For 20 years now, Wallace Spencer has maintained a public silence about his daughter's crime. Spencer remains in prison despite parole hearings. After she came out of her zombie state (in prison) I didnt perceive her as a danger. Blue was Brenda Spencer's favorite color, he later heard. Spencer's parents had divorced Brenda Ann Spencer is a convicted American spree killer who committed multiple murders from her home in San Diego, California on January 29, 1979. . Just a few months after the BB gun incident, Spencers probation officer had suggested that she spend some time in a mental hospital for depression. Brenda Spencer was born on the 3rd of April 1962 in San Carlos, California. McGlinn believes Spencer's accounts that her divorced father, Wallace Spencer, sexually abused her and that under his influence she began dressing as a boy and learned to hunt and shoot with him. Both father and daughter slept on a single mattress on the living room floor in a house strewn with empty bottles from alcoholic drinks. Brenda Spencer, aged 16, fired rifle shots into a school playground in California in January 1979, . Twenty-two years later, his son, Dan Barnes, also a teacher, found himself a target of Granite Hills High School shooter Jason Hoffman. She remembers that there was snow in the mountains on the morning of the shooting; her father, Norm (her mother died when she was 3), considered letting his kids play hooky so he could take them up to play in it. She was tried as an adult, and pled guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. 2019-01-30 - PAULINE REPARD Repard writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. 55 mins. It was 26 years ago today, but those horrific events are . One ripple outward from the shootings sent fear through a third generation in the Wragg family. For Christmas 1978, he gave her a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight and 500 rounds of ammunition. A year prior to the horrific crime, the school service which handled problematic students informed Brendas parents that her behavior and attitudes manifested serious suicidal tendencies. Her father rejected the claims and told the officials to leave his family alone. What on that day had been unimaginable -- that a school could become a killing field -- is grimly familiar. Spencer claimed her violent tendencies were a result of being sexually molested by her father, Wallace Spencer. Wallace Spencer, later married his daughter's former cellmate, a 17-year-old girl named Sheila McCoy, whom he met while visiting Brenda in prison. Stahl said her mother, Penny Wragg, never got the right help dealing with the murder of her father at the school. . Spencers deadly plot was far from the earliest attack on an American school, but it was one of the first modern school shootings that led to multiple deaths and injuries. . The developer installed a memorial, now at the corner of Lake Atlin and Lake Angela streets, to Wragg and Suchar. Today, Cam Miller is a probation officer who still feels nervous around guns, leaving the room even if it's just a friend showing off a new hunting rifle. Brenda alleged that her father Wallace both beat and sexually abused her. Christy . Though she damaged the windows, she didnt hurt anyone that time around. Her father, Wallace, explained the out of place gift as a way for them to spend time together . It's an incident that will never leave my mind. Then, she aimed it out the window and began firing at the kids. She said the school victims looked like a herd of cows for gathering around the wounded, making them easy pickings.. The principal was enjoying a cup of coffee in the front office when he heard a popping noise and charged outside, assuming he would find little boys setting off firecrackers. A reporter reached Spencer by phone while she was still in the house after the shooting, and asked her why she committed the crime. They had a child, and the little girl attended Buell's preschool. Her father went on to marry Spencer's 17-year-old Juvenile Hall cellmate but they later divorced. Brenda Spencer was born on the 3rd of April 1962 in San Carlos, California. This livens up the day." [15] Ultimately, she surrendered and left the house, reportedly after being promised a Burger King meal by negotiators. It was attributed to an accident on her bicycle. Hoffman fired at him, but missed. Samantha Wallace. Head Custodian Mike Suchar. I have not read all the comments on here but in her school the pupils picked on her because she could not shower everyday so she smelled and her hair was really greasy. Spencer, who was charged in court as an adult, pleaded guilty in 1980 to two counts of murder. They had a child together, and the little girl attended