SCHOOL SHOOTING IN CLEVELAND
A school shooting in downtown Cleveland has sent several gunshot victims to MetroHealth Medical Center.
Witnesses say that a 14-year-old male freshman at Success Tech Academy, who had been suspended for fighting earlier this week, walked into the school today at 1 p.m. carrying two guns. The student began shooting on the second and third floors. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has confirmed that five people have been shot and are being treated at MetroHealth.
The victims have been described as follows: 17 year old male, 14 year old male, 14 year old female, all in stable condition. The 14-year-old female suffered a knee injury during the commotion the other two with gunshot injuries. A 57-year-old male & 42-year-old male, both in more serious condition, one was shot in the chest and the other in the back.
Police officials have confirmed that the shooter is dead; it is unclear at this time if he took his own life or was shot by Police. One witness speaking who was interviewed by Channel 3 News said he was friends with the shooter and said that he has spoken about doing something like this a month ago. The student said that the gunman told him that if he were to do it he would let him go and not hurt him. The witness said he just didn’t think he was serious.
Success Tech Academy is located at 1440 Lakeside Drive in downtown Cleveland about a half mile from Public Square. The Academy is part of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and is described as a “Problem-based Service Learning with an emphasis on technology”.
Witnesses say that a 14-year-old male freshman at Success Tech Academy, who had been suspended for fighting earlier this week, walked into the school today at 1 p.m. carrying two guns. The student began shooting on the second and third floors. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has confirmed that five people have been shot and are being treated at MetroHealth.
The victims have been described as follows: 17 year old male, 14 year old male, 14 year old female, all in stable condition. The 14-year-old female suffered a knee injury during the commotion the other two with gunshot injuries. A 57-year-old male & 42-year-old male, both in more serious condition, one was shot in the chest and the other in the back.
Police officials have confirmed that the shooter is dead; it is unclear at this time if he took his own life or was shot by Police. One witness speaking who was interviewed by Channel 3 News said he was friends with the shooter and said that he has spoken about doing something like this a month ago. The student said that the gunman told him that if he were to do it he would let him go and not hurt him. The witness said he just didn’t think he was serious.
Success Tech Academy is located at 1440 Lakeside Drive in downtown Cleveland about a half mile from Public Square. The Academy is part of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and is described as a “Problem-based Service Learning with an emphasis on technology”.
posted by TMC NEWS at 2:41 PM
12 Comments:
I am praying for the victims, their families and for the entire student body of this school.
I hope that those who were injured have a speedy recovery.
I wish the witness had spoken up a month ago and maybe this could have been avoided. Patsy
If that other student would have spoken up none of this would have happend. Just crazy how a 14 year old got his hand on not only one gun but two. SHAME
I disagree. The other student could have spoken up and it still probably would have happened. Look at all the warning signs for the Virginia Tech killer, and that still happened. Some things you just can't prevent, no matter how bad they are.
My grandson attends Longfellow Middle School in Lorain. Friday he was threatened by a boy who said he was going home to get a "9" and shoot him. The only thing done by the principal Ms Spot was to have the boy dismissed from school at 3 and my grandson dismissed at 3:30 so a confrontation could be avoided. Seems like he has time to go get his "9". I guess Lorain schools don't take things like this seriously...that's one place that should!!!!!
I do feel that the student should have told "someone" now only to clear his own conscious of any guilt that he may be harboring because of the incident; however, I agree with Sue that even with warning signs some things just can't be prevented. There is always that outside chance that it could have been prevented but, the law doesn't lock up a youth just because of a comment such as his. So without being behind bars, the possibility of his threat may still take place. Maybe, just maybe he could have gotten help for whatever was troubling him but, we will never know. We live in a sick and messed up world. People do things that are just unimaginable in my mind. To live in a perfect world is only a dream unfortunately.
