Skylar never got a chance to grow up, and she would always be the intelligent, lovely blue-eyed girl that he knew before she died. We talk about it all the time. "When I saw her, the look she gave me -- her whole appearance was very evil and scary. Disturbed teens are just as capable of committing the most heinous crimes as their adult counterparts, and Skylar Neese's story proves that even further. I remember feeling weird, but no pain. (Disturbingly, Wallace Spencer later married one of his daughters 17-year-old cellmates who bore a striking resemblance to her.) Then, she put the rifle down, barricaded herself inside her home, and waited. Sometimes Wallace Spencer would say hello when he came to pick his daughter up, and Buell is certain that he knew who she was, and she wonders now what he thought. In her hands, she held a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle. As a voluntary member of the program, Brenda enjoys a front-of-line pass for meals and medication lines, and authorization to eat in a specific dining room. I have an issue with a 16-year-old daughter of mine. A custodian, Michael Suchar, was also killed as he attempted to pull a student to safety. "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. Its like the ripple in a pond that goes through generations and a community. To this day, the school has continued to honor the victims of the shooting. This is a law that is as old as mankind itself and is not to be trifled with, but . The week had gotten off to an incredibly rocky start. Shelia had some incomplete answers for the Neeses. Eleven others were injured, including eight children, two adults, and a police officer. At least once a night, he remembers, he would wake his mother and have her walk him around the house, to the back where there was a wall of windows. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! 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=1150206840, 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 embedded infobox templates with the title parameter, 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 16 April 2023, at 21:46. Brenda Ann Spencer was born in San Diego, California, on April 3, 1962. Cam would insist on touching each pane of glass, to assure himself that none was broken, that "she" hadn't slipped inside. According to court documents she would open fire from her home aiming at young children waiting to get into the school. Even so, Brenda Spencer is still incarcerated. We didnt understand why she was shooting at us. It wasnt until Mary was reunited with her mother that the bullet hole through her zipper jacket was discovered. CAPTION: Brenda Spencer said she opened fire at the school because "I hate Mondays.". Wallace Spencer was an enthusiastic gun collector, and his daughter appeared to share his interest in this hobby early on. One tweet from Skylar definitely suggested something curious was up as she wrote on May 31, 2012, Youre a two-faced bitch and obviously f***ing stupid if you thought I wouldnt find out.. 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. No! Rachels friends had the same exact concern about Shelia, who they felt was turning their friend into a new person. 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. And although Brenda Spencer had only been 16 at the time of the shooting, she was charged as an adult due to the severity of her crimes. Hi, LeRoy. During the trial, several pieces of evidence emerged which shed a bit of light on her demented mindset. Father of Brenda Spencer. CAPTION: Police help children after a sniper attack on an elementary school in California 20 years ago; for Cam Miller, shot in the back, the nightmares never stopped. Classmates alleged that the week before the shootings . He was wearing his brand-new blue down vest that day, he recalls, and a matching shirt. Instead, he purchased the weapon that his daughter would later use to target the school. However, the .17HMR and .22 Win Mag versions were only available for a couple of years. [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". Today, Brenda Spencer has been inducted into the Golden Girls Club at the California Institution for Women. For Christmas in 1978, her father, Wallace Spencer, gave her a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle. At Christmas of that year, he gave Brenda a Ruger 10/22 semiautomatic .22 rifle, a riflescope, and a 500-round brick of ammunition. Spencer told the reporter she had shot at the school children and adults because, "I don't like Mondays. The story was sensational and inspired several recounts of the tragedy in the form of documentaries, newspaper headlines, and even a popular song. In addition to the tweet talking about how stressed she was, she also tweeted the day before she disappeared that she was sick of being at fu**ing home. Why didn't you just pull the gun on yourself? He once returned after an outing around the county with both his students and a fresh wild turkey. More security footage saw the same car in different locations throughout the night, one of which was at a convenience store in Blackstone, West Virginia. A 16-year-old girl's deadly attack on a San Diego elementary school ended two lives and changed others. When another school shooting is on the evening news, be it Jonesboro or Paducah or Pearl or Littleton, Cam Miller finds himself watching for the fearful faces of young survivors. Our drivers ed teacher was a compulsive hunter. Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesBrenda Spencer had a reputation for being a problem child who struggled with numerous health issues. Some found it strange that Rachel went to a two-week Catholic summer camp right when her best friend went missing. Her father had given her the gun as a Christmas gift, and she was itching to use it. Across the street, inside a cluttered one-story home, Brenda Spencer, a junior at Patrick Henry High School, was alone. She remembers that there was snow in the mountains on the morning of the shooting; her father, Norm (her mother died when she was 3), considered letting his kids play hooky so he could take them up to play in it. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Her father gave her a gun instead. Theyre both exactly where they need to be: away from civilization, locked up like animals. He remembers his mother dropping him off that morning, and suddenly feeling something like an electric shock next to his heart. