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{{Short description|2005 shooting spree in Red Lake, Minnesota, US}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Red Lake shootings
| caption =
| map = {{Location map|Minnesota#USA
|float=center
|label = Red Lake
|lat_deg = 48.155
|lon_deg = -95.1022
}}
| ___location = [[Red Lake, Minnesota|Red Lake]], [[Minnesota]], U.S.
| target = Students and staff at [[Red Lake Senior High School]]
| date = {{start date and age|2005|03|21}}
| coordinates = {{Coord|48|09|18|N|95|06|08|W|type:event_region:US-MN|display=it}}
| time-begin = 2:47
| time-end = 2:58 p.m.
| timezone = [[UTC-6]]
| type = [[Mass shooting]], [[school shooting]], [[mass murder]], [[murder-suicide]], [[spree shooting]], [[shootout]], [[parricide]]
| fatalities = 10 (including the perpetrator, 7 at the school; the grandfather at home and grandfather's girlfriend)
| injuries = 9
| perp = Jeffrey James “Jeff” Weise
| weapons = *[[.40 S&W| .40 caliber]] [[Glock 22]] [[semi-automatic pistol]]
*[[.22 Long Rifle| .22 caliber]] [[Ruger MK II]] [[semi-automatic pistol]]
*[[Gauge (firearms)#Gauges in use|12-gauge]] [[Remington 870|Remington 870 Police Magnum]] [[pump-action shotgun]]
* [[AR-15-style rifle|AR-15-style rifle]] (unused and left at home)
| dfen = Jeffrey May
| motive = Inconclusive
}}
The '''Red Lake shootings''' was a [[spree killer|spree killing]] that occurred on March 21, 2005, at two locations on the [[Red Lake Indian Reservation]] in [[Red Lake, Minnesota|Red Lake]], [[Minnesota]], United States. That afternoon at 2:00 p.m., 16-year-old Jeff Weise killed his grandfather (an [[Ojibwe people|Ojibwe]] [[Indian tribal police|tribal police]] sergeant) and his grandfather's girlfriend at their lakeside home. After taking his grandfather's police weapons and bulletproof vest, Weise drove his grandfather's police vehicle to [[Red Lake Senior High School]], where he had been a student some months before.
Weise shot and killed seven people at the school and wounded at least 9 others. The dead included an unarmed [[security guard]] at the entrance of the school, a teacher, and five students. After the police arrived, Weise [[Shootout|exchanged gunfire with them]]. After being wounded, he shot and killed himself with a [[pump action]] shotgun inside a classroom. At the time, it was the deadliest school shooting in the United States since the [[Columbine High School massacre]]. It remains the [[List of school shootings in the United States by death toll|deadliest school shooting]] in [[Minnesota]] history.
== Background ==
At the time of the shooting, by some accounts, Jeff Weise was living with his paternal grandfather, Daryl Lussier Sr., a sergeant with the Red Lake Police Department, run by the [[Ojibwe people|Ojibwe]] (aka Chippewa) tribal government at the [[Red Lake Indian Reservation]]. The household included his grandfather's 32-year-old girlfriend, Michelle Leigh Sigana.<ref name="Haga2005" />
The reservation of the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe is in northwest [[Minnesota]] and is one of two nationally that are "closed"; only Ojibwe tribal members may live and own land there. Its residents suffer high rates of unemployment, violence, and suicide. Housing is poor, and many students do not finish [[high school (North America)|high school]].<ref name="Maag2005">{{Cite magazine |last=Maag |first=Chris |date=2005-03-27 |title=The Devil in Red Lake |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1042470,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102203851/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1042470,00.html |archive-date=2012-11-02 |access-date=2012-12-19 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Work opportunities are limited on the reservation, which has a population of more than 5,000. A study in 2004 found that a high proportion of students in high school had thought of suicide.<ref name="Sevcik2005">{{Cite news |last=Sevcik |first=Kimberly |date=2005-08-08 |title=Reservation for Death |url=http://www.salon.com/2005/08/08/red_lake/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107111013/http://www.salon.com/2005/08/08/red_lake/ |archive-date=2014-01-07 |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The nearest grocery stores are {{Convert|32|mi|km}} away from Red Lake in [[Bemidji, Minnesota|Bemidji]].<ref name="Hastings2005">{{Cite news |last=Hastings |first=Deborah |date=2005-03-24 |title=Red Lake tribe poor, isolated and private |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/red-lake-tribe-poor-isolated-and-private/ |access-date=2023-09-14 |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Shootings ==
=== Lakeside Home shooting ===
