School custodian Michael Suchar ran out in an attempt to pull the still-alive Wragg to safety. A single .22 caliber shot entered his back and out of Cam's chest. Actor Ive seen first hand how these tragedies affect a community. ( )Tj HtyTY Q" }]iwQQ*=L`:i_L{NSTw)k+CZ"Rhtn The only thing I was concentrating on was getting the police there so that they could shoot me, she said. January 29, 1979 ( )Tj [( p. 77)70 (. In 2001 Brenda accused her father of having drunkenly subjected her to beatings and sexual abuse. The tragedy that occurred in the primary school Grover Cleveland, most striking is that the murderer took away the lives of people for fun. I think that article such as these, that have to do with people like this that kill or shoot up schools filled with little kids are so heartbreaking to read. The pain these children must have felt is unforgivable. /T1_3 1 Tf Principal Burton Wragg was speaking with teacher Daryl Barnes (who was gave testimony on the episode) when the gun shots started and ran outside to see school children falling to the floor, some first grabbing a body part and screaming in pain before falling. -2.118 -1.529 Td At the time, mass shootings were rare in America, although there had been occasional gun attacks on school premises. ( )Tj 0 Tw 2.118 0 Td /T1_3 1 Tf /T1_4 1 Tf Brenda Spencer is currently serving his sentence and looks forward to a pardon. 0 Tw 2.118 0 Td [(M)31 (urd)-5 (er C)30 (ase,)]TJ 0.184 Tw /Span<>> BDC [(T)-44.9 (he Cr)-19.9 (iminal P)10.1 (ersonalit)-34.9 (y)20.1 (: V)30 (olume\037)50.7 (1:)-3 ( )]TJ [(WWW)55 (.SCHOOLSHOOTERS.INFO)]TJ At parole hearings, the panel reminds her of statements during the shooting. When asked why she said "I hate Mondays" prompting the Boomtown Rats hit song. A lot of kids laughing and doing their thing? the commissioner asked. 0.237 Tw /Span<>> BDC [(W)5 (ithout Conscience,)]TJ ( )Tj But the lawyer also noted that while visiting Spencer at a juvenile-detention facility after her arrest, the father had met a girl who resembled his daughter, but was younger. [(\223H)23 (earing 2009,)80 (\224 p. The 1982 Japanese-American documentary film The Killing of America depicts the incident. (89)Tj ( )Tj /T1_4 1 Tf Today, she is 56 and still behind bars at the California Institution for Women. Dates A)40 (vailable at www)80 (.scho)-4.9 (olsho)-5 (ot)-10 (ers.info. Brenda also gets two mattresses and pillows, three blankets and is the priority for the coveted bottom bunk. . The police, now aware of where the shots were coming from, were able evacuate the children and obstruct Spencers line of sight while trying to negotiate with her. 0.177 Tw /Span<>> BDC A 16-year-old girl, Brenda Spencer, who lived in a house across the street from the school, was convicted of the shootings. The other daughter had been saved from harm when a notebook with a pouch of pens stopped a bullet. 58. Mr McGlinn says such a troubled young girl should never have been allowed near guns and believes her claims that she was hallucinating under the influence of drugs and alchohol. [(M)31 (urd)-5 (er C)30 (ase,)]TJ Blue was Spencer's favorite color so he would be her first victim. In the same year, she burgled the school where she would later kill pupils, vandalised classrooms and shot out some of its windows with a gun. But the link with the San Diego shooting was soon spotted by Spencer herself. (88)Tj She later also spoke with police negotiators, telling them those she had shot made easy targets, and that she was going to "come out shooting." EMC EMC The place he loved the most. /Span<>> BDC Because I knew that if I fired on the school the police would show up, and they would shoot me and kill me, she said. Four times the murderer asked for parole, and four times she was refused. Jonathan Fast, Unforgiven and Alone: Brenda Spencer and Secret Shame, in, College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences. ( )Tj Block 10A, Row 2, Space 46. Theme powered by WordPress. 20 years after the shooting, Spencer made claims that her father sexually abused her. /Span<>> BDC 26. )]TJ Motive The commissioner asked if she remembered the police coming, and she said she did. During a 2009 parole hearing, her most recent, she insisted that she had not intended to shoot anybody. Justice was ruthless. /T1_4 1 Tf For Christmas 1978, he gave her a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight and 500 rounds of ammunition. EMC My condolences to the principal and the custodian of the Cleveland Elementary School. 0.358 Tw /Span<>> BDC (157 cm) and had bright red hair. Let alone an elementary school shooting. EMC Both girls had witnessed the death of the principal and the custodian. Principal Wragg was fatally shot in the heart. [(H)23 (are, R. )]TJ [( p. 207)70 (. Spencer was sentenced to only 25 years to life, despite the cruelty of her crime. 