Police in Sweden are trying to establish the motive behind the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history. And they were just Yeah. This morning, we’re learning more about those victims of what is the deadliest school shooting in state history. When you see me on the news, we’ll all know who I am. You’re all going to die.
Yeah. Can’t wait. School shootings are some of the most gut-wrenching, horrifying tragedies that really leave behind scars that never fully heal. But some are so devastating, so unimaginable that they stand out for the sheer number of lives lost and the destruction left in their wake. So, what are the deadliest school shootings in history and how did they unfold? Let’s delve into the worst of them, ranked from the lowest death toll to the highest.
And eight people have been killed after a gunman opened fire at a university in Siberia in Russia. Police have confirmed that the perpetrator is a student and has been wounded. Police officer Constantine Kinan demanded the shooter drop the weapon, but the attacker failed to obey and shot in his direction.
Kinan shot back, wounding, but not killing the 18-year-old attacker. This was the chilling moment a student captured 18-year-old Timour Becmanserv stepping into Perm State University just minutes before he unleashed one of the deadliest school shootings in Russia’s history. September 20th, 2021, students and faculty members barricaded themselves inside rooms as the university issued an immediate lockdown.
Some students were seen leaping from windows in a desperate attempt to escape while the asalent Beckmanov was ready to shoot anyone on site. For context, Perm State University located in Perm K, Russia, is home to approximately 13,000 students. But on that dreadful day, only about 3,000 students were on campus.
The school was equipped with an alarm system designed to alert everyone to imminent danger. However, it wasn’t activated in time because the person responsible for triggering it was shot by Beck Monserv at the entrance gate. This alone proved the attack was premeditated. Yet, there were several ignored warning signs that hinted at what was about to unfold.
Before carrying out the attack, McMmons, a freshman law student at the university, posted this image on social media with a chilling caption. I’ve been contemplating this for years, and I finally realized the time had come to act on what I’ve long envisioned. He also asserted that his motivations were not tied to politics or religion, but rather stemmed from deep-seated hatred for people.
So, he purchased a trauma firearm, which is a type of weapon designed to fire non-lethal rubber or plastic projectiles. However, they can be modified to accommodate any forms of ammunition. And that’s exactly what Big Monzerov did. He made his way to the university at around 11:30 a.m. and managed to overpower campus security.
A student inside an elevator recalled hearing gunfire and then witnessing what he believed to be Monsanov firing at two female students attempting to flee. Reports indicated that by 11:27 a.m. initial alerts of an armed individual had surfaced with PCMs of firing at passing vehicles and pedestrians near the campus entrance before proceeding inside the classroom area.
During the attack, he carried a total of 131 rounds distributed between two bandeliers and a pouch. And in total, he discharged 37 rounds. Students and professors had to barricade themselves inside while others had to find any means possible to escape. But eventually Russian authorities stormed the building and in this heated exchange of gunfires got injured and subdued.
He was later taken to the hospital along with dozens of students. In total, he killed eight people and injured 47 others. By October 5th, 2021, he’d regained consciousness, but had undergone a leg amputation due to the severity of his gunshot wound. Subsequently, he faced a slew of charges.
And after failing to convince the court that he was mentally unstable, because let’s be honest, that’s the go-to excuse for people like him, he was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2022. And despite his relentless attempts to overturn the ruling, it’s safe to say Bick Monzerov would be spending the rest of his miserable life behind bars right where he belongs.
But if you think that was tragic, wait until you hear about these other school shootings. Next month will mark 13 years since the school shooting at Red Lake High School. 10 people died, including the student gunman. I thought it was a drill. It sound like at first somebody banging on lockers and it just uh we didn’t think it was a shooter and people started running and then it finally hit us.
On March 21st, 2005, 16-year-old Jeff Whis carried out a killing spree at two different locations on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota. But that day, Weiss wasn’t just going after students. He went after his family as well, bringing a twisted complexity into why he wanted so many people murdered on that day.
To answer this question, we need to understand the type of sadistic household Weiss grew up in. He was born to a young unmarried couple whose relationship ended before he was born. And as a result, he spent his earliest years in Red Lake where his father lived with his own parents. He stayed there until he was about 2 years old when his mother took him back and moved with him to Minneapolis.