On the day of the shootings, at 2:47 p.m., Weise retrieved a [[.22 LR|.22 caliber]] [[Ruger MKII]] [[pistol]] from his bedroom and fatally shot his grandfather as he was sleeping; he shot him two times in the head and ten times in the chest. According to Weise's friends, the teenager may have had the gun for as long as a year. He took Lussier's two police-issue weapons, a [[.40 S&W|.40 caliber]] [[Glock 22]] [[pistol]] and a [[Gauge (bore diameter)#Gauges in use|12 gauge]] [[Remington 870]] [[pump-action]] [[shotgun]], a [[gun belt]] and a bulletproof vest.<ref name="Helms2005">{{Cite news |last=Helms |first=Marisa |date=2005-03-25 |title=Shooting fuels debate over safety of Prozac for teens |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/25_helmsm_prozacfolo/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318022256/http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/25_helmsm_prozacfolo/ |archive-date=2013-03-18 |access-date=2012-12-18 |work=[[Minnesota Public Radio]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Weise then fatally shot Sigana, his grandfather's girlfriend, two times in the head as she carried laundry up the stairs.<ref name="O’Toole2013">{{Cite book |last=O’Toole |first=Mary Ellen |title=School Shootings: International Research, Case Studies, and Concepts for Prevention |date=2013 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |isbn=978-1-4614-5526-4 |editor-last=Böckler |editor-first=Nils |place=New York, NY |pages=177–188 |language=en |chapter=Jeffrey Weise and the Shooting at Red Lake Minnesota High School: A Behavioral Perspective |doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-5526-4_8 |editor2-last=Seeger |editor2-first=Thorsten |editor3-last=Sitzer |editor3-first=Peter |editor4-last=Heitmeyer |editor4-first=Wilhelm}}</ref>{{Rp|page=178}}
=== Red Lake High School shooting ===
Weise then drove his grandfather's [[Police car|squad car]] to [[Red Lake Senior High School]] where he arrived two minutes later at 2:49 p.m.<ref name=":0" /> and rammed the vehicle into the school building.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://vault.fbi.gov/red-lake-high-school-shooting/rRed%20Lake%20High%20School%20Shooting%20Part%2001%20of%2011/view |title=FBI Investigation of Red Lake High School Shooting |date=2005-03-30 |publisher=[[FBI]] |volume=1 |page=37 |language=en-US |access-date=2025-02-04}}</ref> As he entered the school through the main entrance, he encountered two unarmed security guards manning a [[metal detector]]. Weise shot and killed security guard Derrick Brun with the shotgun, while the other security guard, Leann Grant, escaped without injury, warning students and teachers to take cover.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-03-22 |title=MPR: Recounting the horror in Red Lake shooting spree |url=https://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/22_gundersond_redlakeday2/ |access-date=2024-03-02 |work=[[Minnesota Public Radio]] |language=en-US |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]]}}</ref><ref name="FBI">{{Cite report |url=https://vault.fbi.gov/red-lake-high-school-shooting |title=FBI Investigation of Red Lake High School Shooting |date= |publisher=[[FBI]] |language=en-US |access-date=2024-03-02}}</ref> Weise proceeded into the main corridor of the school, shooting English teacher Neva Rogers who was pushing a computer cart and conversing with students in the hallway. The students scattered and Rogers ran to knock on Missy Dodd's classroom door. She was let in and initiated lockdown procedures, turning off lights, locking the door, and ushering the students under the tables.<ref name="FBI" />
Not long after Neva Rogers entered Missy Dodd's room, at 2:51 p.m.,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2005-04-12 |title=Red Lake Massacre Took 3 Minutes - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/red-lake-massacre-took-3-minutes/ |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Weise shot out the glass panel next to the classroom door, reached his arm through, unlocked the door, and stepped into Dodd's study hall. There were fifteen students and three adults in the room.<ref name="FBI" /><ref name="Peterson2021">{{Cite book |last=Peterson |first=Jillian |title=The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic |publisher=[[Abrams Books|Abrams]] |year=2021 |isbn=9781647002275 |language=en-US}}</ref> Neva Rogers began to pray, crying "God be with us!" Weise shot her in the head several times, killing her instantly.<ref name="Maag2005" />
The shooter then told students, "If any of you believe in God, now would be a good time to call in a favor."<ref name="FBI" /> Weise approached a group of students, asking, "Do you guys believe in God?"<ref name="FBI" /><ref name="Rosengren2005" /> One student, Chon'gai'la Morris replied no, and his life was spared.<ref name="Rosengren2005" /> The rest of the group said nothing, and as a result were shot at.<ref name="Rosengren2005" /> The shooter then turned and asked other students the same question; those who replied in the affirmative or hesitated to answer were wounded or killed.<ref name="FBI" /><ref name="Peterson2021" />
Jeffrey May, a 16-year-old [[Tenth grade#United States|sophomore]], tried to wrestle Weise inside the classroom and stabbed him in the stomach with a [[pencil]]. May's diversion allowed students to flee the classroom to safety, but Weise shot him two times in the neck and once in the jaw, leaving him seriously injured.<ref name="Maag2005" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-03-24 |title=Tales Of School Shooting Bravery, Slain Security Guard, Wounded Student Saved Others From Teen Gunman |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/24/national/main682915.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071115130912/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/24/national/main682915.shtml |archive-date=2007-11-15 |access-date=2012-12-18 |work=[[CBS News]] |language=en-US |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]]}}</ref> Weise left Dodd's room a few minutes later to search for more targets. Three students and one teacher lay dead in the class, five more students had been hurt. Weise wandered through the halls and managed to enter one more classroom, where he wounded two more students. A girl hiding inside this classroom heard, the shooter ask, "Do you believe in God?" This time, he did not wait for answers and fired immediately after posing the question.<ref name="FBI" />
