4-29-08 (Tuesday)
The Excel Institute (NE, Washington, District of Columbia)
Wesley Johnson, 27
About 2 p.m. at the Excel Institute, a private school, an auto mechanics student, identified as Wesley Johnson, 27, dressed in a black business suit and fedora walked into his vocational school and opened fire. He wounded two people, before leaving the grounds by carjacking a vehicle. He would have wounded more had his guns not jammed at least once.
-- "He walked past me with a gun in each hand and said, 'I'm going to handle some business,' " said school counselor Erik Steed.
--He stopped outside the faculty lounge and shot at the school's chief operating officer, Henry Schultz, grazing him in the face.....
--He aimed his gun at another staff member and pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed.....
Then he walked outside and asked a woman whether she had "seen anything," police said. When the woman said she had, Johnson shot her in the shoulder.
--"... he walked up to us. He had this eerie look on his face. And I looked at his clothes; he never came to class dressed like that," another student said. "He asked us if we saw anything, and we all said 'No.' Then he walked away."
--Johnson carjacked two vehicles and led police on a high-speed chase through Northeast Washington and Capital Hill, shooting at officers but hitting no one. He eventually slammed into a police car trying to block his escape, injuring an officer, and was arrested when he tried to flee.
--Police found two weapons on the suspect including a Tech 9
Like most rampages, it appears the act was preplanned:
--D.C. police think the man who shot and wounded two people Tuesday at a technical school had a grander plan to commit mass murder and possibly die in a fiery shootout with police, law enforcement sources said yesterday. Police searched Wesley Johnson's Fort Washington home and found three rambling suicide notes to family members written on paper towels and dated Tuesday: "You thought I was bluffing. Now you know it's judgment day," said one note in part....
Writing was scrawled on his bedroom walls, sources said. On one was the threat: "I'm going to throw rocks and no one will take me down."
To most, he was seemingly normal--a bright, quiet student:
--Johnson was described... as an "A" student who never displayed abnormal or violent behavior until yesterday.
--Steed said the man was usually mild-mannered and upbeat. "If I had to pick someone at this school for doing something like this, it wouldn't be him," he said.
--The gunman was "one of my top-of-the-line students, all his assignments in on time, no problems at all" said instructor Carmelita Winters
--Excel teachers said Johnson, who had been at the school about a month, had always seemed mild-mannered and polite.
Though it was clear Johnson seemed to be suffering some kind of mental breakdown that morning:
--Johnson had seemed discouraged and morose earlier in the day, said Cheryll Smalls, a neighbor who had a long talk with Johnson on a bus into the city Tuesday morning, a few hours before the incident. "He kept saying how tired he was. Tired of it all," she said. "He just wasn't himself."
"He seemed like something was troubling him. He talked about God the whole time and the way the world is, and he talked about the children and it's not the children's fault and that the children need guidance and that they don't respect people." After that, Johnson, who was wearing headphones, turned away and stared off as if in a trance, she said.
Johnson definitely wasn't a goth, but there were other parrallels that indicate the typical 'Columbine-client':
Police who were coincidentally close to the scene:
--The shooting took place in an area that has been plagued by recent violence, and three officers on special assignments in response to the crime spurt helped make the arrest.
Anger management classes:
--...he also was taking a life skills class that had segments on anger management and conflict resolution, school officials said yesterday. Every student has to take the life skills class.
Memory Loss:
--The man suspected of opening fire at a vocational school in D.C. Tuesday and then leading officers on a chase said he doesn't remember any of it.
And just like at Columbine, he did not shoot at some victims, depending on their answer to the question 'did you see anything?' (versus 'do you believe in God?')