In later online posts, Weiss described his mother as an alcoholic and alleged that she was both physically and emotionally abusive. By 1992, his mother had gotten into this relationship with another man who, according to Weiss, was also abusive. And because of his mother’s unstable lifestyle, Weiss was frequently bounced between different schools where he got bullied a lot.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Weiss’s father would die by suicide during a standoff with Red Lake police, shooting himself in the head. Is that one of the officers involved in that standoff was Weiss’s own grandfather from his mother’s side. Now, keep that detail in mind because it will come in handy later. Just 2 years after his father’s death, his mother suffered severe brain damage in a DUI car accident.
And in 2003, he enrolled at Red Lake Senior High School, where the bullying continued. But outside school, Weiss spent a significant amount of time on internet forums, specifically those linked to neo-Nazi ideology. And let’s just say those kind of ideas led him to commit one of the deadliest school shootings of all time.
At around 2:35 p.m. on the day of the shooting, Jeff, who was living with his grandfather at the time, grabbed a pistol from his room and shot his grandfather while he slept, two bullets to the head and 10 to the chest. According to his friends, Weiss may have had that gun for up to a year, but no one knows exactly how he got it.
After killing his grandfather, he took the older man’s police weapons, a Glock pistol and a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun along with the gun belt and a bulletproof vest. Then he turned his gun on his grandfather’s girlfriend, Sagana, shooting her twice in the head as she carried laundry up the stairs. After that, Weiss took his grandfather’s squad car and drove to Red Lake Senior High School. At around 2:45 p.m.
, he crashes the vehicle into the building and then walks inside through the main entrance. Two unarmed security guards stood at a metal detector and without hesitation, Weiss kills one of them while the other manages to escape, telling staff and students to take cover. Weiss moved through the hallways where he spotted English teacher Neva Rogers, pushing a computer cart and chatting with students.
As soon as the shooting started, the students scattered and Rogers rushed toward another teacher’s classroom, pounding on the door. Once inside, she locked the door, turned off the lights, and told the students to hide under the tables. But it wasn’t enough because moments later, Weiss arrived at the door, shot out the glass panel, reached through and unlocked it.
Then he stepped inside a class where 15 students and three adults scrambled in the corner. We had a substitute teacher that day and she I forget her name. She like left us in that room, but that’s when we ran into that closet connecting to the class that Tom was in. The whole thing was a scramble. Um we all huddled in one corner of the room.
A student named Rogers would start praying out loud. And that was the moment why shot her in the head multiple times, killing her instantly. Then he turned to the students asking if they believed in God. If any of you believe in God, now would be a good time to call in a favor. One student, Chongyla Morris, claimed he didn’t believe in God, so Weiss let him go.
However, the others stayed silent and he opened fire on him. He kept asking the same question, and if a student admitted to believing in God or hesitated, he shot him. Witnesses said that he was smiling the whole time. At one point, a student tried to fight back, throwing himself at Weiss to give others a chance to escape. He managed to wrestle him for a moment, but Weiss quickly regained control and shot him twice in the stomach and once in the jaw, leaving him
wounded. By 2:52 p.m., Weiss had made his way back toward the main entrance where he shot and wounded another two students. By this time, police had arrived and a gunfight broke out. According to FBI special agent Paul McCabe, the shootout lasted around 4 minutes, but none of the officers were hit. Weiss, however, was shot three times in the right arm, right leg, and lower back.
Injured, he went back into a classroom where bodies were already laying on the floor. And before it was over, he shot two more students who had been hiding under tables. Then, with nowhere left to run, he leaned against a wall, raised his shotgun to his chin, and pulled the trigger. He died instantly. From start to finish, the rampage lasted 9 minutes.
Weiss fired a total of 59 rounds. 14 at his grandfather’s home and 45 in that school. In total, 10 people were killed, including Weiss, while nine others suffered serious injuries. Several people reported dead in a shooting at a high school in Texas. A shooting at a Santa Fe, Texas school this morning leaves at least 10 people dead.