Witnesses said Weise smiled as he was shooting at people. Several survivors claimed that he asked students if they believed in [[God]], shooting them if they answered yes or hesitated to answer.<ref name="FBI" /><ref name="Lennard2005">{{Cite news |last=Lennard |first=Jeremy |date=2005-03-22 |title=Ten dead in US school shooting |url=http://guardian.co.uk/usguns/Story/0,2763,1443322,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050919142743/http://www.guardian.co.uk/usguns/Story/0,2763,1443322,00.html |archive-date=2005-09-19 |access-date=2005-11-15 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> This is believed to have been a reference to a widely publicized, but alleged exchange during the 1999 [[Columbine High School massacre]] between perpetrator [[Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold|Eric Harris]] and victim [[Rachel Scott]], allegedly reported by Richard Castaldo. Weise had also used the screen name "do you believe in god."<ref name="FBI" /> Ryan Auginash was wounded when he affirmed his faith in Christianity.<ref name="FBI" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-03-23 |title=Teen who killed 9 was 'not the boy I knew' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7275159 |access-date=2024-03-02 |work=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> Lance Crowe was also wounded for refusing to answer.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
At around 2:54 p.m., Weise returned to the main entrance, where he wounded two students.<ref name="FBI" /> The police had arrived quickly and engaged him in gunfire. [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Special Agent Paul McCabe said the shootout lasted for about four minutes. None of the police officers were injured.<ref name="Lennard2005" /> After being hit three times in the lower back, right leg, and right arm by police gunfire, Weise retreated to the classroom where he had shot and killed the teacher and three students, yelling "I have hostages!"<ref name="Freed2005">{{Cite news |last1=Freed |first1=Joshua |last2=Condon |first2=Patrick |date=2005-03-31 |title=E-Mail Describes Bloody Scene Inside Red Lake High School |url=http://kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=77443 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709094008/http://kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=77443 |archive-date=2012-07-09 |work=[[KARE (TV)|KARE 11]] |language=en-US |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lake |first=Chris Maag/Red |date=2005-03-27 |title=The Devil in Red Lake |url=https://time.com/archive/6671829/the-devil-in-red-lake/ |access-date=2024-08-02 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> Weise shot and killed two more students who were hiding under tables, before leaning against a wall, putting the shotgun barrel to his chin, and firing, instantly killing himself at 2:58 p.m.<ref name="Helms2005" /><ref name=":0" />
The shootings lasted nine minutes. Weise fired a total of 59 shots during the shooting spree; 14 at his grandfather's home and 45 at the school. He fired 37 rounds from his grandfather's Glock handgun, 14 from his Ruger handgun, and eight from the shotgun.<ref name="Hughes2005">{{Cite news |last=Hughes |first=Art |date=2005-04-18 |title=Feds: Assault at Red Lake over in nine minutes |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/04/18_hughesa_redlakeupdate/ |work=[[Minnesota Public Radio]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Victims ===
A total of ten people, including the perpetrator, died in these events.<ref name="MPR2005">{{Cite news |date=2005-03-22 |title=MPR: Victims of the Red Lake shooting |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/22_ap_redlakevictims/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715040519/http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/22_ap_redlakevictims/ |archive-date=2018-07-15 |access-date=2018-06-04 |work=[[Minnesota Public Radio]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Enger |first=John |date=2015-03-18 |title=The shooting at Red Lake: The victims |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/03/18/red-lake-victims |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703022243/https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/03/18/red-lake-victims |archive-date=2018-07-03 |access-date=2018-06-04 |work=[[MPRNews]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Daryl Lussier Sr., 58, police sergeant and Weise's paternal grandfather
* Michelle Sigana, 32, Lussier's girlfriend
* Derrick Brun, 28, security guard
* Neva Rogers, 62, English teacher
* Alicia White, 14, student<ref>{{Cite news |last=Enger |first=John |date=2015-03-18 |title=Feeling scars at Red Lake, 10 years later |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/03/18/red-lake-shooting-10-years |work=[[MPRNews]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Thurlene Stillday, 15, student
* Chanelle Rosebear, 15, student
* Chase Lussier, 15, student
* Dewayne Lewis, 15, student
* Jeffrey Weise, 16, perpetrator/student
