On a Monday morning, January 27, 1979, a 16-year-old girl randomly opened fire on Grover Cleveland Elementary School, just across the street from her home in San Diego, California. After the smoke cleared, the principal and custodian lay dead. Eight young students and one police officer were injured.
When asked why the girl went on this violent rampage, she replied, ‘I don’t like Mondays’. This young girl, Brenda Ann Spencer, was America’s first ever school yard shooter. For the next 4 hours, about Brenda-Ann-Spencer40 students huddled in a small bathroom. Several teachers guarded the door. No one could see the middle school student-turned-assailant. She was inside her home shooting from the window. Just the end of the shotgun was visible, poking through a front screen. After the shooting, two people lay dead (including the school principal), eight students and one police officer were injured.
A San Diego, California native, Spencer was intrigued by guns and stories with a violent twist. The gun she used for the shooting was a 1978 Christmas gift from her father Wallace; a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle! Spencer had a history of petty theft, drug abuse and skipping school, according to claims by her neighbors. Classmates also claimed that a week prior to the shootings, she said to them that she wanted ‘to do something big to get on TV’. Talk of a kid who makes good of her claims! Just a month after acquiring the weaponry.
When asked why the girl went on this violent rampage, she replied, ‘I don’t like Mondays’. This young girl, Brenda Ann Spencer, was America’s first ever school yard shooter. For the next 4 hours, about Brenda-Ann-Spencer40 students huddled in a small bathroom. Several teachers guarded the door. No one could see the middle school student-turned-assailant. She was inside her home shooting from the window. Just the end of the shotgun was visible, poking through a front screen. After the shooting, two people lay dead (including the school principal), eight students and one police officer were injured.
A San Diego, California native, Spencer was intrigued by guns and stories with a violent twist. The gun she used for the shooting was a 1978 Christmas gift from her father Wallace; a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle! Spencer had a history of petty theft, drug abuse and skipping school, according to claims by her neighbors. Classmates also claimed that a week prior to the shootings, she said to them that she wanted ‘to do something big to get on TV’. Talk of a kid who makes good of her claims! Just a month after acquiring the weaponry.
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