We are being told that multiple people have died. One source has told CBS, our affiliate in the United States, that eight people have been killed. I heard really loud booms and I didn’t know what they were at first and then I realized what they were when I heard screaming. May 18th, 2018, a tragic shooting at Santa Fe High School takes place located in the Houston metro area of Santa Fe, Texas.
The shooter was identified as 17-year-old student Demetrios Pagorts. And if you don’t know this story already, believe us when we tell you it will send shock waves down your spine. Two months earlier in March, Demetrios logged on to the lucky gunner.com website and purchased 50 rounds of 38 special ammunition and 105 rounds of 12- gauge shotgun ammo.
2 weeks later, he buys another 35 rounds of 12- gauge shotgun ammo. And in both cases, he wouldn’t have to provide proof of age since he was using an American Express gift card. He used his real name and address for the shipment, and both orders were approved and shipped through FedEx, even though he would decline the adult signature requirement.
On the day of the shooting, Demetrios enters an art class and fires his weapon while singing Another One Bites the Dust by rock band Queen. The guy was living in his own dark musical, probably wanting to turn the song’s lyrics into a reality. Students would take refuge in storage closets of the art classroom, but the shooter fired that shotgun through the door.
He briefly left the room, allowing students to try to barricade the door. However, he forced his way back in and spotting a familiar face. He chillingly said, “Surprise!” before shooting the student in the chest. Santa Fe ISD police officers at the scene quickly engaged in a gunfight with the shooter and one officer was critically injured and rushed to the hospital.
After the shooter fired into the ceramics room, more officers, including a Texas Highway Patrol trooper, confronted him, hoping for a peaceful surrender. Instead, he fired at him while making threats. Eventually, he gave up after sustaining injuries. In total, he murdered 10 people and left 14 others with devastating injuries.
I shouldn’t be going through this at my school. Like, this is my daily life. I shouldn’t have to feel like that. Breaking news where investigators say at least 10 people have been killed in a school shooting at a school in central Sweden. Now, if you’re thinking school shootings are mostly an American problem, think again.
Some of the most shocking school shootings in history have happened in Europe. In fact, there was one that took place in Sweden as recently as February 2025. And yeah, it’s that recent. On the 4th of that month, 2025, a tragic school shooting takes place at Campus Rerska, an adult education center in Orurbro, Sweden.
The institution primarily serves individuals who have yet to complete their primary or secondary education. And for some reason, one of its old students decided to blow the place up. The shooter, identified as 35-year-old Ricard Anderson, attended math classes at that school several years prior, but couldn’t land a single job for over a decade.
And while no one knows what exactly his motives were, it’s safe to say that he had some serious grievances with the institution. Now, on the day of the incident, Anderson arrives at the campus about an hour and a half before launching the attack. And about 90 minutes later, authorities were alerted. Witnesses, including teachers, recounted hearing gunfire from a hallway, followed by an eerie silence that lasted around a half an hour before more shots were fired.
To their luck, many of the students were away from the school during this incident, so it made it easier for the few around to scramble into safety. By the time there was barely anybody around to shoot, law enforcement stormed the building, and after a brief gunfire battle, he was found dead at the scene. Now, here’s the thing.
We don’t know if he killed himself or if the police did it. Remember, the case is still kind of new, so there’s an investigation going on. However, what we do know is that Anderson had acted alone and the type of guns he used were lethal. I’m talking semi-automatic rifles and Glocks. And even more shocking, those guns were legally registered in his name.
He brought him into the school concealed inside a guitar case and two bags. And before carrying out that attack, he changed into his militarystyle attire inside one of the school’s restrooms. In total, 11 people were killed that day, including the shooter. And even though Sweden has had its fair share of school shootings in the past, none have ever been on a magnitude like this.
My name is Lance Kirkland. Uh I was shot five times at Columb High School. So, first a student came running up the stairs and they said, um, someone’s got a gun downstairs and they’re shooting. And so, we all stand up and, you know, the teacher’s like, “Sit down.” And so, we kind of sit back down and then the gunfire erupts outside the door.
Where the room’s located is sort of caddyy corner to the library. So, while we were in there, we did hear gunfire, lots of gunfire outside. Uh, we heard gunfire and um screams outside while we were hiding. On the morning of April 20th, 1999, Coline High School senior Brooks Brown noted something strange. His friend Eric Harris had missed his morning classes.
