School Siege Ends in Violence

I am a product of public schools. My father was a career military officer and we moved around the country on average every 2-3yrs. I've been to public schools in New York City, Omaha Nebraska, Key West Florida and countless other places in between. The longest stretch was three years in Leavenworth. No...this wasn't a prison sentence, it was high school.
After college and seven years the Coast Guard, I got my master's degree in education at Florida International and taught at inner-city public schools in Miami for several years.
I've seen the pressure kids are under. Peer pressure, grades, relationships, acne-you name it.
But I still don't understand why our country seems plagued with school violence that often leads to so many needless deaths.
The circumstances seem a bit more bizarre than usual but still why are our schools the scene of so much violence?


BAILEY, Colo. — The Colorado school where a gunman took six girls hostage remained closed Thursday as students gave details of the incident that left one teenager and the hostage-taker dead.

Authorities were investigating whether any of the girls were sexually assaulted, said Lance Clem, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. The Rocky Mountain News — citing a "knowledgeable law enforcement source" — reported that the gunman did sexually assault some of the hostages during the four-hour standoff with authorities. Another local news station was reporting similar accounts.

The gunman began the takeover by ordering students to line up at the chalk board as he tapped each with his gun and told them to stay or go, said 16-year-old student Cassidy Grigg. He said the man walked in, fired a warning shot at the floor and ordered the students to line up. He told some to leave and others — all girls — to stay.

"You could tell that he wanted the females," Cassidy said on NBC's "Today" Thursday. "He tapped me on the shoulder and he told me to leave the room. I told him, 'I don't want to leave.'"

"He told me that if I didn't go then he would pretty much kill me," Cassidy told ABC's "Good Morning America." "I noticed that he wanted to keep the females in the class. That's the main reason why I didn't want to go because I'm sure the girls would have felt more support if there would have been some males in the class with them."

No one recognized the man, who seemed to be dressed as a student, Cassidy said.

"He was just an old guy who came on a mission, and I think he got what he wanted," he told "Today."

Authorities said the gunman is between 30 and 50 years old.

"We are a community in mourning," schools superintendent Jim Walpole said. "Our thoughts, our prayers are with our students, staff and their families. Especially the family of the student we lost."

The dead victim was identified by acquaintances and a co-worker as 16-year-old Emily Keyes, shown in a yearbook photo as a smiling blonde who played volleyball and was on the debate team at Platte Canyon High School. She was pronounced dead at a Denver hospital hours after the standoff.

Grigg described Emily as one of his first friends when he moved to the area in 6th grade.

"She was always sweet," he told "Today." "She was just friendly. She was just a good person in general."

There was no known link between Keyes and the gunman, who was not identified by authorities. Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener, who had a son in the school as the drama unfolded, was at a loss to explain a motive.

"I don't know why he wanted to do this," Wegener said, his voice breaking.