Yet, while it was all happening, so beautiful, so serene, I couldnt get over the perverse violence associated with my dads passing. Her attorneys continued to argue that the treatment she received from her father which allegedly included sexual abuse was the real reason for her act of senseless violence. Brenda Spencer is however, America's first female school shooter. WildBlue Press, 28 Aug. 2022, https://wildbluepress.com/n-leigh-hunt-author-bio/. I dont remember aiming at anybody, Spencer insisted. On Monday morning, January 29th, she asked her father if she could stay home from school because she didnt feel well, the deputy district attorney reported. Austin American-Statesman, April 5, 1980. A 16-year-old girl, Brenda Ann Spencer (born April 3, 1962), who lived in a house across the street from the school, was convicted of the shootings. [11] Brenda Spencer, Self: I Don't Like Mondays. The shooting was already on the news before Brenda stopped shooting. At a concert in London in 1995, almost ten years later to the day, Bon Jovi covered the song after being joined on stage by Geldof at Wembley Stadium. Pandemonium ensued as staff charged out of the school in San Diego to help terrified and injured children, shouting at parents to drive on as they arrived to drop off more pupils. On the morning of January 29, 1979, children began to line up outside Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California. Got a tip? Mary Rintoul aged nine when she was shot in the attack has mixed feelings about letting her out. Spencer was 16 on Jan. 29, 1979, when she opened fire with a .22 rifle on Grover Cleveland Elementary School across from her home in San Diego, killing the principal and the custodian while. Katie Serena is a New York City-based writer and a staff writer at All That's Interesting. Brenda Spencer: The 'I Don't Like Mondays' School Shooter - All That's She was asked if any adults had seen danger signs before the shooting. Her assault would be the first of many school shootings across the nation, most notably Columbine and Sandy Hook. False About this rating Context There were conflicting reports regarding the gender identity of the assailant in the shooting at The Covenant School. 1979, p. 6. newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111917416/brenda-4/. The victims are not only those killed, but the survivors who live the tragedy for the rest of their lives.. She showed little interest in her studies and hated authority. Spencer fired three shots and hit Suchar fatally. SAN DIEGO Parole hearings were held Thursday for two high-profile killers from San Diego: School shooter Brenda Spencer and Marine wife Laura Troiani . 20 years after the shooting, Spencer made claims that her father sexually abused her. There was also a statement from the principals daughter. Spencer has since said she does not remember making the remark that inspired a song by the Boomtown Rats and became a kind of anthem for many of the school shooters who followed. Her toxicology report, however, would show no signs of drugs or alcohol in her system the day of the shooting. Spencer who says she was gay from birth lived with her university technician father from the age of nine after her parents broke up. In 1979, Brenda Ann Spencer, a 16-year-old girl, fired a rifle from her house into the San Diego elementary school across the street, killing two adults and injuring eight children and a police officer. She has said she also does not recall telling a cop, It was a lot of fun seeing children shot.. 'I don't like Mondays': School shooter Brenda Spencer's bid for freedom One of the numbers he dialed was that of the Spencer residence. She was charged as an adult and pled guilty to two counts of murder, and was sentenced in 1980 to concurrent terms of 25 years to life in prison. This was a Monday morning in January 1979. This was the band's final major appearance. However, the San Diego Union-Tribune described his role in breaking the story in a retrospective article commemorating the 2016 retirement of Editorial and Opinion Editor William Osborne, who was with them for 45 years. A former student named Cam Miller attended the hearing in person and offered the last statement. [6] The song was first performed less than a month later. Brenda Spencer - IMDb This contrasts with the Spanish troops located on the right, which are presented as a large, well-organized, and seasoned group. She said she saw everything it was a 16 year old kid, and the shooting was coming from 6356 Lake Atkin Avenue. I dont like Mondays, she told him. The Christmas before the shooting, Brenda asked her father for a radio. He recalled that his mother had just dropped him at school directly opposite Spencers home and he had been starting up the sidewalk when he saw the bodies of the principal and the custodian. She would claim that the message instead said unforgiven and alone in Runes, a form of writing used before the Latin alphabet. A hunting enthusiast, he had enough ammunition in the house for a small army, according to one of his daughters classmates. Unfortunately, thats exactly what happened. Nobody at the school knew where the shots were coming from. A week before she carried out the shooting that would make her infamous, she allegedly told her classmates that she was going to do something big to get on TV.. Because of the drugs and alcohol, she claimed to have a "very fragmented memory of the whole day. Which is not a good thing to live with., He added: Not liking Mondays as a reason for doing