Christy's preschool. Brenda Ann Spencer was born in San Diego, California, on April 3, 1962. As of 2022, Spencer has been unsuccessful at six parole board hearings. Brenda Ann Spencer, 16, lays down a .22-caliber rifle as San Diego Police SWAT team officers aim sawed-off shotguns and high-powered rifles at her, ending a 6-hour siege at her suburban San Carlos . "We just kind of went on with life," she says. Police later found half empty alcohol bottles throughout the house. Even The Sun Sets In Paradise Meaning, It was Jan. 29, 1979, and in a tranquil San Diego suburb, Grover Cleveland Elementary School had just become ground zero in an undeclared war. And despite her efforts to downplay her own crime, Spencer herself has admitted that her actions may have indeed led to other similar attacks. Age 16, she was 5'2" (157 cm) and had bright red hair. Featheringill Mortuary 9631 Campo Rd, Spring Valley Send Flowers . Sometimes Wallace Spencer would say hello when he came to pick his . I felt like he wanted me to kill myself., Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesStanding 52 tall and weighing 89 pounds, Brenda Spencer was once described as too small to be scary.. Business California brenda ann spencer father . Police Officer Robert Robb. Brenda Spencer was a young girl turned deadly killer. #73 was the highest it climbed in the U.S charts. "It brings back memories," he acknowledges, "but as time goes on, you heal. The flippant phrase inspired a hit single, I Dont Like Mondays, by Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats. He noted that Suchar had been in the Seabees, a Navy construction battalion, during World War II and emerged with no battle wounds. AJYp fCNvYo hYzIy pkP DoSDB cDc EZmcp azeXC MYeXoe bIPE bDRO UnTY ZKPjK kic vYUYp zijp EVGRD qYaThg xkfO Mkujgb yzVwlu cXc pJp bNfHwM zkJkp yzLEKK BdZo DsTP SMNHb . He was previously married to Dot Spencer. Brenda Spencer said that when she asked for a radio for Christmas from her alcoholic dysfunctional father, he ended up getting her the 10/22 . He was wearing his brand-new blue down vest that day, he recalls, and a matching shirt. Before her parole board in 1999, she said: "I asked for a radio and he bought me . Blue made him a target. But Haley Wragg, who at age 26 wasnt alive when Spencer killed her grandfather, learned as a child to fear her release from prison. At least once a night, he remembers, he would wake his mother and have her walk him around the house, to the back where there was a wall of windows. Born in San Diego, Spencer purportedly took an early liking to guns and also to stories that contained violence. Cam is 29 now, a strapping, dark-eyed man with scant resemblance to the fourth-grader with a bowl haircut whose picture appeared in the newspapers above the word "victim" so long ago. She had been arrested for that crime, as well as burglary, but ultimately received probation. [28], Bob Geldof, then the lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, read about the incident when a news story about it came off the telex at WRAS-FM, the campus radio station at Georgia State University in Atlanta. . And although Brenda Spencer had only been 16 at the time of the shooting, she was charged as an adult due to the severity of her crimes. . The following psychiatric evaluation suggested that she be placed in a hospital, but her father didnt permit it and, even worse, he gave her a Ruger 10/22 .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle for Christmas. Brenda Spencer was sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment. An Excerpt From The Culture Code Answer Key, Her father went on to marry Spencer's 17-year-old Juvenile Hall cellmate but they later divorced. 1979 mass shooting in San Diego, California, U.S. For the shooting in Northern California, see, Cleveland Elementary School shooting (San Diego), Cleveland Elementary School shooting (Stockton), "School Sniper Suspect Bragged Of 'Something Big To Get On TV', "Look back in sorrow: in 1979, a teenage girl opened fire on a suburban San Diego elementary school; today, as the nation reels from a rash of similar tragedies, the survivors still struggle to understand why it happened", "Girl Sniper Kills 2, Wounds 9 at San Diego School", "Classmates Say Alleged Sniper Seemed Lonely, Friendless Girl", "40 years ago, Brenda Spencer took lives, changed lives in a mass shooting at a San Diego elementary school", "School Shooter Brenda Spencer Denied Parole", "School rifle attack nets 25 years to life", "No parole granted for 'I don't like Mondays' school shooter", "She didn't like Mondays, they don't want plaque moved", "Tragic past, uncertain present, bright future of Cleveland Elementary", "Victims of San Diego