== Perpetrator ==
[[File:Jeff Weise.jpg|thumb|Jeff Weise, the perpetrator]]
'''Jeffrey James "Jeff" Weise''' (August 8, 1988 – March 21, 2005) was labeled an outsider in the Red Lake community and had recently been placed in "homebound" schooling for breaking school rules.<ref name="MPR2005" /> Weise had grown up with a difficult and disrupted family life; his parents were a young unmarried couple who separated before he was born. His mother, Joanne Weise, was 17 years old at the time of his birth. Joanne's family insisted that she give up her son to the father, Daryl Lussier Jr., who lived with his parents and family in Red Lake.<ref name="Sevcik2005" /> Weise did not live with his mother again until after he was two years old, when she reclaimed him and took him to live in Minneapolis. In later online postings, Weise wrote that his mother was an [[alcoholic]] and was sometimes [[physical abuse|physically]] and [[emotional abuse|emotionally abusive]].<ref name="Sevcik2005" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-04-03 |title=A Bloody Day on the Rez |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2005/04/03/a-bloody-day-on-the-rez.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103043443/http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2005/04/03/a-bloody-day-on-the-rez.html |archive-date=2012-11-03 |work=[[Newsweek]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 1992, his mother began dating a man who allegedly also abused Jeff.<ref name="Harden2005">
{{Cite news |last1=Harden |first1=Blaine |last2=Hedgpeth |first2=Dana |date=2005-03-25 |title=Minnesota Killer Chafed at Life On Reservation |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64315-2005Mar24.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203140246/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64315-2005Mar24.html |archive-date=2017-12-03 |access-date=2012-12-20 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en-US}}
</ref> After having two children, the couple married on June 27, 1998.<ref name="TheOjibweNews2005">{{Cite news |date=2005-03-25 |title=Jeffrey Weise |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-108594449.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104212137/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-108594449.html |archive-date=2012-11-04 |work=The Ojibwe News |via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref><ref name="Davey2005" /> Weise moved around often because of his mother, and attended several different schools during his adolescence. In 2002, Weise was forced to repeat the eighth grade because of failing grades and truancy; he enrolled in a [[special education]] program at the school called the Learning Center. Beginning in middle school, Weise was frequently taunted and bullied by other students.<ref name="Rave2006">
{{Cite news |last=Rave |first=Jodi |date=2006-10-26 |title=Teen suicides series, Part 1: Family still struggling to understand teenager's rampage in Minnesota - Sunday, July 10, 2005 |url=http://missoulian.com/jodirave/article_cad5494b-ffaf-55e4-b62b-388c05f40b90.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717160134/http://missoulian.com/jodirave/article_cad5494b-ffaf-55e4-b62b-388c05f40b90.html |archive-date=2015-07-17 |access-date=2012-12-23 |work=[[Missoulian]] |language=en-US}}
</ref>
In 1997, when Weise was eight years old, his father died by suicide at the age of 32; he shot himself with a shotgun after a days-long standoff with Red Lake [[Indian tribal police|tribal police]].<ref name="Sevcik2005" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Davey |first=Monica |date=2005-03-27 |title=Tribe Buries 3 on a Long Road to Healing |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/us/tribe-buries-3-on-a-long-road-to-healing.html |access-date=2019-08-16 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Weise's grandfather, Daryl Lussier Sr., was a sergeant with the tribal police and involved in the standoff.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Langman |first=Peter |title=School Shooters: Understanding High School, College, and Adult Perpetrators |date=2015-01-15 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers]] |isbn=978-1442233560 |pages=73 |language=en-US |author-link=Peter Langman}}</ref> Two years later, his mother was in an alcohol-related car accident and suffered severe brain damage. She had to be [[commitment (mental health)|committed]] to a nursing home for rehabilitation.<ref name="Huffstutter2005">{{Cite news |last=Huffstutter |first=P.J. |date=2005-03-24 |title=Red Lake Reservation Readies Burial Rituals |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-mar-24-na-shooting24-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419052625/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/mar/24/nation/na-shooting24 |archive-date=2012-04-19 |access-date=2012-12-18 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Davey2005">{{Cite news |last1=Davey |first1=Monica |last2=Wilgoren |first2=Jodi |date=2005-03-24 |title=Signs of Danger Were Missed in Troubled Teenager's Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/us/signs-of-danger-were-missed-in-a-troubled-teenagers-life.html |access-date=2019-08-16 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Weise was placed in the custody of his paternal grandmother, having to leave Minneapolis, where he had lived most of his life, to live with her and other paternal relatives on the Red Lake reservation.<ref name="Harden2005" /><ref name="Rave2005">{{Cite news |last=Rave |first=Jodi |date=2005-07-11 |title=Family still struggling to understand teenager's rampage in Minnesota |url=https://missoulian.com/jodirave/family-still-struggling-to-understand-teenager-s-rampage-in-minnesota/article_04bf17a5-82bf-5f8b-a35f-36e809538bfc.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2019-08-16 |work=[[Missoulian]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
