Report describes horrors in Minnesota school shooting
By Associated Press
Published March 31, 2005
RED LAKE, Minn. - The 16-year-old gunman in the Red Lake High School shootings was wounded by tribal police officers before retreating to a classroom and taking his own life, according to an account by a sheriff's deputy.
Jeff Weise killed himself with a shotgun after being hit in the hip and leg, according to the e-mailed account obtained by the Associated Press. The deputy also wrote that "the entire school" was "covered with blood," and said there were bullet holes "everywhere."
Weise killed nine people in the March 21 rampage, including seven at the high school, before killing himself.
The description by Polk County Sheriff's Deputy James Goss, sent to family members on March 26, was based on a tour he said he was given by an FBI agent while Goss was providing security near the school.
Reached at work Wednesday, Goss confirmed the e-mail was his but said he could not comment further without talking to his supervisors. An FBI spokesman didn't return a phone call seeking comment.
No court proceedings took place Wednesday for Louis Jourdain, the 16-year-old son of Red Lake Band of Chippewa Chairman Floyd Jourdain Jr. The teenager was arrested over the weekend as a possible accomplice.
A U.S. attorney spokeswoman said authorities could not comment any further because the prosecution is a juvenile matter.
Many people on the reservation have declined to speak to reporters since Louis Jourdain's arrest Sunday.
An exception was Cartera Hart, a Red Lake sophomore who said she knew Weise and Jourdain. The pair "seemed like best friends," she said. "They were always together."
Several newspapers reported that Weise and Jourdain were members of a clique known as "Darkers" for dressing in dark clothing, with spiked or dyed hair and piercings.
At the high school, contractors Wednesday were knocking down walls, repairing bullet holes and performing other cleanup work. It will be a long process, Superintendent Stuart Desjarlait said.
"You can imagine the smell in there," he said. "It's the smell of death."
Desjarlait said he will ask the school board to allow high school classes to be temporarily held at the middle school when the schools reopen. He said he hopes classes resume the week of April 12.
For the first two weeks, Desjarlait said, activities will emphasize fun things like roller skating instead of schoolwork.
"We've got to get the kids that sense of security again, that the building is safe to come back to," he said.