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, also incorporating the reporters' "Tell me why?," called "I Don't Like Mondays". 0 Tc 0 Tw 8.4751 0 0 8.5 561.6812 581.5 Tm The next time (2001), she began to advance the theory that her brutal act was preceded by her father's abuse of her, but these facts were also not confirmed. I was trying to commit suicide.. EMC 0 Tw 2.118 0 Td Brenda Spencer is however, America's first female school shooter. No, I wasnt feeling good, she replied. \223T)70 (.J. /T1_4 1 Tf Her claims were treated with scepticism, given that she had never mentioned them before. EMC The principal of the elementary school, Burton Wragg, age 53, had gone to the aid of the students and was subsequently shot himself, the commissioner said. Students at Grover Cleveland Elementary School, located in San Diego, California, began what they believed would be a normal Monday morning like any other, with bells ringing and students racing to their classes. [(\223H)23 (earing 2009,)80 (\224 pp. /T1_3 1 Tf Being from San Diego, California this article sparked my interest. ( )Tj On the morning of Monday, January 29, 1979, Spencer began shooting at children waiting for Principal Burton Wragg (age 53) to open the gates to Grover Cleveland Elementary. /T1_3 1 Tf (60)Tj uuid:abfef72d-ac1c-9d47-b406-9a703c3e820b (73)Tj 0.476 Tw /Span<>> BDC /T1_3 1 Tf A)40 (vailable at )]TJ He informed the board that on the Saturday before the shooting Spencer had told another teen that something big was going to happen on Monday that would be on TV and radio. Charged as an adult, she pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole after 25 years. ( )Tj (64)Tj )Tj [(Langman, P)89.7 (. My dad and Mike were the only two to die that day, he said, The kids that they were trying to save all lived. Brenda Ann Spencer (born in San Diego, California on April 3, 1962) is a convicted American murderer who performed a deadly shooting spree, during which she killed two people at the Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego on January 29, 1979. /T1_2 1 Tf ( )Tj After the first bell rang, Brenda broke the panels on the front door of her home, which was located right across the street from the elementary school. Whether these theories are true or not, Brenda Spencer was tried as an adult and pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and nine counts of assault. [(dic)-20 (tions,)80 (\224 201)40 (5. 30. /T1_4 1 Tf -2.118 -1.529 Td So, how much is Brenda Spencer worth at the age of 60 years old? 0.298 Tw /Span<>> BDC The search showed that there was a bank of beer in the house, there was a bottle of whiskey, but the policemen who detained the criminal stated that she was sober. We hear about it so much today, and it is incredibly sad that there are people who are willing to do this to innocent children. [(M)31 (urd)-5 (er C)30 (ase,)]TJ 0 Tw 18.39 -0.053 Td She is eligible for a Parole Suitability Hearing in September 2021. This livens up the day.. You hit one of those fellows, too, the commissioner noted. (97)Tj 1.647 0 Td I understand that she was not mentally stable but killing innocent people is not justifiable. The daughter spoke of scattering her fathers ashes in the desert. After a 20-minute shooting spree, eight children and three adults had been hit, among them a police officer who was shot through the neck. EMC Full name is Brenda Ann Spencer. Adobe InDesign CC 2015 (Macintosh) She kept busy behind bars by learning Latin just for the fun of it, she said. )]TJ 0.244 Tw /Span<>> BDC /T1_3 1 Tf "I don't like Mondays"Possible depression Brenda Spencer (Brenda Ann Spencer) was born on 3 April, 1962 in San Diego, California, is a School shooting in San Diego, California (USA). /T1_3 1 Tf Family Born in Decatur, Illinois, Jan 29,. In what sense is that okay? However, lawyer Michael McGlinn, who defended Spencer at her trial, told me he continues to believe she will never reoffend. /T1_4 1 Tf 72. A police officer (age28), responding to a call for assistance during the incident, was wounded in the neck as he arrived. She was given an indefinite sentence and remains in prison. Spencer was not once searching for ways to go free. Her behaviour including telling a friend she wanted to kill someone, probably a police officer became increasingly disturbing. )]TJ Name /T1_3 1 Tf One survivor of the 1979 shooting described herself as "shocked, saddened, horrified" by the eerie similarities to their own traumatic experience. The brother said that although his widowed sister-in-law lived until 1991, her life actually ended in January 1979. She barricaded herself and 7 hours did not succumb to the police persuasion. /T1_4 1 Tf (71)Tj She described the shooter, a sixteen year old, and the shooters address. . Deadly Women Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. ( p. 