Weise became close to his paternal grandfather and his younger companion, Michelle Sigana, who had given him his own room with them. The family said he had a good relationship with both.<ref name="Haga2005">
{{Cite news |last1=Haga |first1=Chuck |date=2005-03-25 |title=Family: Teen had 'a good relationship' with the grandfather he killed |url=http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/counseling-grandfather.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929152529/http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/counseling-grandfather.htm |archive-date=2011-09-29 |access-date=2012-12-18 |work=[[Star Tribune]] |language=en-US |via=antidepressantsfacts.com}}
</ref> In 2000, his mother and her husband separated; they completed the divorce in May 2004. Their custody arrangements covered only the children they had together, and not Weise.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hanners |first=David |date=2005-03-26 |title=Web postings show many sides to Weise |work=[[Duluth News-Tribune]] |page=1A |language=en-US}}</ref> By 2003, his mother had moved to an assisted-living facility; she had recovered enough from her accident to work part-time, and had regained speech. Weise chose to stay with his grandmother rather than rejoin his mother and move again.<ref name="Rave2006" />
In September 2003, Weise enrolled at Red Lake Senior High School in Red Lake. Teachers and fellow students remembered him as withdrawn, and he reportedly had a history of troublesome behavior. At times he was referred to be homeschooled. His grandmother said he had not been in school for five weeks before the shooting.<ref name="Harden2005" /> His social studies teacher Wanda Baxter recalled, "[Weise] was a good listener like any other ordinary student. He was quiet but never a troublemaker."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gunderson |first=Dan |date=2005-03-23 |title=MPR: Who was Jeff Weise? |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/22_ap_redlakesuspect/ |access-date=2012-03-14 |work=[[Minnesota Public Radio]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Another teacher described Weise as "a pretty bright kid, but ... lazy when it came to school."<ref name="Bakken2002">
{{Cite news |last=Bakken |first=Ryan |date=2002-02-15 |title=Teen "seemed lost in life" |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/teen-seemed-lost-in-life/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110172251/http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/teen-seemed-lost-in-life/ |archive-date=2016-01-10 |access-date=2012-03-14 |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |language=en-US}}
</ref> Several students remembered Weise as being non-violent.<ref name="Sevcik2005" /> A close friend of Weise described him as "the only one I talked to about my problems. He was trustworthy, and he was always capable of understanding what I was going through", and other students also said they could talk to him.<ref name="Maag2005" /><ref name="Sevcik2005" />
=== Internet activities ===
Weise was discovered to have been quite active on the Internet. According to ''[[The Smoking Gun]]'', Weise created two violent [[Adobe Flash|Flash]] animations for the flash website [[Newgrounds]], using the alias "Regret". One animation, entitled "Target Practice", features a character who murders three people with a [[rifle]], blows up a police car with a grenade, and kills a [[Ku Klux Klan|Klansman]]. The 30-second animation ends with the shooter putting the gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger. Weise had created another Flash animation, entitled "Clown", in which a [[clown]] kills a man by eating his head.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-03-23 |title=School Killer's Animated Terror |url=http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0323051weise1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324041214/http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0323051weise1.html |archive-date=2005-03-24 |website=[[The Smoking Gun]] |language=en-US}}</ref> A [[LiveJournal]] account, apparently created by Weise, contained three entries posted between December 2004 and January 2005. The [[weblog]] was customized to be rendered in black and white. In his posts, Weise expressed his desire for change and salvation in his life.<ref name="Davey2005" /> He was also interested in [[zombies]], and under the alias "Blades11", he would publish short stories he wrote online about humans trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse to the website "Rise of the Dead".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-03-22 |title=Troubled Life Of Minnesota Shooter - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/troubled-life-of-minnesota-shooter/ |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