somebody in is a bit strange. Join the conversation, you are commenting as. During a 2009 parole hearing, her most recent, she insisted that she had not intended to shoot anybody. After learning about Brenda Ann Spencer, discover the true stories behind Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the infamous Columbine shooters. She described arriving at school and hearing shots and seeing the principal and the custodian lying dead. When the defeated are on their knees in humility, do you think the victor has any pitty for his enemy? HISTORY, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/school-shooting-in-san-diego. I did this because it's a way to cheer up the day. Eventually, officers persuaded her to come out offering her a Burger King meal as an inducement, it was reported and found she had another 200 rounds of ammunition. Across the street, Brenda Ann Spencer was watching them from her house, which was filled with empty whiskey bottles and a single mattress that she shared with her father. She hurt so many people and had so much to do with starting a deadly trend in America, said Richard Sachs, a San Diego County deputy district attorney, in an interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune. Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dont-like-mondays/. Follow I Can't Believe It's NonFiction on WordPress.com. Spencer was convicted of killing the school. The D.A. Roy Eccleston reports. I dont like Mondays, she said. It would have been the drugs and the alcohol talking., The commissioner quoted the police negotiators report, which said she had told him, It was fun to watch the children that had red and blue ski jackets on, as they made perfect targets. The negotiator added that she told him she liked to watch them squirm around after they had been shot.. Eventually, Spencer surrendered peacefully. Cam [Charles] Miller was seven when she shot him in the back. The First Modern School Shooter Feels Responsible for the Rest The commissioner said they would get back to all that. A collection of strange, but true, stories, When we think of school shootings, we think of Columbine High School in April 1999. "Isn't that your address?" In fact, in 2001, she told the parole board, With every school shooting, I feel Im partially responsible. He asked "Brenda" if she knew who did it and where the shots were coming from. Though she damaged the windows, she didnt hurt anyone that time around. In this hearing, Brenda stated that she hadnt intended to kill anyone. Now the RackaRacka duo's debut feature film is about to hit the big screen at a gala event. The head custodian, Michael Suchar, known as Mr. Well, you could have shot out one window of the school and the police would have come., You didnt have any anger at the children?, The commissioner asked if she recalled saying she had fired on the schoolyard because I dont like Mondays., I might have said that, she replied. He recalled the phone call from the neighbor who said there had been a shooting at Cleveland, the frustration of not being able to get near the school because the incident was still going on, the terror in my wifes eyes, her screams of anguish at not knowing whether our girls were involved, the phone call from the hospital telling us that one of them had been wounded, looking at the bullet hole in her right elbow and the bullet burns on the inside if each thigh where a bullet had passed between her legs.. She, because of the language and cultural differences in the United States, always counted on him to manage their affairs. Do you like Mondays? During this time, Spencer gave her infamous interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune over the phone. I was thinking about it on the way back to the hotel and I just said 'silicon chip inside her head had switched to overload'. But this marked a terrible development in the countrys violent history, triggering an era of school massacres in which children were ready to blast away at fellow pupils. She had been arrested for that crime, as well as burglary, but ultimately received probation. "I Don't Like Mondays" is a song by Irish new wave group the Boomtown Rats about the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego. The response from Brenda . Over the phone, when asked why she did this, she said: "I just don't like Mondays. Brenda Spencer was born on April 3, 1962 in San Diego, California, USA. The commissioner read into the record several victim-impact statements. Spencer subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of murder. In the meantime, she will sit as inmate W14944 in the California Womens Institution, seeming to see no irony in having used heated metal to brand the words Courage and Pride across her chest. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Brenda Ann Spencer fired a total of 36 rounds at the Grover Cleveland Elementary School and when the shooting stopped, the principal and a custodian were dead, dying where they had fallen in front of the school. I was doing a radio interview in Atlanta with Johnnie Fingers and there was a telex machine beside me. Brenda was first up for parole in 1993. She wrote to me saying she was glad shed done it because Id made her famous, Geldof said. When he first met her, she was like a total zombie pale, ashen and with no recollection of what had occurred, and she stayed that way for some time. Left: Youthful Dutch soldiers (detail); right: Spanish soldiers (detail), Diego Velzquez, Though the painting depicts a military victory, Velzquez removed the bloody and violent aspects of the battle from the canvas. The arrest of school shooter Brenda Spencer, shortly after her infamous I dont like Mondays quote. She claimed that he had forced her to say that she had injured herself when she wrecked her bike. [The father] then went on and had a sexual relationship with her and married her, the lawyer alleged. She killed the school principal and custodian. Advertisement Part of the. Brenda Spencer, who killed two people and wounded nine in the nation's first high-profile school shooting, was denied parole Tuesday . She claimed she was shooting wildly in an attempt to draw the police to her home. Barynes and Principal Wragg bravely jumped into the line of fire to help get the kids inside the school for cover. The police would also contact the newspapers, telling them to clear the line immediately, as they were interfering with the investigations. He was killed by a shot to the chest. In 2001, Spencer accused her father of physically and sexually abusing her (he denied the allegation) and forcing her to share a bed with him. I don't like Mondays. The Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 1979, p. 23. newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111917322/brenda-3/. But lawyer Michael McGlinn, who defended Spencer, told me he continues to believe she will never reoffend. They wanted out. (LogOut/ He had then blacked out as a bullet passed within an inch of his heart, exiting his chest. In 1979 and 1980, a number of newspapers also used the quote, some stating that she "allegedly" said these words to a reporter. Principal Wragg, 53, heard the shots and ran to the group of children. Brenda Ann Spencer - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting, List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States, "10 Underrated '80s Bands You Need to Hear Now", "BBC Radio 6 Music Classic Singles, I Don't Like Mondays", "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Music (I Don't Like Mondays)", "Geldof and Fingers reach settlement over 'I Don't Like Mondays', "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company", "Kent Music Report No 288 31 December 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1979", The Boomtown Rats I Don't Like Mondays", The Irish Charts Search Results I Don't Like Mondays", "The Boomtown Rats Chart History (Hot 100)", Offiziellecharts.de The Boomtown Rats I Don't Like Mondays", "Image: RPM Weekly Library and Archives Canada", "Top Selling Singles of 1979 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart", "RPM Top 100 Singles - December 20, 1980", "Canadian single certifications Boomtown Rats I Don't Like Mondays", "British single certifications Boomtown Rats I Don't Like Mondays", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I_Don%27t_Like_Mondays&oldid=1162615694, This page was last edited on 30 June 2023, at 06:08. Brenda Spencer, 57, has been inducted into the Golden Girls club at the California prison where she is serving a life sentence It's been 41 years since the then-16-year-old Brenda Spencer. And despite her efforts to downplay her own crime, Spencer herself has admitted that her actions may have indeed led to other similar attacks. Osborne said Wiegand tossed out an idea, "What if I call her? She confirmed that she had heard the kids in the school across the street. He returned to the shooting. In early modern Europe, paintings of military victories usually followed a preconceived structure:the victorious commander appeared seated. San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Jan. 2019, https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/sd-me-brenda-spencer-school-shooting-20190129-story.html. She was given an indefinite sentence and remains in prison. The day was just beginning at Grover Cleveland Elementary School when across the street, 16-year-old Brenda Spencer looked out her front window. It was completely uncontrollable., There was also a statement by a parent, Francis Stile, whose two daughters attended the school. She said that her intention that day was to commit suicide by cop. Deadly Women Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. It was the perfect senseless act and this was the perfect senseless reason for doing it. She also said that she was shooting for the fun of it and that she had shot a pig and wanted to shoot some more. The painting presents a humane encounter in the midst of the chaos and cruelty of war. When Brendas parents divorced, she and her siblings stayed with their father. Irish group The Boomtown Rats recorded a song about the shooting I Dont Like Mondays, which was a huge hit around the world. And with so many US school shootings since, Spencers crime has lost its once unique awfulness and, with it, the notoriety that helped keep her behind bars, they told me. Both girls had witnessed the death of the principal and the custodian. On Monday, January 29, 1979 started out as a normal day. ", He grabbed a Criss+Cross directory that listed phone numbers by address and called. That's it. Wiegand did not know that Brenda had paused her shooting spree to answer the phone. She also claimed that she had a brain injury that had been caused by her father kicking her in the head. Grover Cleveland Elementary School, San Diego, CA. Brenda's parents divorced when she was young and lived with her father. The family was poor. 40 years ago, Brenda Spencer took lives, changed lives in a mass 40 years ago, Brenda Spencer took lives, changed lives in a mass An