Even weirder was that Harris was a straight A student and had just missed his philosophy exam. Now, just before lunch period, Brown walks outside toward the designated smoking area near the school’s parking lot. And on his way there, he sees Harris wearing a trench coat and pulling a bulky duffel bag from his car.
parked far from its usual spot. And as Brown began to question why he missed class, Harris interrupted him, saying, “It doesn’t matter anymore, Brooks. I like you now. Get out of here. Go home.” Brown was confused. But little did he know that his friend Harris had just saved him from witnessing one of the bloodiest school massacres in America’s history.
Eric Harris and Dylan Claybold had met in middle school, but didn’t become inseparable until midway through high school. While some suggested they were both targets of bullying, many more accounts say they were quite popular and had a sizable friend group. In high school, they both got arrested for their first felony, breaking into a parked van and stealing electronic equipment.
They were sent to a juvenile diversion program. And once successfully completed, both boys were deemed rehabilitated and given clean records. However, this only propelled them to plan further mischief, most notably the infamous judgment day, 1998. Both boys had already started planning for the school shooting.
Harris dedicated himself to building dozens of explosives, pipe bombs, and crickets made from CO2 canisters. He did look into making napal, and at one point he tried recruiting a fellow classmate to make those bombs. However, when the classmate refused to be part of it, Harris played it off as a joke. Harris noted the students movements and the number of exits in their school while researching various loopholes and gun laws.
He and Claybold managed to convince an 18-year-old mutual friend to buy him two shotguns and a high-carbine rifle at a gun show. Later, Claybold bought a semi-auto pistol from another friend who worked at a pizza shop. The guns were ready and so were the killers. All that was left was to play out their theatrical suicide plan. 5:30 a.m. on April 20th, 1999.
Both boys wake up and leave their houses to begin their final preparations for the shooting. Now, from the outside, the massacre at Coline looked primarily like a school shooting, right? But in reality, it was actually a badly bungled bombing attack. And we’ll explain why. The duffel bag Eric Harris was carrying when he talked to Brooks Brown contained one of several propane tank time bombs, two of which were placed in the cafeteria to bring down the ceiling.
This would have allowed Harrison and Claybold to shoot the students as they fled. And Brown had noticed that the friend’s car was parked far from its usual place because both Harris and Claybold’s cars were rigged to explode as police, ambulance, and journalists would arrive, killing many more outsiders in the process.
They would have a final bomb placed in a park 3 mi from the school, and that was set to go off before the others. They hoped that this would draw away the police, buying them time before authorities arrived and possibly killed them. They planned to die at the hands of the police, but as we now know, none of that happened because as smart as they were, neither of them knew how to wire a detonator.
So none of the bombs went off. And before they began the shooting, Claybold recorded Harris in the school’s cafeteria, waiting for the time they had planned to carry out the attack. [Music] [Applause] Say hello again. Disturbingly, that’s the last recording of the boys. And once the carnage began, Claybolt got cold feet, especially after the bombs in the cafeteria failed to detonate.
They were supposed to be standing yards from each other for an optimal firing range. But when the shooting started, the two were together at Claybold’s assigned position. Many say it was because Harris had convinced Claybold to go through with the attack at the last minute. But even with that, Harris did most of the shooting. And while it was all going on, one teacher, Patty Nielsen, made this chilling 911 call from the school’s library as Harris and Claybold approached her location.
What’s your name, ma’am? My name is Patty. Patty. Everybody get up right now. [Music] Get up right now. Okay. [Music] I have him in the library that I have in the library on the phone. Okay. Try and keep as many people down as we can. Okay. This is1. Do you know who he is? Okay. Okay. About a half an hour into the attack.
Harris misfires his shotgun, causing it to recoil into his face and break his nose. Security footage captured their failed attempts to detonate propane tanks using pipe bombs and shotgun blasts. Frustrated, they make their way to the school’s library where nearly 50 terrified people were at their mercy. Yet, for reasons unknown, they left, giving most of the students a chance to escape.
In the end, a SWAT team arrived and this intense gun battle ensued. The shooters then took their final shots, but they weren’t aiming at others. They turned the guns on themselves, ending their lives on the scene. This brought the total number of deaths to 15, while 24 others were left with grave injuries. 50 years ago today, a sniper committed the nation’s first mass shooting on the UT campus in Austin.