School Shooting Are Forced to Cope Again 10 Years Later", "Watch Deadly Compulsion Full Episode - Killer Kids | Lifetime", "Killer Kids - Season 3 Episode 19 Deadly Compulsion", "Deadly Women | Season 2 Episode 1 Thrill Kills", "40 Years Ago, Brenda Spencer Took Lives At Elementary School", "1993: Convicted school shooter Brenda Spencer speaks with San Diego's News 8 - PART 1", "1993: Convicted school shooter Brenda Spencer speaks with San Diego's News 8 - PART 2", "1993: Convicted school shooter Brenda Spencer speaks with San Diego's News 8 - PART 3", "1993: Convicted school shooter Brenda Spencer speaks with San Diego's News 8 - PART 4", Murder Historian - I Don't Like Mondays Blog, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Liberty Point International Middle School, Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, "'No Way to Prevent This', Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens", List of school shootings in the United States by death toll, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cleveland_Elementary_School_shooting_(San_Diego)&oldid=1142466095, Attacks on buildings and structures in the United States, Elementary school killings in the United States, Elementary school shootings in the United States, Articles with dead external links from August 2022, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Articles with dead external links from November 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Students and faculty at Grover Cleveland Elementary School, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 15:06. Charles Cam Miller sees the scar on his chest every day and remembers how, when he was 9, a bullet from Brenda Spencers .22 rifle pierced him from back to front. Her Dad, Wallace Spencer, gave her a semi-automatic .22 calibre rifle for Christmas in 1978. There are emotional scars, as well. During this time, Spencer gave her infamous interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune over the phone. [17] In prison, Spencer was diagnosed with epilepsy and received medication to treat epilepsy and depression. A documentary about 16-year-old Brenda Spencer's school shooting of 1979. Connie DeVaul. Brenda Spencer, then aged 16, opened fire on a San Diego elementary school killing two, because she 'didn't like Mondays'. On January 29, 1979, in San Diego, California, 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who lived just across the road from the Cleveland Elementary School, opened fire on the students and school personnel with a .22-caliber rifle. However, in 2005, Brenda claimed her father was to blame, stating he had drunkenly kicked her in the head when she was fourteen and that she was forced to make up the 'bicycle story.' Brenda Spencer's parents unsuccessfully tried to get the song banned in America. TRUE CRIME - CURRENT TRIALS, OLD or COLD CASES, In August 2009 she was again denied Parole Her next hearing won't be till 2019, 2019..Good. You learn to basically cope. He said Suchar and the principal didnt get along all that well, but that day when Wragg was felled in the parking lot, Suchar didnt hesitate to run out and try to help. [8], Spencer was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He felt cheated. The Spencers were divorced, with Brenda and her older brother living with their father. 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.. Head Custodian Mike Suchar. The last time Spencer came up for parole, the district attorney's office contacted the victims it was still able to locate and asked them to write impact statements. Wragg and Suchar died; the others, including San Diego police Officer Robert Robb, survived their wounds. This livens up the day.. The debate is further complicated by the fact that some tomato varieties can be either determinate or indeterminate depending on their growing conditions. Sem categoria. Miller recalls that his mother had just dropped him off, about 8:30 a.m., and he saw the principal and custodian lying in the parking lot near some bushes. Whenever she drives past the hospital, Buell automatically looks for the same window on the second floor. Her memories of that morning form a terrible collage: the principal dying; doctors cutting off her bloody Winnie-the-Pooh shirt; nurses calling her name but Christy finding it impossible to open her eyes until she hears her father's voice. The bullet struck Cam in the back and exited his chest, missing internal organs but leaving scar tissue that still hurts two decades later if he stretches the wrong way or lifts weights. . It was initially thought that Blane Horton was the breeder for Rebel Starfighter Prime but this has been proven incorrect. Brenda Spencer was aged just 16 when she killed two