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. EMC Brenda Spencer's Mugshot taken in 1996 | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. 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. (65)Tj The perks of Golden Girl membership include a front-line pass for meals and medication and access to a specific dining room closest to the members cell. endstream endobj 3 0 obj <> endobj 5 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 6 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 7 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 8 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 9 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 10 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 11 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 12 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 13 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 33 0 obj <>stream /T1_5 1 Tf 0 Tw 2.118 0 Td She described arriving at school and hearing shots and seeing the principal and the custodian lying dead. [(H)23 (art)30 (, )]TJ EMC When she was 16 years old, at Christmas, her father presented her with a rifle with an optical sight. For Christmas in 1978, her father, Wallace Spencer, gave her a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle. The diminutive 16-year-old with bright red hair then armed herself with the .22 rifle and telescopic sight that her father, Wally, had given her for Christmas and started firing shots from a window. Also learn how She earned most of networth at the age of 58 years old? He concluded that no drugs or alcohol had been talking when she said she just didnt like Mondays. They made me numb so I didnt feel anything, she said. (67)Tj A spokesperson for the prison told theDaily Mail: The Golden Girls program at California Institution for Women is geared toward addressing the emotional and physical needs of the older population. She was later diagnosed with depression and epilepsy and received medication to treat her mental issues. -2.118 -1.529 Td ( )Tj She injured eight children and a police officer, and killed the principal and a custodian. 0 Tc 0 Tw 8.5 0 0 8.5 336 538.5 Tm [(www)80 (.scho)-5 (olsho)-5 (ot)-10 (ers.info. I cannot reconcile the fact that Brenda claimed she started shooting just for the fun of it with the trauma she probably experienced in her childhood because both are terrible and inexcusable acts. We have estimated xmp.iid:3065e9ea-c692-4fe2-85e9-211b0d4a2955 The history of criminology has many stories about the shootings, which are arranged by schoolchildren. Location )Tj Despite what former District Attorney Richard Sachs said on the episode of Deadly Women, Spencer's rampage was not "the country's, if not the world's first school shooting case before 1979." ( )Tj /T1_5 1 Tf -2.118 -1.529 Td The shooting at school was over, and the murderer, frightened of the consequences, hid in the house. -0.047 Tw 2.118 0 Td /T1_4 1 Tf Wallace Spencer (father)Dot Spencer (mother)Teresa Spencer (sister)Scott Spencer (brother)Unnamed half-sister The girl was born in the USA, California, the city of San Diego, in 1962. 0 Tw 2.118 0 Td EMC Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. /Span<>> BDC /T1_4 1 Tf -2.118 -1.529 Td 0.003 Tc 0.082 Tw 1.662 0 Td 0 Tw 2.118 0 Td EMC 0.003 Tc 0.082 Tw 8.6057 0 0 8.5 336 548.5 Tm )Tj [(and )0.5 (A)4.9 (dult P)10 (erpetrat)-10.1 (ors. An epidemic of gun crime has shocked America, particularly with school massacres at Columbine (in 1999, 13 dead) and Sandy Hook (in 2012, 26 dead). The girl herself from an early age was interested in weapons and everything connected with him. (100)Tj I dont know why he bought me a gun, she said. It's just that the girl at the time had fun. /T1_4 1 Tf 0.356 Tw /Span<>> BDC )]TJ Years of life and reign of Genghis Khan. Spencers absent mother, Dot, claimed she suspected father and daughter had an unhealthy relationship but insisted she couldnt afford a lawyer to fight for custody. )]TJ 0.415 Tw /Span<>> BDC 7)30 (3, 75. [(M)31 (urd)-5 (er C)30 (ase,)]TJ EMC EMC 22. It didnt upset you that they seemed to have happier lives?, No, she said. The blood hadnt been scrubbed from where he had fallen on the concrete. She had asked her father for a radio. ( )Tj 0.237 Tw /Span<>> BDC Spencer has also stated in a letter from prison that she experiences grand mal seizures that she has to counteract with medications.5 Such a brain injury would definitely be a precursor to epilepsy, which is two to four times more common among violent offenders than the public.6 The lack of treatment she received for this disease, to some, proves the neglect that she experienced from her family and in her childhood. 