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. She was the most seriously hurt of the children shot, hit in the abdomen and buttocks; part of her intestine was removed and she had a colostomy bag for four months. It helped that she cooperated with authorities, considering that she confessed, helped the police find Skylars body, and contributed to the evidence against Shelia as well. Since he/she cannot give back that which was stolen, he/she must do the next best thingthat is forfeit his/her own life. In lesser crimes, such as stealing property, the thief can restore what was stolen, in most cases. Eventually, Spencer surrendered peacefully. He and his wife drove the hour and a half through the desert to the California Institution for Women, arriving much too early. In fact, he only served to worsen them when he bought Brenda the rifle for Christmas. Her and her mom were at Cracker Barrel when they arrived, and they waited outside for them to finish their meal. He bizarrely married Brendas 17-year-old prison cellmate after her release, and they had a daughter together. Her Catholic upbringing was strict, but she was still popular and she expressed herself by acting in the school plays. Spencers hatred for the first day of the school week was later memorialized by Bob Geldof, the leader of the rock group The Boomtown Rats, in the song, I Dont Like Mondays.. She resembled Brenda.. In her 2001 parole hearing, Brenda would claim, for the first time, that her father sexually molested her almost nightly from the time that she was nine years old until the shooting when she was 16. They had a child, and the little girl attended Buell's preschool. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Current one is: January 29. Spencer barricaded herself in her house for hours before an offer for a Burger King meal from negotiators convinced her to surrender. Sadly, there has been a number of school shootings since Brenda Spencer's rampage, yet she is often considered the first person to ever target the (many) vulnerable victims at a school. This is over! Patricia cut in saying, My husbands trying to contain her. In high school, Skylar and Shelia added a third person to their group, and that was Rachel. Though the name Brenda Ann Spencer may not ring any bells today, her story and the phrase that she became known for have lived on in infamy. She says, My grandfather and the janitor threw themselves at the kids that were being shot at that morning, to save their lives, and in the process, lost their own. I was so young I didnt really understand it. She resembled Brenda. 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. Neighbors claimed Spencer had a history of petty theft, drug abuse, and truancy. Related Tags: Miraculously, none of the children were killed, though eight of them were injured. Because the process (accountability, repentance, and restitution) requires it. The parole board chairman said that, as she had not previously told anyone about the allegations, he doubted their veracity. A few years later, in 1976, an adult male shooter killed seven people and wounded two after shooting at Cal State Fullerton. She lived with her dad, who worked as a university technician. As of 2015, there had been more than seven million copies sold. In 2001 Brenda accused her father of having drunkenly subjected her to beatings and sexual abuse. 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. Brenda Spencer leaves court, Oct. 1, 1979, in Santa Ana after pleading guilty to charges stemming from her shooting spree. Her probation officer recommended that she be hospitalized for depression, but her rocket scientist dad refused to give permission. Also on social media were other people making claims that Rachel and Shelia were guilty of killing Skylar. The Brenda Spencer Murder Case, which was published in 2012, and is the single best source I am aware of regarding Spencer. A responding police officer was also wounded. As a child, he suffered terrifying nightmares of Brenda Spencer "popping out of the bathtub to finish me off." brenda ann spencer father. You learn to basically cope. While most 16-year-olds spend time scrolling on social media, singing into a hairbrush, or gossiping about their crush, Brenda Spencer was toying with the idea of firing live ammunition into the schoolyard opposite her home. When the police ventured inside the Spencer home, they were shocked at what they found. What was also concerning was why she took so little with her. Death would have been welcome. Murder, rapes, gang rapes, assaults, forced prostitution, etc, etc. The defense did their best to paint thepicture of Brenda as a victim of abuse and mistreatment, yet their efforts failed. Contribute to this page. The Grover Cleveland Elementary School massacre is truly one of the most disturbing stories ever told, as both the assailantand most of the victims - were children. Its quite unfortunate however, to let stand for 24+ hours the comment from LeRoy, without posting the rebuttals it inevitably generated from your more informed readers. Mentally she plots an escape route, how she will get the children to safety. Every 10/22 rifle is tapped for a scope mount that comes with the gun. The average person thinks they know what its like behind the wall of Max Fed pen. However, Brendas riot initiated a sharp increase in the frequency of mass shootings, as well as the number of fatalities and casualties. Though the cops sent negotiators to speak with her, she refused to cooperate with them. I asked for a radio, and he bought me a gun, Brenda Ann Spencer later said. After releasing fire, Brenda put the rifle down and shut herself inside her home. Brenda was known as a misfit and wasnt particularly friendly or kind, instead of focusing on her studiesand dabbling in drugs. The morning was unusually cold, they still remember. Unfortunately, Brendas father wasnt able to help his daughter with her struggles. As a child Brenda took a tumble on her bicycle and suffered a head injury. When you get past the grotesque actions of the two girls, you are left with a grieving family who not just lost their daughter but took their daughters killers in and gave them love and hospitality. Her father and two brothers had left for the day, but she had called in. Police were quick to arrive on the scene and rushed to the Spencer household to arrest their suspect, yet even though they were hasty in their response, Brenda was faster and had already sealed herself indoors. Spencer spent the next several hours barricaded in her house talking to police negotiators. [5][2] Spencer has been repeatedly reminded of these statements at parole hearings. She was sentenced to 25 years to life on the day after her 18 th birthday. Born in San Diego on April 3, 1962, Spencer purportedly took an early liking. "I didn't talk about it. She was a problem child who was widely known as a drug abuser with a violent streak. In reality its far more violent and brutal than your imagination or a TV documentary could ever possibly depict. Will Dabbs A native of the Mississippi Delta, Will is a mechanical engineer who flew UH1H, OH58A/C, CH47D, and AH1S aircraft as an Army Aviator. One cannot fully repent or be fully rehabilitated until the restoration process has been complete.