Yeah. On August 1st, 1966, Charles Wittmann climbed to the observation deck of the UT tower and from there he shot and killed. Now, when it comes to mass school shootings, the 1996 UT Tower massacre doesn’t get talked about as much, but make no mistake. It was the deadliest of its time, even deadlier than Coline.
On August 1st, 1966, chaos unfolds in Austin, Texas, when 25-year-old Charles Whitman carries out a brutal shooting spree from the University of Texas Tower. Nothing like this had ever happened before, and authorities were completely unprepared, scrambling to figure out how to stop the bloodshed. The result, even more chaos, even more lives lost, and the killer just as unhinged as the twisted motive that drove him to unleash this nightmare.
For context, Charles Whitman was raised in a troubled home by an abusive father who was both controlling and very violent. But despite the harsh discipline, Whitman was exceptionally intelligent, excelling in academia and becoming an expert marksman. He enlisted in the Marine Corps where he initially performed well, but struggled with authority and discipline.
He then enrolls at the University of Texas as part of this military program, but now his academic performance keeps declining. At around this time, he married Kathleen Lesnar, a fellow student. Things were pretty smooth up until 1966 when women began battling severe headaches and started experiencing intense fits of anger.
Concerned about his mental state, he sought help from a university therapist who suggested further sessions. However, Whitman never returned. His mental state kept declining and it didn’t take long before the voices in his head took over. On the evening of July 31st, Whitman visited his mother, only to stab her in her apartment before returning home and then killing his wife as she slept.
Then, in the early hours of August 1st, he meticulously prepares for what was to come. He leaves behind many notes detailing his thoughts and actions, expressing confusion over his mental state and requesting an autopsy on his brain. He then packs an arsenal of weapons, including rifles, shotguns, and over 700 rounds of ammo, along with food, water, a machete, and other supplies.
Disguising himself in a khaki overall, he sets off for the University of Texas tower. He gets there around 11:30 a.m. and heads for the tower, disguised as a janitor, hauling his supplies onto the elevator and then up a stairwell to the observation deck. His first victim on campus was a receptionist on the 28th floor. Moments later, he encountered a tourist family in the stairwell, killing two and severely wounding the other two.
He then barricades the entrance to the observation deck to secure his vantage point. At 11:48 a.m., Whitman began his relentless assault, using rainspout openings as turrets to fire at unsuspecting victims below. Over the next 96 minutes, he fires approximately 150 rounds, killing 15 people, including a police officer, and wounding 31 more.
Panic spread throughout the city as law enforcement scrambles to respond. Witnesses duck for cover, some figning death to avoid being shot. Police officers and civilians would attempt to return fire, but would struggle to reach the well-shielded sniper. At 1:24 p.m., Whitman’s killing spree came to an end. Two Austin police officers, Ramiro Ray Martinez and Houston McCoy, along with an armed civilian, Alanrum, made their way to the observation deck.
And as Whitman sat against a wall, Martinez fired six shots, missing everyone. But it gave McCoy the chance to fire two shotgun blasts that struck Whitman in the head, neck, and left side, leading to his instant death. In the aftermath, investigators sought answers to what drove Whitman to such carnage. An autopsy revealed he did have a brain tumor, but experts disagreed on whether that influenced his actions.
And honestly, we may probably never know what drove him to such an extreme fleet of madness. I saw like literally heard the shots and and there were uh three people dead. We saw his body for like 30 minutes. We were just like praying and crying and fine. And then the police came and we just got out. Where do I even begin with this one? I mean, there are evil people in the world, but very few compared to the cruelty of Nicholas Cruz.
This individual is responsible for the horrific shooting at Marjgery Stoneman Douglas High School, where he took the lives of 17 people and injured 17 others. Born September 24th, 1998, Cruz’s life was a tragedy from the start. He lived with his biological mother, Brenda Norma Woodard, who was a convicted felon and drug addict.
So, after she died, he was adopted by Roger and Linda Cruz, a couple who eventually would pass away as well, leaving him orphaned once again. In the midst of these losses, Cruz struggled with issues of his own. Between 2014 and 17, Cruz bounced between six different schools in this effort to address his behavioral issues.