''[[The Guardian]]'' and [[CBS News]] alleged that Weise had an account called Todesengel (German: 'angel of death') on nazi.org, a [[Neo-nazi|neo-Nazi]] website operated by the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party. On a talkboard hosted by nazi.org, there were many entries signed by someone going by the name Jeff Weise, who stated that he was a Native American from Red Lake. These entries criticized interracial marriage on the reservation and shamed Native American teens for listening to rap music, claiming it makes them violent.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Left |first=Sarah |date=2005-03-22 |title=A neo-nazi 'angel of death' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/mar/22/usa.usgunviolence1 |access-date=2023-09-07 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="CBSNews2005" />
According to reports, Weise spent great amounts of time online on blogging sites.<ref name="Davey2005" /> One such blog included a [[Neo-Nazi]] [[Internet forum]] of the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party. The posts revealed an admiration for the ideas of [[Adolf Hitler]], and interests in persuading other Native Americans as to the merits of those ideas. On one occasion, he fought with a pupil whom he referred to as a "[[communism|communist]]". He also alleged that the school was warned that someone was going to "shoot up" the school on April 20, the birthday of [[Adolf Hitler]] and the anniversary of the [[Columbine High School massacre]], and that the school authorities "pinned" the threat on him. According to one of Weise's classmates, the shooter was "obsessed" with the Columbine High School shooting incident.<ref name="FBI" /> In one of his online accounts, he listed the films [[Zero Day (2003 film)|''Zero Day'']] (2003) and [[Elephant (2003 film)|''Elephant'']] (2003), two films about pairs of students who plan out then carry out shooting attacks on their respective high schools, as two of his favorite films.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-03-24 |title=Warning signs plentiful, young man acted out on Internet |url=https://www.inforum.com/newsmd/warning-signs-plentiful-young-man-acted-out-on-internet |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=InForum |language=en}}</ref>
=== Motives ===
Police investigators began searching for a motive behind the shootings. According to their findings and media reports, Weise was often [[bullying|bullied]] or teased in school by classmates. A tall youth weighing 250 pounds (115 kg), he was known to wear dark [[eyeliner]],<ref name="Davey2005" /> as well as a long black [[trench coat]] and other black clothing to school year round.<ref name="Davey2005" /> He was referred to as a "[[Goth subculture|goth]] kid" by many of his classmates.<ref name="CBSNews2005">{{Cite news |date=2005-03-22 |title=Troubled Life Of Minnesota Shooter |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/troubled-life-of-minnesota-shooter/ |work=[[CBS News]] |language=en-US |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]]}}</ref> Although Weise was sometimes described as a loner, several students said he had numerous friends.<ref name="Lennard2005" /> He had a notebook in which he drew what a close friend described as "dark stuff".<ref name="Bakken2002" />
Later Weise was found to have posted numerous online comments expressing his frustration with living in Red Lake, and feelings that his life was beyond his control. He described the reservation "as a place where people 'choose alcohol over friendship', where women neglect 'their own flesh and blood' for relationships with men, where he could not escape 'the grave I'm continually digging for myself'".<ref name="Harden2005" /> His depression led him to attempt suicide in May 2004, when he cut his wrist. He changed his mind, deciding "this was not the path", and posted his thoughts on the website Above Top Secret:<ref name="Langman2009">{{Cite book |last=Langman |first=Peter |title=Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0230101487 |page=122 |language=en-US |author-link=Peter Langman}}</ref>
<blockquote>I had went through a lot of things in my life that had driven me to a darker path than most choose to take. I split the flesh on my wrist with a box opener, painting the floor of my bedroom with blood I shouldn't have spilt. After sitting there for what seemed like hours (which apparently was only minutes), I had the revelation that this was not the path. It was my dicision {{sic}} to seek medical treatment, as on the other hand I could have chose to sit there until enough blood drained from my downward lascerations on my wrists to die.</blockquote>
After he attempted suicide again the following month in June 2004, his aunts arranged with the Red Lake Medical Center for him to be hospitalized at a facility away from the reservation.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Connolly |first1=Ceci |last2=Hedgpeth |first2=Dana |date=2005-03-24 |title=Shooter Described as Deeply Disturbed |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=A12 |language=en-US}}</ref> His continuing treatment included counseling and a prescription for [[Prozac]], an [[anti-depressant]].<ref name="Haga2005" /> The extended Lussier family had been involved for years in trying to help him, and arranged for Weise to have care and psychiatric treatment for depression.<ref name="Haga2005" /> Dr. Leslie Lundt, a psychiatrist, has commented that a parent's suicide put individuals at high risk for psychological problems, as does alcohol abuse in the family.<ref name="Rave2006" />