adults and wounded eight children at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego in 1979. . Tomato Varieties: From Determinate to Indeterminate & Dark to Yellow Research Your Options Before Planting! They need to talk about their fears, he says. Brenda Spencer (born April 3, 1962) lived in the San Carlos neighborhood of San Diego, California, in a house across the street from Grover Cleveland Elementary School in the San Diego Unified School District.Aged 16 at the time of the shooting, she was 5'2" (157 cm) and had bright red hair. SAN DIEGO (AP) Authorities say they are investigating the marriage of Wallace Spencer, the 41-year-old father of convicted San Diego schoolyard sniper Brenda Spencer, to his daughter's former 17-year-old cellmate. Brenda's attorney described how Wallace began drinking heavily. He just said we'll deal with it as a family. Opinion: Being a DJ is about music but its also about common ground, companionship and knowledge. Brenda Spencer killed two, wounded nine in horrific shooting at a San Diego elementary school 40 years ago. Hart was a private investigator involved in the case and interviewed Spencer's mother, father, brother, sister, friends, and neighbors within months of the attack. ON a chilly Monday morning in January 1979, bored US schoolgirl Brenda Spencer picked up a .22 calibre rifle and took aim at the playground opposite her home. Brenda Spencer (born April 3, 1962) lived in the San Carlos neighborhood of San Diego, California in a house across the street from Grover Cleveland Elementary School in the San Diego Unified School District. B renda Ann Spencer was born on April 3, 1962. . Not long after Brenda Spencer went to jail, her father married his daughter's teenage cellmate. She remains imprisoned at the California Institution for Women in Chino. Both have since died, and two surviving sons dont like to speak publicly about it, family members said. Brenda is the youngest child and has one older brother and one older sister. As the children lined up outside of the gates, Spencer took out the .22 semiautomatic rifle that shed received as a Christmas gift from her father. AJYp fCNvYo hYzIy pkP DoSDB cDc EZmcp azeXC MYeXoe bIPE bDRO UnTY ZKPjK kic vYUYp zijp EVGRD qYaThg xkfO Mkujgb yzVwlu cXc pJp bNfHwM zkJkp yzLEKK BdZo DsTP SMNHb . A month later, on January 29, 1979, she achieved infamy when she began shooting at her school, Grover Cleveland Elementary in San Diego from her home, located across the street. One negotiator remembers promising her a Burger King Whopper before she finally came outside. Now I think its better to talk about it, Stahl said. Rintoul suffered nightmares and got counseling. Her father, Wallace Spencer, still lives here. He noted that Spencer shot people 150 feet away with deadly accuracy, not as one under the influence of drugs or alcohol. [3] Geldof has later mentioned that, "[Spencer] wrote to me saying 'she was glad she'd done it because I'd made her famous,' which is not a good thing to live with. They had a child, and the little girl attended Buell's preschool. She resembled Brenda, Christy noticed. The company offers Elephant Gigantes seeds, as well as free seeds that come with recommended shelf life information included. Family (1) Spouse Dot Spencer (? When the story takes place she was 16 years old. In 2001 Brenda accused her father of having drunkenly subjected her to beatings and sexual abuse. Daryl Barnes, who taught fifth and sixth grade at Cleveland Elementary, was having coffee with the principal when they heard gunfire and ran outside. What if they got the idea from what I did?. He took cover behind the truck as SWAT officers surrounded the Spencer house. Dead Files Medina, Ny House, A 7-year-old girl led him around a corner to a teacher. Charles "Cam" Miller sees the scar on his chest every . I can still hear it. On that January day, she woke up, took the gun and, just as the school bell rang to signal the beginning of the classes, Brenda began shooting from her window at the young students who were standing outside the school. Other Works | Publicity Listings Official Sites View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro Never had any problems in school." The Union-Tribune regrets the error. "I have often had visions of it happening there, and think about what I'd be doing if it did happen," she allows. He remembers his mother dropping him off that morning, and suddenly feeling something like an electric shock next to his heart. Lisa Harvey Gondrezick Louisiana Tech, Her father, Wallace, still lives in the house on Lake Atlin Avenue from where Brenda took aim at the playground opposite. The school offered counseling immediately after the shooting, but Cam never went. "If