I found this interesting comment on another website:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/dc-first-vocational-school-shooting/
--Have you ever had the pleasure of playing "Grand Theft Auto"? In the game you commit a series of terrible crimes to work your way up through the criminal ranks. Each "mission" involves some instance of evading capture/gangsters/mob/etc by jacking car after car while killing and terrorizing police and innocents. I don't believe there is a relationship between games and real life violence, but there are striking similarities in this instance
The Excel Institute (NE, Washington, District of Columbia)
Wesley Johnson, 27
About 2 p.m. at the Excel Institute, a private school, an auto mechanics student, identified as Wesley Johnson, 27, dressed in a black business suit and fedora walked into his vocational school and opened fire. He wounded two people, before leaving the grounds by carjacking a vehicle. He would have wounded more had his guns not jammed at least once.
-- "He walked past me with a gun in each hand and said, 'I'm going to handle some business,' " said school counselor Erik Steed.
--He stopped outside the faculty lounge and shot at the school's chief operating officer, Henry Schultz, grazing him in the face.....
--He aimed his gun at another staff member and pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed.....
Then he walked outside and asked a woman whether she had "seen anything," police said. When the woman said she had, Johnson shot her in the shoulder.
--"... he walked up to us. He had this eerie look on his face. And I looked at his clothes; he never came to class dressed like that," another student said. "He asked us if we saw anything, and we all said 'No.' Then he walked away."
--Johnson carjacked two vehicles and led police on a high-speed chase through Northeast Washington and Capital Hill, shooting at officers but hitting no one. He eventually slammed into a police car trying to block his escape, injuring an officer, and was arrested when he tried to flee.
--Police found two weapons on the suspect including a Tech 9
Like most rampages, it appears the act was preplanned:
--D.C. police think the man who shot and wounded two people Tuesday at a technical school had a grander plan to commit mass murder and possibly die in a fiery shootout with police, law enforcement sources said yesterday. Police searched Wesley Johnson's Fort Washington home and found three rambling suicide notes to family members written on paper towels and dated Tuesday: "You thought I was bluffing. Now you know it's judgment day," said one note in part....
Writing was scrawled on his bedroom walls, sources said. On one was the threat: "I'm going to throw rocks and no one will take me down."
To most, he was seemingly normal--a bright, quiet student:
--Johnson was described... as an "A" student who never displayed abnormal or violent behavior until yesterday.
--Steed said the man was usually mild-mannered and upbeat. "If I had to pick someone at this school for doing something like this, it wouldn't be him," he said.
--The gunman was "one of my top-of-the-line students, all his assignments in on time, no problems at all" said instructor Carmelita Winters
--Excel teachers said Johnson, who had been at the school about a month, had always seemed mild-mannered and polite.
Though it was clear Johnson seemed to be suffering some kind of mental breakdown that morning:
--Johnson had seemed discouraged and morose earlier in the day, said Cheryll Smalls, a neighbor who had a long talk with Johnson on a bus into the city Tuesday morning, a few hours before the incident. "He kept saying how tired he was. Tired of it all," she said. "He just wasn't himself."
"He seemed like something was troubling him. He talked about God the whole time and the way the world is, and he talked about the children and it's not the children's fault and that the children need guidance and that they don't respect people." After that, Johnson, who was wearing headphones, turned away and stared off as if in a trance, she said.
Johnson definitely wasn't a goth, but there were other parrallels that indicate the typical 'Columbine-client':
Police who were coincidentally close to the scene:
--The shooting took place in an area that has been plagued by recent violence, and three officers on special assignments in response to the crime spurt helped make the arrest.
Anger management classes:
--...he also was taking a life skills class that had segments on anger management and conflict resolution, school officials said yesterday. Every student has to take the life skills class.
Memory Loss:
--The man suspected of opening fire at a vocational school in D.C. Tuesday and then leading officers on a chase said he doesn't remember any of it.
And just like at Columbine, he did not shoot at some victims, depending on their answer to the question 'did you see anything?' (versus 'do you believe in God?')
I found this interesting comment on another website:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/dc-first-vocational-school-shooting/
--Have you ever had the pleasure of playing "Grand Theft Auto"? In the game you commit a series of terrible crimes to work your way up through the criminal ranks. Each "mission" involves some instance of evading capture/gangsters/mob/etc by jacking car after car while killing and terrorizing police and innocents. I don't believe there is a relationship between games and real life violence, but there are striking similarities in this instance