Weise ended up staying at the Red Lake Medical Center for three days.<ref name="Huffstutter2005" /> One source said that his doctor had increased his dosage a week before the shooting, to 60 mg a day of Prozac.<ref name="Haga2005" /> His grandmother said he had not seen the doctor since February 21.<ref name="Harden2005" /> His aunts said they were concerned about the increase in his dosage.<ref name="Helms2005" />
== Aftermath ==
Buck Jourdain, Chairman of the [[Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians]], said that the shootings were "one of the darkest and most painful occurrences in the history of our tribe."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jourdain Jr. |first=Floyd |date=March 2005 |title=17-year-old charged with triple homicide |url=http://rlnn.com/ArtMar05/BucksStatement.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051018195240/http://www.rlnn.com/ArtMar05/BucksStatement.html |archive-date=2005-10-18 |work=Red Lake Net News |language=en-US}}</ref>
Louis Jourdain, the son of the Tribal Chairman Floyd "Buck" Jourdain Jr., was arrested in connection with the shootings on March 28, 2005 and charged with [[Conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]] to commit murder.<ref name="CBSNews2005a">{{Cite news |date=2005-03-30 |title=Red Lake Shooting Conspiracy? |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/red-lake-shooting-conspiracy/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716161247/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/30/national/main683990.shtml |archive-date=2007-07-16 |work=[[CBS News]] |language=en-US |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> He was charged based on several email messages which he exchanged with Weise related to plans for the Red Lake High School shooting. The government dropped the conspiracy charge; however, Jourdain pleaded guilty to transmitting threatening messages through the Internet.
Derrick Brun, the murdered security guard, was recognized for his bravery, with special recognition by President [[George W. Bush]].<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=2005-03-26 |title=President's Radio Address |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/03/text/20050326.html |website=George W. Bush White House Archives |___location=USA |publisher=George W. Bush |access-date=2025-07-11}}</ref> Jeffrey May, a sophomore injured while trying to attack Weise, was highly praised. He was featured in ''[[Reader's Digest]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2006-03-04 |title='Reader's Digest' Readers Pick Hero From Red Lake |url=http://wcco.com/redlake/Reader.s.Digest.2.356070.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112074138/http://wcco.com/redlake/Reader.s.Digest.2.356070.html |archive-date=2007-11-12 |access-date=2017-10-12 |work=[[WCCO-TV]] |language=en-US |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref name="Rosengren2005">{{Cite magazine |last=Rosengren |first=John |date=September 2005 |title=Everyday Hero: Jeff May |url=http://www.rd.com/content/everyday-hero-jeff-may/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128123043/http://www.rd.com/content/everyday-hero-jeff-may/ |archive-date=2007-11-28 |magazine=[[Reader's Digest]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
The night after the shooting, many people of the community gathered at the high school gymnasium for a healing ceremony. They performed traditional Ojibwe ceremonies and prayed.<ref name="Maag2005" /> Within days, preparations started for funerals on the reservation. Tribal members drew from Ojibwe traditions as well as [[Catholic]] rites. They "collected bundles of [[Salvia officinalis|sage]], to be given as gifts and burned during funeral ceremonies." Families picked personal items to be placed in the caskets.<ref name="Huffstutter2005" />
Weise's murders and suicide reopened the public debate about Prozac use among children and adolescents. In October 2004, the [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) had issued a warning about its use because of its association with more thoughts and acts of suicide and violence. At the time it was the only antidepressant approved for use with children.<ref name="Helms2005" />
Siblings of the victims and survivors participated in the 2018 School Walk Outs, which were designed to show respect for shooting victims seen nationally but especially in [[Stoneman Douglas High School shooting|Florida]] and Red Lake.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bowen |first=Joseph T. |date=2018-03-14 |title=At Red Lake, site of 2005 school shooting, walkout carries deep significance |url=https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/education/4417711-red-lake-site-2005-school-shooting-walkout-carries-deep-significance |access-date=2018-06-04 |work=[[The Bemidji Pioneer]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Compensation ===