In 2014, he was placed in a school specifically for children with emotional or learning disabilities. But even there, he made threats against other students. And despite the red flags, in February 2017, Cruz legally purchases an AR-15 style semi-auto rifle from a Coral Springs gun store, passing the necessary background check.
Somehow, this gun joined an already growing collection that included at least one shotgun and several other rifles. On social media, he posted disturbing content, including a Snapchat image of him cutting himself and a chilling YouTube comment claiming that he’d one day become a shooter. Today is the day.
The day that it be all begins. The day of my massacre shall begin. All the kids in school will run in fear and hide. From the wrath of my power, they will know who I am. I am nothing. I am no one. My life is nothing and meaningless. February 14th, 2018. What should have been a nice Valentine’s Day turns into a day of terror.
Cruz opens fire at Parkland High School, killing 17 students and staff members in a brutal attack. Now, we’re going to leave out some gruesome details as to how he carried out the massacre. We’ll just say that it was an act of unimaginable cruelty. Cruz initially fled the scene on foot, blending in with the other students to escape.
However, his freedom was short-lived as he was identified and arrested just over an hour later. Finally, on November 2nd, 2022, Cruz was given 34 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, one for each of the victims he murdered and wounded. But his sentence was met with disgust from the public and relatives of his victims.
They believed if there was anybody in the world who deserved the death penalty, it would have definitely been Cruz. I mean, killing 17 people is crazy work, and some inmates currently on death row having committed such a preposterous crime. But due to his superstar legal team, a man who caused the death of so many somehow gets to cheat his way out of it.
Tonight, inside the unspeakable horror, officers running to the scene with the 18-year-old gunman already inside Rob Elementary School. were second and fifth graders were in the middle of their day. Salvador Ramos purchased an AR platform rifle from a local gun store last Tuesday, 375 rounds of ammunition Wednesday, and another AR style rifle Friday.
According to the ATF, May 24th, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos carries out one of the deadliest school shootings in recent history at Rob Elementary School in Yuvaldi, Texas. What’s truly shocking other than that Ramos was a former student is that law enforcement waited a staggering 77 minutes before confronting him inside. Ramos had a reputation for being aggressive, frequently engaging in fights and making threats against his peers.
A year before the tragic incident, he began sharing images on his Instagram account featuring semi-automatic rifles that he intended to acquire. He would also drive around late at night with a friend, targeting random individuals with a BB gun and vandalizing vehicles by throwing eggs at him. In September 2021, Ramos attempted to get a firearm by asking his older sister to purchase one for him, but she declined.
Then on May 17th, 2022, just one day after turning 18, he legally acquires a Smith and Wesson semi-auto rifle from a gun store in the area. 3 days later, he buys another similar firearm. Investigators later discovered that one of the weapons was outfitted with a Hellfire trigger device, which allows for faster trigger resets, thereby increasing its potential rate of fire.
Additionally, Ramos had sent a direct message on Instagram to an individual he had met through Yubo, attaching a receipt for an AR-15 style rifle purchased from an online retailer along with over 500 rounds of ammunition. And just 3 days before carrying out the shooting, he uploads an image of two rifles to his Instagram page.
Now, on that dreadful day, a dispute breaks out between Salvador Ramos and his 66-year-old grandmother at their residence in Uvaldi. The argument stemmed from his failure to graduate high school. And in the midst of this altercation, Ramos shoots his grandmother in the face before fleeing in her black 2008 Ford F-150. Thankfully, she survived, but her truck didn’t after Ramos crashed it at the school’s parking lot.
Shortly before the shooting, an anonymous teacher had briefly propped open a school door with a rock while getting some food from her car. At that moment, she noticed Ramos crashing his grandma’s truck into a nearby ditch. Realizing the potential danger, she immediately goes inside to grab her phone and calls 911. And as she stepped back outside to assess the situation, she sees Ramos armed with a rifle as he approaches the school.
The teacher immediately began shouting, “He’s got a gun!” before running back inside to hide. At exactly 11:33 a.m., Ramos entered the building, and this surveillance camera captures the moment he made his way through the hallway. He then enters a classroom that’s connected internally to another room.