epidemic of gun crime has shocked America, particularly with school massacres at Columbine (in 1999, 13 dead) and Sandy Hook (in 2012, 26 dead). January 29, 1979: School shooting - The San Diego Union-Tribune Across the road from Grover Cleveland Elementary school in San Diego, California, 16 year old Brenda Ann Spencer observed elementary children prepare for class from her bedroom window. Police were told she had fantasised about being a sniper and would hunt birds around the neighbourhood. According to the San Diego Police Museum, she warned authorities that she was still armed and threatened to come out shooting if she was forced to leave her house. Nobody likes Mondays.". The woman eventually left. She wrote to me saying she was glad shed done it because Id made her famous, Geldof said years later. Direct link to olivia.g.gruber's post Can you speak to the blan, Posted 7 years ago. And because she never had to be cross-examined in court, her facetious remark about hating Mondays remained her only explanation for the shooting. The Boomtown Rats performed the song for Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in 1985. Then, read about the Dunblane Massacre, the deadliest school shooting in the U.K. Before The Columbine Massacre Or Parkland Shooting, There Was Brenda Ann Spencer. This livens up the day.". This livens up the day.. "I just don't like Mondays. Direct link to writersurprise's post On this painting i notice, Posted 8 years ago. Its crazy how we know so much about Columbine and so little about this. In her 2001 parole hearing, Brenda would claim, for the first time, that her father sexually molested her almost nightly from the time that she was nine years old until the shooting when she was 16. Female school shooter in Nashville is just the FIFTH in history - MSN Spencer told police negotiators she had shot the children and staff because they made such easy targets. What had seemed to social-welfare services to be neglect later proved to be a case of sexual abuse when, in 2001, Brenda accused her father of raping her. Are you pretty good with a rifle? he asked. Diego Velzquez, The Surrender of Breda, 163435, oil on canvas, 307 cm 367 cm (Museo del Prado, Madrid), How military leaders treat their vanquished enemies conveys much of their character. I was greatly comforted when the policemen arrived to carry me away. CBS 8 San Diego, 1993. www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lMzatv6Weg. https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Like-Mondays-Brenda-Spencer/dp/B08THVR4ZD. She recalled lying in the nurses office, bleeding as bullets crashed through the window. He made hand signals for city editor Walker to come over. Director John Dower Writer John Dower Stars Brenda Spencer Richard Sachs Gene Cubbison See production, box office & company info Watch on Freevee Watch Free on Freevee More watch options Most can agree with former FBI profiler Candice DeLong's remarks that Brenda's father bears responsibility for what happened that day by buying her the gun. And some believe that she helped inspire future school shootings in later years, such as the Columbine High School massacre, the Virginia Tech shooting, and the Parkland mass murder. After the line "And the lesson today is how to die" a series of jump cuts of Geldof quickly appear before he sings the last few lines. Jan 29, 2019 at 8:00 am Brenda Spencer shot and killed two adults, wounded eight children and a San Diego police officer at Cleveland Elementary School in San Carlos on Jan. 29, 1979, 40. In a prison two-and-a-half hours from the scene of the UCSB murders sits the killer who started it all, with the first high-profile school shooting more than three decades ago. From Associated Press. Even as an adult, he was gripped by an abiding fear of leaving his back exposed in restaurants he always sits with his back to the wall. Adelaides pioneering bid to end homelessness in the CBD, From YouTube to big screen: Adelaides car pranksters directorial debut. Brenda Spencer | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers FOX 5 San Diego, 18 Aug. 2022, https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/parole-hearing-scheduled-for-i-dont-like-mondays-school-shooter/. It then cuts to a family living room with the daughter just coming back from school but here the chorus is mimed by the other three band members to lead singer Bob Geldof. It wasn't an attempt to exploit tragedy. Wiegand later said in the book "I Don't Like Mondays" that Spencer's demeanor during both calls was calm and quiet, "no shouting or hysteria in her voice." Accessed 26 Oct. 2022. In the same year, she burgled the school where she would later kill pupils, vandalised classrooms and shot out some of its windows with a gun. Accessed 26 Oct. 2022. The clip ends with the Boomtown Rats looking at a chroma key image of a house in a grassy plain. I remember seeing her in Juvenile Hall back in the 70s. Contradicting police reports that found no evidence of drugs or alcohol in her system, she said she had been taking both and was hallucinating at the time of the shooting. The uninjured looked around confused as to what was happening. 35 years later, Brenda Ann Spencer, who killed two and wounded eight, faced her victims in a parole hearing. And then there was a statement by Steve Wragg, son of Principal Burton Wragg. At. With every school shooting, I feel Im partially responsible, Brenda Ann Spencer told the parole board back in 2001.
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