spencer had scratched the words "courage" and "pride" into her own skin; Spencer corrected this during her parole hearing as reading "unforgiven" and "alone". Bob Geldof, lead singer for the rock group theBoomtown Rats,read about the incident and wrote a song titledI Dont Like Mondaysthat was released in July of 1979. But whenever she did attend class, she raised eyebrows. Her cousin Valerie Stahl said she grew up not knowing much about Spencer until she hit college and Googled the incident. Supervisors explore ways to offset vehicle traffic from new rural housing, Column: Padres offense inspires bright forecasts as Petco Parks worst clouds have lifted, Opinion: Converting Californias empty office buildings to apartments and condos is a great idea. Brenda Spencer, aged 16, fired rifle shots into a school playground in California in January 1979, . What he found instead were children screaming, crying and bleeding on the ground as a teenage girl who lived across the street raked the schoolyard with bullets from her .22-caliber rifle. For Christmas in 1978, her father, Wallace Spencer, gave her a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle. Testosterone is the most potent poison known to man. You dont ! One quick note regarding comments. I know you, or whomever moderates the comments, cant be available 24-7. He was gunned down, too. brenda spencer father, wallace. Another 9-year-old, Christy Buell, was pretending to ice-skate on the frosty grass before the final bell rang. The principal was enjoying a cup of coffee in the front office when he heard a popping noise and charged outside, assuming he would find little boys setting off firecrackers. Thats because at that time in that place it would have been literally unimaginable to shoot up a school. Aftermarket parts and accessories are so prolific that you can actually build a Ruger 10/22 nowadays that doesnt include a single Ruger part. I did however spend a couple of years working in a Federal maximum security Penitentiary (USP). "We just kind of went on with life," she says. In her 2001 hearing, Spencer claimed that her father had been subjecting her to beatings and sexual abuse, but he said the allegations were not true. Whenever I hear of school shootings, Im bothered because I know what those children are facing, Rintoul said. They have a child together who was enrolled in Cleveland Elementary. "Six months after I got my jacket back, I found a hole in the hood," she recalls, surmising that a third bullet passed through it without striking her. 1979 mass shooting in San Diego, California, U.S. For the shooting in Northern California, see, Cleveland Elementary School shooting (San Diego), Cleveland Elementary School shooting (Stockton), "School Sniper Suspect Bragged Of 'Something Big To Get On TV', "Look back in sorrow: in 1979, a teenage girl opened fire on a suburban San Diego elementary school; today, as the nation reels from a rash of similar tragedies, the survivors still struggle to understand why it happened", "Girl Sniper Kills 2, Wounds 9 at San Diego School", "Classmates Say Alleged Sniper Seemed Lonely, Friendless Girl", "40 years ago, Brenda Spencer took lives, changed lives in a mass shooting at a San Diego elementary school", "School Shooter Brenda Spencer Denied Parole", "School rifle attack nets 25 years to life", "No parole granted for 'I don't like Mondays' school shooter", "She didn't like Mondays, they don't want plaque moved", "Tragic past, uncertain present, bright future of Cleveland Elementary", "Victims of San Diego School Shooting Are Forced to Cope Again 10 Years Later", "Watch Deadly Compulsion Full Episode - Killer Kids | Lifetime", "Killer Kids - Season 3 Episode 19 Deadly Compulsion", "Deadly Women | Season 2 Episode 1 Thrill Kills", "40 Years Ago, Brenda Spencer Took Lives At Elementary School", "1993: Convicted school shooter Brenda Spencer speaks with San Diego's News 8 - PART 1", "1993: Convicted school shooter Brenda Spencer speaks with San Diego's News 8 - PART 2", "1993: Convicted school shooter Brenda Spencer speaks with San Diego's News 8 - PART 3", "1993: Convicted school shooter Brenda Spencer speaks with San Diego's News 8 - PART 4", Murder Historian - I Don't Like Mondays Blog, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Liberty Point International Middle School, Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, "'No Way to Prevent This', Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens", List of school shootings in the United States by death toll, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cleveland_Elementary_School_shooting_(San_Diego)&oldid=1142198805, Attacks on buildings and structures in the United States, Elementary school killings in the United States, Elementary school shootings in the United States, Articles with dead external links from August 2022, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Articles with dead external links from November 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Students and faculty at Grover Cleveland Elementary School, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 01:42. Police later found half empty alcohol bottles throughout the house. "[30] Spencer disputes ever contacting Geldof. 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. 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. [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]. The headmaster confiscated the gun and put it in his desk drawer, directing the kid to pick it up after school and not to bring it back again. The school was closed in 1983, along with a dozen other schools around the city, due to declining enrollment. Unfortunately, thats exactly what happened. He felt a sharp pain and blacked out for a moment, then a neighbor girl helped him toward the school building. It took a few shots before students, parents, and school staff realized that someone on the opposite side of the road was using them as a target. Right away a volley of shots started, then it stopped, Kasinak said. He famously kept a shotgun and a garbage bag in the trunk of the drivers ed car in case he came across something that needed shooting. 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. B renda Ann Spencer was born on April 3, 1962. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. We talk about it all the time. Spencer eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, where California law forbids her to grant interviews. 5 Jun. By this point, she had fired a sum total of thirty rounds. Head scans later revealed permanent damage to one of her temporal lobes that likely contributed to the aberrant behavior that was to follow. However, her teachers reported that she fell asleep regularly in class. But Wallace Spencer reportedly refused to admit her, claiming that he could handle his daughters mental health issues on his own. Meanwhile, San Diego police had raced to the school on reports of gunfire, children shot, then an officer wounded. Just think of how many people have been executed and then later found to be innocent. Spencers former attorney, Michael McGlinn, who has represented juvenile offenders for decades, believes his former client didnt know what she was doing and no longer poses a threat to society. [17] In prison, Spencer was diagnosed with epilepsy and received medication to treat epilepsy and depression. I felt really scared like shed come after me. cattaraugus county pistol permit office phone number; louisiana state penitentiary warden; rochelle park police blotter; phillips smith and dunn houses for sale in braunton The Union-Tribune regrets the error. She had skipped class that day and later claimed that she had washed her epilepsy medicine down with alcohol. Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal, and the movie Aliens., Previous post: Armed Customer In Philly Kills Would-Be Robber, Your email address will not be published. Related Tags: On that January day, she woke up, took the gun and, just as the school bell rang to signal the beginning of the classes, Brenda began shooting from her window at the young students who were standing outside the school. 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. The standard .22LR rifle feeds from a flush-mounted 10-round helical-feed magazine, though aftermarket magazines and drums carry fifty rounds or more. Spencer, who was charged in court as an adult, pleaded guilty in 1980 to two counts of murder. Stunned by the tragic shooting, Bob Geldof, the lead singer of the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, wrote a song titled I Dont Like Mondays. Released just months after the attack, the tune topped the U.K. charts for four weeks, and it also received extensive airtime in the U.S. And according to The Advertiser, the song did not go unnoticed by Spencer. As a child, he suffered terrifying nightmares of Brenda Spencer "popping out of the bathtub to finish me off." 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