I pray for all our youth. This 14 year old must have been filled with so much pain through out his short life that he could not take it anymore and just blew. The news stated he was a victim of abuse at home at a very young age and he was bullied at school by his peers. I have had to deal with the bully issues in our schools first hand. My son was bullied all the way through grade school. He had zero self worth and he did not do well in shcool. He was punched and called names everyday in grade school. We kept a journal of the incidents and the bruses all over his body. We went to the Elyria City School advisers, teachers, administrators and the parents of these bullies. We were told Elyria Schools had a zero tolerance policy for violence in the schools. That was a crock. Nothing was ever done to these students and the problem was never corrected. We saw him start to become a bully himself and we would not allow it. Two wrongs do not make a right. I'm proud to say we pulled him out of Elyria Schools and he maintains a 3.5 gpa, he is very involved in his school and he has good friends and his self worth back. The schools need to listen and be aware. You can't tell me the teachers did not hear this 14 year old getting called names and getting picked on. To a 14 year old being called names and being picked on hurts deeply. One student e-mailed fox 8 and said that he did well in his academics and was very quiet. He was picked on constantley because of the way he looked. What this boy did in school was very wrong and very bad. We see and feel the aftermath of his actions. I wonder if the people who hurt him see the aftermath of their actions.
When you look at this POS's MySpace page, it is easy to see what a sick and disturbed person this shooter was. I think one step that should immediately be taken is for MySpace to review what is being posted on their site and refuse to post the type of crap this kid had on his page. He was definitely the posterchild for "headcases" and should have been in an institution other that high school. The MySpace postings on his page are just as disturbing with people wishing him RIP, etc. and feeling sorry for him. We should feel sorry for his victims, not this POS. One of the saddest parts of this is that he chose to shoot other people first instead of just doing us all a favor and removing himself from society.
People want to blame guns and others for not seeing "warning signs" however this physco (aka Asa Coon) was the person behind the guns and decided to take other people's life into his own hands. It's sad that this happened...very sad...it's even sadder when people have to blame others for their actions.
Here is his MySpace page if anyone is interested: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=5453373
Karl & Eric,
Before you go calling this young man names and being no better than the bullies who pushed him over the edge, you should do a little research on the information you are using to justify your comments.
From CNN.com:
"A MySpace Web page purportedly created by Coon that received many messages Thursday morning was actually a fake, made by a 19-year-old in Utah, the Plain Dealer reported."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/11/cleveland.shooting/index.html
Ishpot, yes, I was incorrect on the MySpace page. However, I viewed the page before any information came out concerning the "good kid in Utah" who created it. Sorry for the confusion that this caused but I was only dealing with what evidence was presented at the time.
I certainly hope that kid in Utah (who also created the VT killer's myspace page) gets some help and guidance. What he did was wrong, justifiable though, because he was probably bullied just like Mr. Coon.
After doing some research, Mr. Coon appears to have been the bully himself. Slapping around his mother, getting into fights at school, and using obscene gestures to get his point across. I find it hard to think that he was the REAL victim. We all are victims of being looked down upon on the way we dress, look, or act, your father constantly hitting you, or the tragedy of losing someone close to you...that's called life. It doesn't justify bringing a load of ammunition and guns into a building and opening fire on human beings. Call it what you want, but he still came in there with the intent to murder.
In response to Ishpot,
I personally feel that calling someone who is willing to commit premeditated murder a piece of slime is not exactly too rough or uncalled for. Someone who is willing to commit a murder (or multiple murders) is more than just a "misguided youth." Furthermore, my main point was for websites such as MySpace to review what is being posted rather than allowing anything inflammatory, slanderous or of a damaging (to others) nature. The person who posted that site also claims to have posted a phony for the Virginia killings. Is he "a misguided youth" or wacko? My vote goes for wacko. While I believe that free speech is and should remain one of our most treasured freedoms, that freedom of speech should not allow me to use it as a weapon against others based on race, creed or color. However my comments were based on none of those, rather the fact that the person was a deranged killer who (thankfully) saved us all the cost of a trial and incarceration by taking his own life. Too bad more criminals don't consider that option BEFORE they commit a crime.
Guys, I have no problem with your opinions. My thing is that you were taking something seen on MySpace as truth and encouraging others to view it. That's all.
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