And this is where the real tragedy takes place. There were about 40 students in both classrooms and Ramos mercilessly opens fire on them. Many students resorted to playing dead to avoid being targeted, including Mayao, who smeared herself with blood of a deceased classmate to enhance the illusion. When he went in the classroom, he said, “You’re all going to die.
” And he just started shooting. He shot my teacher and then he shot the kids. A girl from the adjoining classroom responds with help, which alerts Ramos to her location. He re-enters that room and shoots her. And shortly after, an officer storms in, prompting Ramos to fire upon him as well, triggering a gunfight with the responding officers.
Arno Fo Reyes, a teacher in room 111, who was shot multiple times, recalls telling his students to hide under their desks and pretend to be asleep. But despite that, Ramos entered and opened fire. wounding Reyes before indiscriminately shooting at the children in the classroom. All 11 students in one class lost their lives.
And this is where the story gets a little more horrifying. The surveillance camera captures the moment officers stormed the school but failed to engage Ramos. A staggering 376 officers from the local, state, and federal agencies ultimately responded to this incident. Yet, they refrained from engaging.
Their hesitation stemmed from the fact that Ramos wielded an AR-15 rifle, a weapon far more powerful than the standard issued handguns carried by officers, making them reluctant to confront them directly. Can you believe that? It was 77 minutes of waiting and loitering through the corridor that officers from the Border Patrol tactical unit had to storm in the building and kill this kid.
But the damage was already done. 19 students and two teachers had already lost their lives while another 18 were seriously injured. And as a result of the law enforcement’s inaction, families of the victims pursued legal action against 92 of them from the Texas Department of Public Safety who were present that day. Then in May 2024, the state reached a settlement totaling $2 million with the affected families.
There is not enough compensation for the lives lost right here in New Town, Connecticut. The site today of a mass shooting and this time gunfire aimed at elementary school children. They say he had so much ammunition that many more could have been killed. At Sandy Hook Elementary School in New Town, Connecticut, 20-year-old Adam Lanza brutally kills 20 students and six employees before taking his own life.
This would stand as the second deadliest school shooting in history, not only due to the high number of casualties, but for several other harrowing reasons that you’re about to find out. For context here, Adam lived in New Town with his mom, Nancy Lansa, a passionate gun enthusiast who kept numerous firearms scattered around the house.
From a young age, he was exposed to these weapons. In school, Adam struggled with severe anxiety, particularly in crowded classrooms. Initially, it seemed like a minor issue, but over time, his discomfort escalated to the point where his parents took him out of school and started homeschooling him. However, this decision would later prove to have serious consequences.
So, while he’s being homeschooled, Adam’s diagnosed with multiple mental health conditions like schizophrenia, obsessivecompulsive disorder, and a neurodedevelopmental disorder. All of this deeply affected him. He spent countless hours isolated in his room, engrossed in violent video games and obsessively replaying footage of past school shootings.
Perhaps somewhere in his mind, the line between fiction and reality started to blur, fueling his sinister desire to bring the horrors he witnessed on screen to life. On the morning of December 14th, 2012, sometime before 9:30 a.m., Adam Lanza fatally shoots his mom, Nancy, four times to the head while she laid in her pajamas in bed.
After killing his mom, he took her vehicle and drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School. Armed with his rifle and 1030 round magazines, he gets to the school just after 9:35 a.m. Unable to get through the locked front doors, he forcibly gains access by shooting through a glass panel adjacent to the entrance. Dressed in black, wearing yellow earplugs, sunglasses, an olive green utility vest, and a black hat.
As morning announcements played over the school’s intercom, some people inside overheard the initial gunshots. A boy later recalls hearing the shooter command, “Put your hands up.” Followed by another voice pleading, “Don’t shoot.” He and his classmates along with their teacher sought refuge inside the gym’s closet while the sound of gunfire and screams filled the school.
Lanca proceeded to get into a classroom where he took the lives of 14 children, leaving only one survivor in critical condition. From there, he moves to the next classroom where he kills five more students and their teacher who had desperately tried to shield one of the children. Tragically, that student also lost their life.
