emotionless, the boy said nothing as he waited for the police to arrive and place him into custody. Although the tragedy ended a few short minutes after he fired the first shot, it might have lasted much longer had he kept his back pack, which contained enough ammunition for several reloads.

The Law Enforcement Response

Within minutes of receiving the 911 call, the chief of the Fort Gibson Police Department, along with other officers, arrived at the school. A teacher directed the officers to the area where another teacher was standing with the young shooter. When the chief asked the boy if anyone else with guns was in the school, his response, “No, I’m alone,” was one of the few statements he would make about the shooting.

At that point, the police did not know the number of casualties, only who had fired the shots. Fortunately, the emergency medical service and law enforcement response was immediate and professional. Ambulances responded quickly, and, within minutes, officers from a neighboring police department arrived to help secure the perimeter. Within a short period of time, a significant number of federal, state, and county law enforcement personnel had converged on the middle school to offer additional assistance.

The departments involved had conducted no advanced training or rehearsal for this type of incident. However, basic knowledge of crime scene processing and investigative protocol proved sufficient. As officers arrived on the scene, they approached the chief and awaited orders, allowing him to supervise and control the scene while dealing with the expected plethora of distractions.

Preserving the crime scene and securing witnesses proved difficult with the arrival of many concerned parents and the media. As school officials notified parents and the news spread, calls from other parents and from news agencies worldwide began to flood the police department. Fortunately, additional police dispatchers came to the station to help with the calls when they learned what had happened.

Within 1 hour of the incident, the department received more than 200 calls from the media. To manage the volume of inquiries on the incident, the chief assigned the deputy chief to control the crime scene, thus allowing himself to act as the official spokesperson for the department, helping quell rumors and speculation and providing factual information at numerous press conferences held that afternoon.3

The Investigation

Of the 15 shots fired by the young boy, 6 either hit or grazed their target. None of the shots proved fatal. Most of the victims sustained minor wounds to their arms or legs and only one required surgery. One of the victims found a bullet lodged in his algebra book, which he carried in his backpack during the assault.

The police accounted for each round the boy fired. Because many of the students dropped their books when they began to run, the police could more easily determine where many students stood when the assault began. The police roped off the primary crime scene and secured a secondary boundary outside that perimeter. Police spent 2 days collecting evidence, reconstructing the boy’s actions, and guarding the crime scene until they completed the processing.

© Don Ennis

Police found the boy’s background of particular interest in this case. His social history does not fit the popular image of an aspiring psychotic killer. According to his certification study prepared by the Office of Juvenile Affairs several months after the shooting, neither he nor anyone in his family had any prior contact with the juvenile system or law enforcement.