1995 Richland High School shooting

The Richland High School shooting was a school shooting that occurred on Wednesday, November 15, 1995,[1] in Lynnville, Tennessee, a small community located in Giles County. Seventeen-year-old James Ellison "Jamie" Rouse, a senior student at the school, killed one teacher and one student, and seriously wounded another teacher.[2]

1995 Richland High School shooting
Part of school shootings in the United States
LocationLynnville, Tennessee, United States
DateNovember 15, 1995 (CST)
Attack type
School shooting, double-murder
Weapons.22-caliber Remington Model 522 Viper semi-automatic rifle
Deaths2
Injured1
PerpetratorJames Ellison Rouse
MotiveRevenge for poor grades
ConvictedRouse, Stephen Abbott
VerdictGuilty on all counts
ConvictionsRouse: Abbott:
Criminal responsibility (4 counts)
SentenceRouse:
Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, plus 42 years
Abbott:
40 years in prison

Shooting

Rouse used a .22-calibre Remington Viper semi-automatic rifle,[3] which he hid behind bushes before driving to retrieve his friend. His friend Stephen Abbot drove Jamie Rouse the rest of the way to Richland High School. He parked the car outside the school, and Rouse entered through the north entrance hallway. Inside the hallway he confronted teachers Carolyn Yancey and Carolyn Foster.[4]

He then shot both teachers in the head in the view of over fifty students in the hallway. He then aimed his rifle at football coach Ron Shirey; however, he missed and fatally shot freshman Diane Collins in the throat. He was then tackled by a male student and an agriculture teacher, who forcibly took the rifle away from him. Carolyn Foster was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, while Carolyn Yancey survived in serious condition.[2]

Trial

Rouse was convicted as an adult of one count of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, and one count of first-degree attempted murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 42 years.[5] Stephen Abbott was convicted of criminal responsibility for second degree murder and criminal response for attempted first and second degree murder as a judge decided Abbott knew what Jamie Rouse was planning because Rouse had told him, "It's going to happen today." Abbott was sentenced to 40 years in prison.[6]

Aftermath

Rouse is currently imprisoned in the South Central Correctional Facility.[7][8][9][10] As of January 2016, he was up for resentencing due to the Supreme Court cases: Miller v. Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana which have banned juvenile offenders from getting a mandatory life without parole sentence and required those who were previously sentenced to life to be given a chance for a resentencing.[11][12]

See also

References
  1. LAURIE GOODSTEIN and WILLIAM GLABERSON (April 10, 2000). "The Well-Marked Roads to Homicidal Rage". New York Times.
  2. Meyer, Richrd E. (April 22, 2000). "When The Shooting Stops". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  3. "School Killers — The List — Crime Library". March 10, 2014. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  4. Rebecca Leung. "The mind of a school killer". 48 Hours. CBS News.
  5. Violence Goes to School Archived October 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "When The Shooting Stops". Los Angeles Times. April 22, 2000.
  7. "U.S. Supreme Court rules on juvenile offenders". Columbia Daily Herald. January 25, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  8. Mass Shootings in America: Understanding the Debates, Causes, and Responses. ABC-CLIO. May 25, 2018. ISBN 9781440856259.
  9. "Richland High School shooting. The Richland High School shooting was a school shooting that occurred on Wednesday, November 15, 1995, in Lynnville, Tennessee, A".
  10. "'Relearn school': Discipline amid pandemic dominates concerns at Maury County schools".
  11. "U.S. Supreme Court rules on juvenile offenders". The Daily Herald. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  12. "James Ellison Rouse v. State of Tennessee | Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts". www.tncourts.gov. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
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