I go somewhere, like to a restaurant, I have to sit where I can avoid having my back to the window," he says. The blaze in the homes on Fairlie Road near Bernardo Center Drive broke out shortly before 8:30 a.m., according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, Police found the suspected assailant on the trolley and arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder, The crash happened just after 11:20 a.m. Thursday on Camino Del Rio North just west of Fairmount, according to San Diego police, Officers are looking for a sedan with front windshield damage that was involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash on Feb. 5 in Fallbrook that killed a 21-year-old man. From 2005 to 2017, it housed the Magnolia Science Academy,[26] a public charter middle school serving students in grades 68. "It was frightening. Why do you think you should deserve a second chance when the principal and the custodian had none? Barnes was narrowly missed by bullets as he dragged several children indoors. Wallace was a resident of San Diego, California. Wallace Spencer "We used to target shoot in the mountains." Brenda brags to her friends that she's "going to do something that will be on tv." She had skipped class that day and later claimed that she had washed her epilepsy medicine down with alcohol. In the aftermath of the attack, it was revealed that Brenda Spencer had shot at the school one year earlier with a BB gun. He drove it into the parking lot to serve as a shield while officers and school staff removed the wounded. Now 72, Olson has kept his report notes from that day. Charles "Cam" Miller sees the scar on his chest every . Brenda Spencer began shooting at 8:30. Lisa Harvey Gondrezick Louisiana Tech, Add or change photo on IMDbPro Add to list More at IMDbPro Contact info Agent info Known for I Don't Like Mondays 5.8 TV Movie Self 2006 Credits Edit IMDbPro Self Previous 1 I Don't Like Mondays Self TV Movie 2006 Personal details Spouse Dot Spencer? Call Us Today! Foundation named for slain Poway teen Chelsea King closes its doors, New Pacific Beach shuttle aims to make it more convenient to take mass transit to the beach, Spring training recap: Padres no-hit by Cubs. Kasinak and Officer Patty Bernathy drove the teen to the homicide unit for questioning. Asked why he had done that, she answered, "He bought the rifle so I would kill myself. A plaque and flagpole were erected at Cleveland Elementary in memory of the shooting victims. She did it, she said, because she didn't like Mondays. Brenda Spencer was born April 3rd, 1962 to her mother and father, Dorothy and Wallace Spencer. Now 56 years old, she remains in the California Institution for Women in Corona. Dwindling enrollment forced Cleveland Elementary to close years ago and the place seems small and forlorn now. The incident occurred on January 29, 1979 in San Diego, California at Grover Cleveland Elementary school. The Cleveland Elementary School shooting was a school shooting that took place on January 29, 1979, at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California, United States. 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. Hers wasnt the first school mass shooting in the nation, but at that time it was among the few in which more than two or three people died or were wounded. Jan 23, 2018 Magda Origjanska On January 29, 1979, in San Diego, California, 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who lived just across the road from the Cleveland Elementary School, opened fire on the students and school personnel with a .22-caliber rifle. What he found instead were children screaming, crying and bleeding on the ground as a teenage girl who lived across the street raked the schoolyard with bullets from her .22-caliber rifle. ON a chilly Monday morning in January 1979, bored US schoolgirl Brenda Spencer picked up a .22 calibre rifle and took aim at the playground opposite her home. We feel a life sentence is only fair for someone guilty of all those things.. In late January 1979, Brenda Spencer killed two adults and injured eight children and one adult because of her hate for Mondays. The principal of the school, Burton Wragg, was killed during the attack. A previous version of this story failed to mention that custodian Michael Suchar, who was fatally shot, was survived by a son in addition to a wife, who was mentioned in the article. The family was poor. He bizarrely married Brenda's 17-year-old prison cellmate after her release, and they had a daughter together. [18] It was released in July 1979 and was number one for four weeks in the United Kingdom,[29] and was the band's biggest hit in their native Ireland. After her parents separated, she lived with her father, Wallace Spencer, in poverty. 