| 1997 Heath High School shooting | |
|---|---|
  Location of Heath High School Location of Heath High School (the United States)  Location of Heath High School Location of Heath High School (Kentucky) | |
| Location | West Paducah, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 37°04′44″N 88°47′40″W / 37.0790°N 88.7944°W |
| Date | December 1, 1997 7:45 a.m. (CST) |
Attack type | School shooting, mass shooting |
| Weapon |
|
| Deaths | 3 |
| Injured | 5 |
| Perpetrator | Michael Carneal |
| Motive | Bullying and mental illness |
The Heath High School shooting occurred at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, United States, on December 1, 1997. 14-year-old Michael Carneal opened fire on a group of students, killing three and injuring five.
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Health High School Shooting and Forgiveness
Transcription
Murray State’s Office of Student Disability Services welcomed guest speaker and MSU alumna Missy Jenkins Smith to the Curris Center as she spoke to the campus community about overcoming many challenges in her own life. In 1997, Missy Jenkins Smith was one of five individuals who were injured in the Heath High School Shooting in Paducah, Kentucky. As a result from the shooting she was paralyzed and she has since worked as a school counselor as well as authored a book that tells her story and how she forgave the shooter at Heath High School. She now focuses her efforts full-time to public speaking about the role that bullying has in society. For me I felt like there's a lot of issues with bullying at my school but there was not enough education as to what to do and how to even look for it and that it was even a problem and so now I realize that after the shootings happened and that pretty much one of the missions that I have decided to do is to speak against bullying also to speak against violence because there were so many warning signs before this happened that it could have been prevented and for it to happening over over and over again we really need to look in and see what it is that we can do to help prevent these things and find these warning signs of these people that are turning to using guns on other people to deal with their problems I also talk about forgiveness because that is something I did in order for me to move on and to help myself and I think a lot of people believe that forgiveness is something that lets that person off but I really felt like I let myself off whenever I forgave him but that doesn't I still don’t think that you know he has to deal with consequences of his actions because he killed 3 people and injured 5 and changed in the community of Paducah and even the surrounding communities I remember talking with husband who is from Murray and he was just telling me the impact it made here in Murray. Many students were in attendance and walked away with a positive message about learning to overcome obstacles in their own lives. But it was also inspirational because she went through something terrible it was her friend that did it and so it was really inspirational to see that she recovered and she forgave him easily and I just really admire how she handled the situation and I think it was a really good thing to see especially because she speaks to middle and high schoolers and that's really good for them to hear that perspective I really enjoyed the event I thought it was inspirational for people of all ages and it teaches you that in times that are hard that you can lean back on your faith and realize that you always have a support system every school try to get her so they can see bad bullying really is because today I mean so much bad goes on and I think it would be good to hear story The U.S. has seen many other school shootings since the Heath High School shooting in 1997 bullying has been blamed for some of those tragedies and despite increased awareness, it is still prevalent. Since it happened in '97 I think my message I s still hear completely relevant to what is happening today I really think that bullying is still an issue that's exactly what was going on with Michael that he was holding things in he wasn't asking for help and I think a lot of people do that you know out of pride and to the point where it drives them crazy and really think that's what happened with him unfortunately a lot the shooters have killed themselves and with his situation at my school and he lived and that's one of the things that he mentioned I did go speak to him while he was in prison and he was that was one of the things he wished he would have told someone what he was going through and that would have asked for help because he didn't he just held it all inside and what happened then happened after it driving him crazy.
Shooting
On December 1, 1997, Carneal wrapped a shotgun and a rifle in a blanket and took them to school, passing them off as an art project he was working on. He carried a loaded Ruger MK II .22-caliber pistol in his backpack. Carneal rode to school with his sister and arrived at approximately 7:45 a.m. When he arrived, he inserted earplugs into his ears and took the pistol out of his bag. He fired ten rounds in fast succession at a youth group of students. Three girls later died and five other students were wounded.
Brittney Thomas, a survivor, said that when she turned around during the shooting, she was "kind of facing down the barrel of the gun."[2]
A member of the group, Benjamin Strong, testified that Carneal dropped the gun of his own accord after the shooting.[3] Carneal placed his pistol on the ground and surrendered to the school principal, Bill Bond. After dropping the gun, Carneal said to Strong: "Kill me, please. I can't believe I did that."[4]
Victims
Killed
- Nicole Hadley was a fourteen-year-old freshman who played in the school band and on the freshman basketball team. She was kept alive until 10:00 pm the evening of the shooting. Her family had moved to Paducah from Nebraska the year before. Her parents were praised for donating her organs. President Bill Clinton cited this "courageous decision" in his Proclamation 7083 on National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week in 1998.[5]
- Jessica James was a seventeen-year-old student and member of the marching band. She died in surgery at Western Baptist Hospital the afternoon of the shooting.