After the murders and Weise's suicide, in April 2005, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians distributed 15 grants to families of victims and people affected by the shootings from a memorial fund that received $200,000 in donations from across the country. Initially, the tribe made 15 grants of $5,000 each to victims and their families, including one to Weise's relatives, to help pay for Weise's funeral and burial. Although some people objected, a tribal spokesman noted his family was not eligible for state compensation and said that they carried "a double burden."<ref name="LosAngelesTimes2005">{{Cite news |date=2005-04-15 |title=Tribe Gives Victims Aid to Shooter's Family, Citing a 'Double Burden' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-apr-15-na-redlake15-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404201136/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/apr/15/nation/na-redlake15 |archive-date=2013-04-04 |access-date=2012-12-18 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>
On July 21, 2006, the Red Lake school district reached a settlement with the families of the massacre victims. The school district agreed to pay $1,000,000 total to 21 of the victims' families, the maximum amount allowed by Minnesota law. Of the settlement, $900,000 was to be immediately granted to the families, and the remaining $100,000 to be set aside for future distribution.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miron |first=Molly |title=Judge signs $1 million order for Red Lake school shooting victims' families |url=https://www.mninjurylaw.com/html/recent-client-settlements/Judge-signs-1-million-order-for-Red-Lake-school-shooting-victims-families.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210162140/https://mninjurylaw.com/html/recent-client-settlements/Judge-signs-1-million-order-for-Red-Lake-school-shooting-victims-families.html |archive-date=2019-02-10 |access-date=2018-06-04 |website=Rodgers Law Office |language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Law|Schools}}
* [[Columbine effect]]
* [[List of massacres in Minnesota]]
* [[Mass shootings in the United States]]
* [[Contemporary Native American issues in the United States]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080704143408/http://www.rlnn.com/assets/JefferyWeise.html Jeffrey James Weise obituary], ''Red Lake Net News'' (March 25, 2005)
* [http://www.schoolshooters.info Peter Langman, PhD., ''School Shooters.info''], his website to provide discussion, links to resources and data from 10 years of research
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721232706/http://www.schoolshooters.info/PL/Subject-Weise_files/Jeffrey%20Weise%20Family%20Tree.pdf Peter Langman, "Jeffrey Weise: Family Tree"], School Shooters
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721232700/http://www.schoolshooters.info/PL/Subject-Weise_files/Jeffrey%20Weise%20timeline.pdf Peter Langman, "Biographical timeline of Jeffrey James Weise"], School Shooters
* [http://www.bluecorncomics.com/redlake.htm "Culture kills in Red Lake tragedy"], includes links to numerous articles about Red Lake Shooting, ''Blue Corn Comics''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051226010520/http://www.paulbunyan.net/rlschools/ Red Lake Schools website]
* [http://earthskyweb.com/news.htm Sota Iya Ye Yapi On-Line], Earth Sky Web
=== News articles ===
{{Wikinews-inline|Ten dead on Minnesota Indian reservation after school shooting}}
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4370617.stm "Ten killed in US school shooting"], ''[[BBC News]]'', March 22, 2005.
* Karnowski, Steve. "Shooting suspect apparently posted messages on neo-Nazi site," ''Duluth News Tribune'', March 22, 2005
* [http://slate.com/id/2099203/ "The Depressive and the Psychopath"], ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]''
* David Hanners and Beth Silva (March 24, 2005). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091710/http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/special_packages/red_lake/11214984.htm "Troubling Internet postings clash with family's view of a happy Weise"], ''[[Saint Paul Pioneer Press]]''
* [http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64317-2005Mar24.html "Native Americans Criticize Bush's Silence"], ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 25 March 2005
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050330120726/http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5316857.html "Tribal leader's son charged with conspiracy"], ''[[Star Tribune]]'', 29 March 2005
{{Mass shootings in the United States in the 2000s}}
{{School shootings in the United States}}
{{Bullying}}
[[Category:2005 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:Mass murder in the United States in the 2000s]]
[[Category:Anishinaabe culture]]
[[Category:Beltrami County, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 2005]]
[[Category:Murder in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Child murder in Minnesota]]
[[Category:School massacres in the United States]]
[[Category:Spree shootings in the United States]]
[[Category:2005 in Minnesota]]
[[Category:2005 mass shootings in the United States]]
[[Category:Crimes in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Attacks on schools in 2005]]
[[Category:School shootings committed by pupils]]
[[Category:March 2005 crimes in the United States]]
[[Category:Mass shootings in Minnesota]]
[[Category:High school shootings in the United States]]
[[Category:Murder–suicides in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Mass shootings involving Glock pistols]]
[[Category:Mass shootings involving shotguns]]
[[Category:Columbine High School massacre copycat crimes]]
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