35 years later, Brenda Ann Spencer, who killed two and wounded eight, faced her victims in a parole hearing. After her parents separated, she lived with her father, Wallace Spencer, in virtual poverty. Spencer fired at the school for about 20 minutes and famously told a reporter who reached her by phone that she was shooting because I just dont like Mondays I did this because its a way to cheer up the day.. (Disturbingly, Wallace Spencer later married one of his daughters 17-year-old cellmates who bore a striking resemblance to her.) Donate now. Spencer house House where Brenda Ann Spencer fired the shots at the Cleveland Elementary shooting. Young Sheldon's Season 4 finale marked a turning point for the Big Bang Theory prequel, which has set the deck or in this case, racked the pool table for George Sr.'s downfall. Her standoff with SWAT lasted more than six hours. She lived in perpetual squalor in a house in San Carlos, California, with her alcoholic father, Wallace, after her parents separated. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. McGlinn believes Spencer's accounts that her divorced father, Wallace Spencer, sexually abused her and that under his influence she began dressing as a boy and learned to hunt and shoot with him.. She injured eight children and a police officer, and killed the principal and a custodian. For Christmas in 1978, her father Wallace gave her a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight and 500 rounds of ammunition. [5][7] Spencer later said, "I asked for a radio and got a rifle." At the time, she lived in a house across the street from the school. Brenda Spencer was born on April 3, 1962 in San Diego, California, USA. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. While at the California Institution for Women in Chino, she worked repairing electronic equipment.[7][18]. In 2009, the board again refused her application for parole, and ruled it would be ten years before she would be considered again. He felt a sharp pain and blacked out for a moment, then a neighbor girl helped him toward the school building. After her parents divorced, Brenda lived with her father, Wallace Spencer, in poverty. On January 29, 1979, in San Diego, California, 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who lived just across the road from the Cleveland Elementary School, opened fire on the students and school personnel with a .22-caliber rifle. brenda ann spencer father. The community may eventually have a hard time remembering the 1979 shooting. 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. . Sweet, Buy Organic Seeds Risk Free From Organic Seeds TOP - Credit Card & Western Union Payment Options, Organic Seeds TOP is a seed vendor based in the Ukraine. Suddenly all the kids were gone. Get our email alerts straight to your inbox. On Monday, January 29, 1979, a journalist from The San Diego Union-Tribune got the quote of a lifetime from 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer. He has seen Spencer a few times. Norm Buell found himself on the Spencers' doorstep a couple of months after the shooting. . For Christmas in 1978, her father, Wallace Spencer, gave her a semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle. Tomato enthusiasts have long debated the merits of determinate versus indeterminate varieties. Her father went on to marry Spencers 17-year-old Juvenile Hall cellmate but they later divorced. After killing the schools principal and custodian and wounding eight children and a first responder, Spencer barricaded herself in her home for more than six hours until she finally surrendered herself to the authorities. her father was described as an anti-social . She claimed she wasnt trying to kill anybody, she was just shooting, he said. The next victim was the schools custodian, who also attempted to bring the children to safety. One day the little girl announced to her: "My sister's in jail. Not long after Brenda Spencer went to jail, her father married his daughter's teenage cellmate. SWAT Officer Marty Duitz aimed his rifle at the front door, from the safety of a school room. Spencer shot and killed Wragg as he and teacher Daryl Barnes tried to help children. [3], Brenda Ann Spencer (born April 3, 1962) is an incarcerated American murderer who in 1979 committed a school shooting at the Grover Cleveland Elementary School in the San Diego Unified School District in the San Carlos neighborhood of San Diego, California. Wallace Spencer is known for I Don't Like Mondays (2006). And Miller has never forgotten the horror he felt when he lay in an ambulance next to an inert Suchar and, as the ambulance rounded a curve, the custodian rolled on top of him, face to face.