0 Tw 2.118 0 Td A nine-year-old student, Cam Miller, was struck in the back with a bullet that exited through his chest without hitting any internal organs. Eight students and a police officer were wounded. (\251)Tj Cam [Charles] Miller was seven when she shot him in the back. When asked why he might have done that, she answered, "I felt like he wanted me to kill myself.". ( )Tj Three shots rang out. /T1_4 1 Tf EMC (86)Tj ( )Tj )Tj [You] put your gun down, the commissioner observed. He had died trying to help the children and Principal Wragg, killed by Ms. Spencer trying to liven up her Monday., She was lonely and scared, and became more and more depressed, he said. representative added that Spencer had complained to the police negotiator that the custodian had tried to get everybody off the school grounds. Then the inmate proceeded to commit one of the most notorious crimes in the history of this nation., He went on: At 8:30 a.m., the children were lining up to enter Cleveland Elementary School She picked up her .22 caliber, semiautomatic scoped rifle and began shooting children. It was the perfect senseless act and this was the perfect senseless reason for doing it.. /T1_4 1 Tf /T1_5 1 Tf -2.118 -1.529 Td Brenda Spencers income source is mostly from being a successful . /T1_5 1 Tf It was also revealed that she had told a police negotiator during the stand-off that she liked to watch [the children] squirm around after they had been shot and that she had targeted anyone wearing blue her favourite colour and those in featherdown-filled coats because she liked to see the feathers fly as the bullets hit them. 0 Tc 0 Tw 0.471 0 Td [(\223H)23 (earing 1994,)80 (\224 pp. [(H)23 (art)30 (, )]TJ /Span<>> BDC [(\223H)23 (earing 1994,)80 (\224 p. ( )Tj There was also a statement from the principals daughter. Spencer has since said she does not remember making the remark that inspired a song by the Boomtown Rats and became a kind of anthem for many of the school shooters who followed. With every school shooting. ( )Tj EMC )]TJ You didnt go to school that day? the commissioner asked. 0.04 Tw 2.118 0 Td ( )Tj Spencer subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of murder. /T1_5 1 Tf /Span<>> BDC 0 Tw 2.118 0 Td This page was last changed on 2 May 2022, at 09:58. [(H)23 (art)30 (, )]TJ It would have been the drugs and the alcohol talking., The commissioner quoted the police negotiators report, which said she had told him, It was fun to watch the children that had red and blue ski jackets on, as they made perfect targets. The negotiator added that she told him she liked to watch them squirm around after they had been shot.. The cellmate looked so much like Spencer, even local police officers believed Brenda had been released early from prison. 0 Tc 0 Tw 0.471 0 Td 42. Dorothy who goes by Dot recounts Brenda as a child who was "very active, always happy, a good child, well behaved, [and] never had any problems in school" (Dower, 2016). -2.118 -1.529 Td By chance, one of the numbers he called was answered by Spencer herself. ( )Tj Yet, while it was all happening, so beautiful, so serene, I couldnt get over the perverse violence associated with my dads passing. EMC /T1_4 1 Tf However, according to the rules of imprisonment, the next time, giving her the right to request pardon, will come in 2019. )Tj /T1_3 1 Tf 32. She described going to the school to collect her fathers personal effects. [(Y)60.1 (o)-4.9 (chelson, S. and S)23.1 (amenow)80.1 (, S. )]TJ /Span<>> BDC Whether Spencer was a cold-hearted killer or a truly lost and confused soul that simply wanted an escape, it is undeniable that her horrible actions have had some frightening consequences in our modern world. 81. (72)Tj 17:46 EST 04 Apr 2019 Instead, he gave her a Ruger semi-automatic rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition for Christmas. These are the other shootings reported on: the Columbine High School shooting, the shootings at Simon's Rock College, the Bethel Regional High School shooting, and the Pearl High School shooting. A year before the shooting, school officials told her parents they believed she was a suicide risk but her father ordered them to leave his family alone. 2016-02-11T19:23:05-05:00 He is one of many opposing her release on grounds that she remains a risk to the people of his city. 0 Tw 2.118 0 Td 0 Tw 2.118 0 Td On that day, students of Grover Cleveland's primary school were on the street, they waited while their teacher Burton Regg opened the gate to them. Im a little more grateful for my normal Mondays now! A neighbor once said when she tried to be friends with Brenda at age 5 Brenda ripped the doll of the neighbor's head off. EMC EMC endstream endobj 18 0 obj <> endobj 19 0 obj <> endobj 20 0 obj <> endobj 25 0 obj <> endobj 22 0 obj <> endobj 23 0 obj <> endobj 47 0 obj <> endobj 48 0 obj <> endobj 49 0 obj <>stream A teenage friend indicated it had been a planned attack, telling police that, days beforehand, Spencer warned him she was planning to do something that would get on TV on Monday. Yet her father, who died in 2016, was by all accounts a very odd man. She was suffering from poverty with his alcoholic father since her parents separated. 