On May 21, 1998 in Springfield, OR, Kipland Kinkel perpetrated a school shooting at Thurston High School after killing his parents the night before. Kipland was reportedly a troubled student who was pending expulsion from the school at the time of the shooting.
On May 20, the day before the shooting, Kipland was suspended and was pending an expulsion from Thurston for being in possession of a loaded, stolen handgun on school property. One of Kipland’s friends had stolen the Beretta Model 90 .32 caliber handgun the night before from his father and had sold it to Kipland for $110. The friend’s father reported the handgun as stolen and reported to the police a list of possible students that could be involved in the stealing/purchase of the handgun. Kipland’s name was not on the list but the school believed he may have been involved and questioned Kipland to which he responded, “Look, I'm gonna be square with you guys; the gun's in my locker.”
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The remainder of this article is part of the book "Active Killers and the Crimes They Perpetrated," available in print or ebook via Amazon.
Joshua Borelli
Joshua Borelli has been studying active shooter and mass attack events over the course of the past several years, commensurate with receiving training on response and recovery to natural disasters and civil disturbances. Joshua started to outline this series of articles in an attempt to identify commonalities and logistical needs patterns for response.