- Kayce Steger was a fifteen-year-old sophomore, a clarinetist in the school band and a member of the Agape Club and softball team. She died at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah about 45 minutes after the shooting. She was an honor student and member of Law Enforcement Explorers Post 111 who hoped to be a police officer.[6]
Wounded
- Shelley Schaberg, 17, was described by the principal as the school's best female athlete. Voted Miss Heath High School by the senior class, Shelley was homecoming queen. Although her injuries from the shooting prevented her from playing basketball, her college honored her basketball scholarship and she went on to play college soccer.[6]
- Melissa "Missy" Jenkins, 15, was president of the Future Homemakers of America. She was paralyzed from the chest down after being shot. She has appeared on numerous national and local television shows, talked to newspaper reporters and appeared in two TV commercials for Channel One News, an educational channel that reaches schools throughout the country. A video interview of her was featured on the homepage of YouTube.com on April 22, 2007.[7]
- Kelly Hard Alsip,[8] 16, was a member of the softball team and the Future Homemakers of America. She transferred to the local Catholic school the year after the shooting.[9]
- Hollan Holm, 14, was a member of the Academic Team, the Spanish Club, and the Science Olympiad. In his valedictory speech at the class of 2001 graduation, he reminded his class that they had lost not one but two class members on December 1, 1997: Nicole Hadley and Michael Carneal.[9] Holm has been involved with an organization that urges students to speak up if they know of threats against schools or students.[7]
- Craig Keene, 15, was a member of the Agape Club, the band, and the basketball team.[9]
Perpetrator
Michael Carneal | |
|---|---|
| Born | Michael Adam Carneal June 1, 1983 |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Criminal charge | Murder, Attempted murder |
| Penalty | Life in prison with no parole for 25 years (parole denied in 2022, will not be eligible again) |
Michael Adam Carneal was a 14-year-old freshman at the time of the shooting.[10] Carneal told reporters that he could not give a single explanation for his crimes, and that contributing factors included a mistaken belief of his that his parents did not love him, taunting from classmates, and false claims he was gay. He stated that he did not know who he was aiming at until he read the names in the paper.[11]
Weeks before the incident, Carneal stole a .38 caliber handgun from his parents' room and attempted to sell it. A student took the gun, threatening to tell police if Carneal did not give it to him. Carneal had told students that "something big is going to happen on Monday" but no one took him seriously.
In the weeks before the shooting, Carneal stole several firearms from both his own home and a neighbor's home.
On the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day, Carneal went to his neighbor's home and broke into the garage, taking:[12]
- Four .22 rifles
- A 30-30 rifle
- .22 and 12 gauge ammunition
- Earplugs
Later, he stole:[13]
- A Ruger .22 pistol
- Several .22 magazines
Presumably sometime after Thanksgiving Day, Carneal stole two shotguns from his father's closet and hid them under his bed.
Mental illness
According to reports, Carneal had been bullied by other students and had anxiety, depression, and severe paranoia. His paranoia was manifested in habits such as covering up vents and windows while in bathrooms, because he believed he was being watched.[14] Following the shooting, Carneal was diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder and dysthymia. Kathleen O'Connor, who treated Carneal while he was incarcerated at the Northern Kentucky Youth Development Center, initially agreed with this diagnosis but later determined that Carneal had paranoid schizophrenia.[15][16]
Dewey Cornell and Diane Schetky, who evaluated Carneal after the shooting, later changed their diagnosis to schizophrenia.[15][16] He has been hospitalized several times since the start of his incarceration due to psychosis, and takes the anti-depressant Zoloft and Geodon, an anti-psychotic used to treat schizophrenia.[17][18]
Stephen King
Carneal had in his locker at the time a copy of Stephen King's novel Rage, first published in 1977 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. After this shooting, King requested his publisher to allow it to go out of print, fearing that it might inspire similar tragedies. Rage for a time continued to be available in the United Kingdom in The Bachman Books collection, although the collection now no longer contains Rage.[19]
Trial
In October 1998, a plea of guilty from Michael Carneal was accepted due to his mental illness. Under a plea arrangement, the judge agreed to accept the pleas on condition that Carneal would receive a life sentence with the possibility of parole in 25 years (2022). According to prosecutor Tim Kaltenbach, the plea allows Carneal to receive mental health treatment during imprisonment as long as this is necessary for him or until he is released.[20]
Carneal was transported to the Kentucky State Reformatory in La Grange when he turned 18 where he remains. Prior to that he was held in at Northern Kentucky Youth Development Center, a Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice facility in Crittenden.[21] Carneal's Kentucky Department of Corrections (KDOC) ID is 151127. Carneal began serving time with KDOC on June 1, 2001.[22]
In 2007, Carneal filed an appeal claiming that he was too mentally ill to plead guilty to the shooting at Heath High School. He asked the Kentucky Supreme Court for a re-trial. Prosecutors appealed and the Kentucky Supreme Court rejected his request.
In 2012, he attempted to withdraw his plea claiming he was mentally ill at the time he made it. Later in the year the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request, stating he should have acted sooner.[20] He was originally scheduled to be eligible for parole on November 16, 2022.[23] However, his hearing was rescheduled and began on September 19, 2022.
