One of the school shootings that happened in the year of 1997, this one in West Paducah, Kentucky and perpetrated by a 14 year old student call Michael Carneal. Who shot a group of students that were in a praying circle.
Carneal wrapped a shotgun and a rifle in a blanket and took them to school, passing them off as an art project he was working on. He also carried a loaded Ruger MK II .22-caliber pistol in his backpack. Three girls died while hospitalized and five others were wounded.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]The motives seem to be bullying and also paranoia, after a rumor about him appeared in the school newspaper saying that he was gay, something that affected him very much. After the shooting, he placed his pistol on the ground and surrendered to the school principal, Bill Bond. After dropping the gun, Carneal said: "Kill me, please. I can't believe I did that."
Now he is facing life sentence with the possibility of parole in 25 years (2023), with the right to receive mental health treatment. In 2007, Carneal filed an appeal claiming that he was too mentally ill to plead guilty in 1998 to the shooting at Heath High School and asked the Kentucky Supreme Court for a re-trial. Prosecutors appealed and the Kentucky Supreme Court set up a hearing that was scheduled for September 11, 2008. The Court's ruling would decide whether to grant Carneal a new competency hearing and a trial. The Kentucky Supreme Court rejected his request and Carneal will continue to serve out his sentence.
This is a short documentary about the case that made Investigation Discovery:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Also, one of his victims Melissa “Missy” Jenkins and who is paralyzed from the chest down, has appeared on numerous national and local television shows of the US, talked to newspaper reporters and is appearing in two TV commercials for Channel One News about School Shootings, she also has a book.
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The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death — however mutable man may be able to make them — our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light