As
children filed into Grover Cleveland Elementary,16-year-old
named Brenda Spencer unleashed a hail of gunfire on the school across the
street from her home. She killed two adults, including the school’s principal,
and injured eight children and a police officer.
Children were holed up in the school before being carefully bused away from the rear playground.
While
she was still firing, a San Diego Evening
Tribune reporter reached Spencer by telephone. Asked why she was shooting,
she calmly explained she had done it because “I don’t like Mondays.”
The
horrific incident sparked Bob Geldof, leader of The Boomtown Rats, to write the
song: “I Don’t Like Mondays”. It
became a huge world-wide hit and sparked the rise of the then-little-known
Irish rock group to global star status. The song notably did not make the Top
40 in the United States, banned by many radio stations for the sad memories it
unleashed.
Along with her pellet gun, Brenda used the rifle and ammunition her father and brother gave her for Christmas the month prior. The house was not littered with alcohol and she did not sleep in the same bed as her father, as routinely reported.
Brenda is in the California Institute for Women in Corona CA. Her next parole hearing is Sept 2021.
Victims:
Charles A 'Cam' Miller Student - 9 years old
Christy Lynn Buell Student - 9 years old
Mary Kathleen Clark Student - 8 years old
Monika Reece Selvig Student - 9 years old
Greg Carl Verner Student - 8 years old
Crystal Faith Hardy Student -10 years old
Audrey Stites Student - 7 Years old
Julie Ann Robles Student - 10 years old
Burton Wragg Principal - 53 Years old (killed)
Michael J Suchar Custodian - 56 Years old (killed)
Robert Raymond Robb Police Officer - 28 Years old
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