Parole denial
On September 26, 2022, the parole board unanimously denied Carneal's bid for parole and ordered him to serve out the remainder of his life sentence.[24][25][26] The "serve out" ruling, under Kentucky law, means the inmate in question cannot be considered for any future parole hearings (though commutation or a pardon from the governor is still possible).[27] This means Carneal's life with parole sentence is now effectively a life without parole (or "whole life") sentence.
Settlement for families
The families of the deceased have agreed to a $42 million settlement from Carneal. At the time of settlement Carneal had no assets and his family's insurance company, Kentucky Farm Bureau, has insisted repeatedly through court motions that it is not liable for his actions.[28]
Lawsuit
In early 1999, the parents of three victims represented by Jack Thompson filed a $33 million lawsuit against two Internet pornography sites, several computer game companies and makers and distributors of the 1994 film Natural Born Killers and the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries. They claimed that media violence inspired Carneal and therefore should be held responsible for the deaths that occurred.[29] Both Thompson[30] and United States Attorney General John Ashcroft claimed Carneal's proficient marksmanship was due to practice in violent video games.[31] The case was dismissed in 2002, with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that it was "simply too far a leap from shooting characters on a video screen to shooting people in a classroom."[32]
Memorials
Family of victims organized a 20th anniversary service to commemorate the victims, and open a memorial for the victims placed across the street from the school. The memorial was built in a circle to symbolize the prayer circle that was targeted, with five benches representing the five surviving victims.[11]
See also
- 2018 Marshall County High School shooting, which occurred about 40 miles (65 km) away
- List of class-action lawsuits
References
- ^ Adams, Lauren (November 20, 2014). "Survivors remember deadly Ky. school shooting 17 years later". WLKY. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
- ^ Philpott, Amber (November 30, 2017). "Remembering a deadly Kentucky high school shooting 20 years later". Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ Glaberson, William (July 25, 2000). "When Grief Wanted a Hero, Truth Didn't Get in the Way". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ Grace, Julie (June 24, 2001). "When The Silence Fell". Time. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ "Proclamation 7083 on National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week"..
- ^ a b National Research Council (2003). Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence. doi:10.17226/10370. ISBN 978-0-309-08412-3..
- ^ a b Joseph Gerth. "Victims of the attack find different ways to move on with lives"..
- ^ "Michael Carneal's victims and families talk about his request for a new trial". Time. September 11, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
- ^ a b c National Research Council (2003). Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence. doi:10.17226/10370. ISBN 978-0-309-08412-3.
- ^ Park, Madison. "20 years ago, another Kentucky school was attacked. Locals have never forgotten it". CNN. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ a b "Sister of Paducah, Ky., shooting victim: 'I couldn't believe this could happen again'". USA TODAY. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ Bragg, Rick (December 3, 1997). "Forgiveness, after 3 die in shootings in Kentucky". The New York Times. New York, NY. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "UPI Focus: Boy indicted in Ky. school shooting". United Press International. Boca Raton, Florida: News World Communications. December 12, 1997. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- ^ "Finding futility in trying to lay blame in killings". New York Times. August 4, 2000..
- ^ a b "Carneal v. Crews". CaseText. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ a b "Commonwealth v. Carneal". Findlaw. Supreme Court of Kentucky case and opinions. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ "School shooter Michael Carneal recalls delusions". Louisville, Kentucky: WDRB. October 6, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ Harned, Carrie (September 12, 2002). "Carneal recalls 1997 high school shooting rampage". WAVE3 News. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b "Heath 20 Years Later: Michael Carneal". WPSD Local 6 - Your News, Weather, & Sports Authority. November 28, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ "Kentucky school shooter - guilty but mentally ill". CNN. October 5, 1998. Archived from the original on September 13, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2007.
- ^ "Carneal, Michael A." Kentucky Department of Corrections. Retrieved on December 2, 2015.
- ^ "Offender Information". Kentucky Online Offender Lookup. Kentucky Department of Corrections. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ Salahieh, Nouran; Watson, Michelle (September 26, 2022). "Kentucky Parole Board votes to have Paducah school shooter serve out life sentence". CNN. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ^ "Kentucky school shooter imprisoned 25 years seeks parole". ABC News. September 19, 2022.
- ^ Planas, Antonio (September 26, 2022). "Kentucky school shooter who killed 3 students in 1997 is denied parole and will serve out his life sentence". NBC. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ^ Kentucky, State of. "Application for Pardons and Commutations". Application for Pardons and Commutations. State of Kentucky. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
- ^ "Paducah Families Accept Shooting Settlement". ABC News. January 7, 2006. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ "Media companies are sued in Kentucky shooting". The New York Times. April 13, 1999. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- ^ Danielson, Richard (March 22, 2000). "Programmed to kill". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida: Times Publishing Company. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
- ^ "Ashcroft attacks video violence". Wired.com. New York, NY: Condé Nast. April 5, 2001. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
- ^ James v. Meow Media, Inc. 300 F.3d 683, U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, 2002
External links
37°04′43″N 88°47′36″W / 37.07861°N 88.79333°W
This page was last edited on 11 February 2024, at 04:38