By this time, law enforcement had arrived, and at approximately 9:40 a.m., officers report hearing a final gunshot. Lanza turned the Glock on himself, ending his own life with a shot to the back of the head. In total, 28 people lost their lives that day, including Adam and his mother. Two others sustained injuries, but this still remains one of the deadliest mass shootings in Connecticut’s history and the most devastating attack on an elementary school in the United States.
What a life it was. So nice. Do you think I wanted to do this? Do you think I’ve ever dreamed of dying like this? You thought it was one of the third lights you were extinguishing? I did it to them. I did it to make you stop what you did to me. The future generations of the weak and the defenseless. Like Moses, I spit the sea and lead my people. The weak.
I could have fled. But no, I will no longer honor it. If not for me, for my children, for my brothers and sisters. I did it for them. You have vandalized my heart. You may want to relax a little bit for this one. What you’re about to hear is soul piercing. From an early age, Sunung Hui Cho was mute.
He never spoke to other kids, nor did he converse with his family. And while growing up in Soul, South Korea, his mom was deeply troubled with his withdrawn nature. When the family would later move to the US, they had hoped that the change would help him become more confident and maybe socially engaging.
But instead, his isolation only deepened. In 1992, the Cho family settled in Detroit and then eventually relocated to Centerville, Virginia. Songhi was enrolled at Westfield High School, one of the largest in Fairfax County. There he endured relentless bullying and ridicule from his peers. Whenever he was required to speak during class, his classmates would mock him with his thick accent and that deep, guttural tone of his voice.
By the time he entered Virginia Tech, his silence had become louder. During his junior year, Cho confided in his roommates about having a girlfriend. However, the details of this claim were kind of bizarre. He described her as this supermodel from outer space who would travel via spaceship and exist solely in the realm of his imagination.
Well, that revelation added to his reputation as an outsider, and most people just chose to avoid him altogether. But then his behavior became even more alarming when he developed this unsettling obsession with several female students. He would take inappropriate photos of him with his phone, often from beneath his desk, which in turn led some people to report him to authorities.
His actions forced many of these ladies to drop out of any class he attended. Cho was beyond socially awkward. He was alienated, rejected, and increasingly resentful of the world around him. The more he attempted to connect with people, the more he drove him away. And at some point, the rejection hardened into something far more sinister.
A decision to turn against humanity. On February 9th, 2007, Joe made his first firearm purchase and then visits the gun range frequently to practice shooting. Over the following months, he rents a van and acquires various supplies necessary for his planned attack. He would give himself a military-style buzzcut. And during this time, he would also record a series of chilling videos outlining his grievances and explaining why he was determined to carry out this twisted plan.
I did it. I had to. This is it. [Music] This is where it all ends. End of the road. [Music] What a life it was. So nice. Do you think I wanted to do this? You thought it was one pathetic boy’s life you were extinguishing. I did it for them. I did it to make you stop what you did to me. Now, the messed up thing is that’s probably the most anyone had ever heard him speak.
And what makes that even more unsettling is that Cho actually sent those clips to NBC right before the shooting. It was a 23minute video manifesto, yet only about 2 minutes were made public. But nonetheless, his actions spoke volumes. On the morning of April 16th, 2007, Cho leaves his dorm at approximately 5:00 a.m., makes his way to West Amler Johnston Hall, and fatally shoots two individuals inside a dormatory room.
Hours later, at roughly 9:40 a.m., he enters Norris Hall, a building that housed the engineering, science, and mechanics department, among others. Inside his bag, he had an arsenal, two handguns, a hammer, a knife, nearly 400 rounds of ammo, and two industrial-grade chains with locks. So, he took the chains and barricaded the building’s three main entrances, preventing anyone from escaping.
And then he left a note on one of the doors, falsely warning him that tampering with it would trigger an explosion. Then over the next 15 minutes, Cho unleashed a hail of bullets, firing more than 175 rounds and instantly killing 30 people. Law enforcement swiftly responded with SWAT breaching the building.
However, before they could reach him, Joe shot himself. When the dust settled, he had killed a total of 33 people and left 23 others wounded. This remains the deadliest school shooting in US history with the highest death toll and hopefully a tragedy that will never be surpassed.
