On January 17, 1989 a shooting took place in Stockton, California. At Cleveland Elementary school, 5 students were shot and killed. Another 29 students and 1 faculty member were wounded. The shooter: Patrick Edward Purdy, committed all of this before committing suicide.
Above is Patrick Purdy, the shooter. (Photo from google.com/images)
Patrick started the massacre by starting his Chevy van on fire with a cocktail in the school’s back parking lot. The fire soon caused the van to explode. After starting the fire, he made his way to the school playground where a portable classroom was parked. He began shooting with his Type 56 Assault Rifle. In three minutes, he fired 106 rounds. After these rounds were shot, 5 kids were killed and 29 were wounded including one teacher. After shooting, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a pistol.
Patrick Purdy had a long criminal record beginning when he was 12 years old. His record was mainly made up of robberies and firing as well as selling weapons illegally. In my opinion, Purdy's racism was a main reason why he started the shooting. Most of the victims were Southeast Asian Refugees. He must have had a problem with them being in our country due to the fact that he had carved the words: “victory”, “freedom”, “Earthman”, and "Hezbollah" on his rifle. Hezbollah is a political party based in Lebanon with political support from Iran and Syria. On his flak jacket,(a vest-type jacket used to protect himself from high explosives and bullets), were the words/abbreviations: “PLO”, “Libya”, and “death to the Great Satin”. His racism seemed to begin when he began taking welding classes at San Joaquin Delta College, where a high percentage of Southeast Asians were enrolled as well. He was known for complaining about the different race being in his classes.
The photo above shows Micheal Jackson comforting a student from Cleveland Elementary after the shooting. (Photo from www.mj-777.com).
When I was first assigned this topic and heard when it took place, I was shocked. As sad as it is, hearing about massacres like this is pretty common in our world today. In the eighties, something like this taking place was very uncommon. However, even then, magazines such as Time asked, “Why would Purdy, an alcoholic who had been arrested for such offenses as selling weapons and attempted robbery, walk into a gun shop in Sandy, Oregon, and leave with an AK-47 under his arm?” After this shooting, a law in California was passed called the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989, which banned importation of high ammunition weapons. This act was signed by Bill Clinton in 1994, and expired in 2004. This act was a very good move in my opinion, but it’s too bad that it expired. I wonder if some of the shootings that have taken place in the last 20 years would’ve happen if that law was still around.
This shooting is so sad and it’s even sadder that this was just the beginning of all the shootings to come. We need to remember all the victims from this shooting and hope they’re resting in peace.
Comments
Great job Jill!