0.237 Tw /Span<>> BDC /T1_4 1 Tf Brenda Ann Spencer has a cenotaph in Fairlawn Cemetery Stillwater Oklahoma. 8\2269. "[2] Those comments were the inspiration to the song I Don't Like Mondays by The Boomtown Rats, which reached #1 in the United Kingdom in mid 1979. The commissioner reminded her that she had eventually surrendered. [(\223H)23 (earing 2005,)80 (\224 p. Or as Wilfred Suchar, son of the murdered school caretaker, put it at a parole hearing: My question is, will there be another boring Monday for her?. /T1_5 1 Tf Michael Suchar, age 56, school custodian, went to the aid of Mr. Wragg and was also shot., Youre shooting people as they come to the aid of others, he said. /Span<>> BDC Spencer was the inspiration for the song "I Don't Like Mondays," written by Bob Geldof and Johnnie Fingers for their band the Boomtown Rats, which was released later that year. Spencer barricaded herself in her house for hours before an offer for a Burger King meal from negotiators convinced her to surrender. She had a parole hearing in September 2021, but she waived the hearing for one in 2022. (63)Tj At her first hearing, 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. -2.118 -1.529 Td On the other hand, I also did not know that this event was listed as the first high profile school shooting. She grew up relatively poor and spent most of her early life with her father, Wallace Spencer, with whom she had a turbulent relationship. I was 9 years old when I was shot, he began. [(H)23 (art)30 (, )]TJ They cite the considerable progress she has made in rehabilitating herself in prison. He said his wife had heard on the radio of a shooting at the school and called him at work. Brenda Spencer, the culprit of this shooting, in case her second statement was true, she should not have opened fire to that school, she should have called the police directly. EMC ( )Tj /T1_3 1 Tf The number of shots fired and the number of vital hits speaks of incredibly accurate, directed shooting, and these were moving targets.. Only in San Diego, the city where the tragedy happened to spare the feelings of local residents, the song was banned for several years. ( )Tj Ugh, its Monday are the words that usually follow the arrival of the most dreaded day of the week. /T1_2 1 Tf /Span<>> BDC It also be projection, a signal that she's being abused at home by someone. 0 Tc 0 Tw 0.471 0 Td /T1_3 1 Tf [(able at www)80.1 (.scho)-5 (olsho)-4.9 (ot)-10 (ers.info. /T1_4 1 Tf Under the terms of her indeterminate sentence, Spencer became eligible for hearings to consider her suitability for parole in 1993. (99)Tj ( )Tj )]TJ /T1_4 1 Tf The ambulance rushing to get him to hospital took a sharp turn and the dead body of the school caretaker had rolled on top of him. By [(M)31 (urd)-5 (er C)30 (ase,)]TJ (contr4488032) Brenda Ann Spencer passed away peacefully surrounded by family Thursday March 30, 2017. 0.007 Tc -0.126 Tw /Span<>> BDC EMC /T1_4 1 Tf Brenda would go to claim sexual abuse by her father. ( )Tj /T1_4 1 Tf He recently pointed out that she cried frequently at her last parole eligibility hearing, in 2016, demonstrating what he called her continued emotional instability. 25\22626. They still speak of hearing the gurgle in Mr. Wragg as he lay there dying If such evil can occur in such a benign and tranquil setting, then it can happen anywhere and probably will.. The Brenda Spencer Murder Case, which was published in 2012, and is the single best source I am aware of regarding Spencer. 16. Spencer barricaded herself in her house for hours before an offer for a Burger King meal from negotiators convinced her to surrender. The issue is not owning guns, the issue is mental health. This livens up the day." /Span<>> BDC The shooting has inspired a song by the Boomtown Rats called I Dont Like Mondays, and has also gained other media coverage through a documentary.8 Her action went down in history as the first high profile school shooting and has become a vanguard to many future, unimaginable school situations and violent outbreaks. ( )Tj /T1_5 1 Tf [(H)23 (art)30 (, )]TJ Behind the scenes )Tj A former student named Cam Miller attended the hearing in person and offered the last statement. A few weeks ago, she marked her 40th anniversary in prison after successive parole applications had been refused. She is a member of famous with the age 60 years old group. She shot people for the fun of it. 8.5 0 0 8.5 48 744.5 Tm Hart was a private investigator involved in the case and interviewed Spencer's mother, father, brother, sister, friends, and neighbors within months of the attack.