Killer asks: Do you believe in God?

[Budman]

Teen's Rampage Leaves 10 Dead in Minn.

By JOSHUA FREED, Associated Press Writer

REDBY, Minn. - A heavily armed teen accused of killing his grandparents later smiled and waved during a rampage at a high school as he gunned down seven more people, brushing off pleas to stop and asking one of his victims whether he believed in God.

Reggie Graves, a student at Red Lake High School, said he was watching a movie about Shakespeare in class Monday when he heard the gunman blast his way past the metal detector at the school's entrance, killing a guard.

Then, in a nearby classroom, he heard the gunman say something to his friend Ryan: "He asked Ryan if he believed in God," Graves said. "And then he shot him."

The rampage at Red Lake Indian Reservation in far northern Minnesota was the nation's worst school shooting since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 that left 13 people dead.

When the rampage was over, 10 people were dead, including the gunman's grandfather; a woman who may have been his grandfather's wife or girlfriend; a school security guard; a teacher; and five other students. At least 14 others were wounded, officials said.

Police said the gunman killed himself after exchanging fire with officers.

"We ask Minnesotans to help comfort the families and friends of the victims who are suffering unimaginable pain by extending prayers and expressions of support," Gov. Tim Pawlenty said.

Officials did not identify the shooter, but several students said he was Jeff Weise, a teen who may or may not have been a student at the school. Accounts of Weise's age varied from 15 to 17.

During the rampage, teachers herded students from one room to another, trying to move away from the sound of the shooting, said Graves, 14. He said some students crouched under desks.

Some pleaded with the gunman to stop. "You could hear a girl saying, 'No, Jeff, quit, quit. Leave me alone. What are you doing?'" Sondra Hegstrom told The Pioneer of Bemidji.

Student Ashley Morrison said she heard shots, then saw the gunman's face peering though a door window of a classroom where she was hiding with several other students. After banging at the door, the shooter walked away and she heard more shots, she said.

"I can't even count how many gunshots you heard, there was over 20 ... there were people screaming, and they made us get behind the desk," she said.

FBI spokesman Paul McCabe said the gunman exchanged gunfire with Red Lake police in a hallway, then retreated to a classroom, where he was believed to have shot himself.

All of the dead students were found in one room, including the teen believed to be the shooter. Red Lake Fire Director Roman Stately said the gunman had two handguns and a shotgun.

Relatives told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that Weise was a loner who usually wore black and was teased by other kids. Relatives told the newspaper his father committed suicide four years ago, and that his mother was living in a Minneapolis nursing home because she suffered brain injuries in a car accident.

Some of the injured were being cared for in Bemidji, about 20 miles south of Red Lake. Authorities closed roads to the reservation in far northern Minnesota while they investigated the shootings.

Police officers were posted at the hospital Monday night to discourage reporters from entering. When a reporter approached three men walking across a hospital parking lot, one broke down in tears, and the others said they had no comment.

The school was evacuated after the shootings and locked down for the investigation, McCabe said.

Floyd Jourdain Jr., chairman of the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe, called it "without a doubt the darkest hour" in the group's history. "There has been a considerable amount of lives lost, and we still don't know the total of that," Jourdain said.

It was the nation's worst school shooting since two students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 23 before killing themselves on April 20, 1999.

The rampage in Red Lake was the second fatal school shooting in Minnesota in 18 months. Two students were killed at Rocori High School in Cold Spring in September 2003. Student John Jason McLaughlin, who was 15 at the time, awaits trial in the case.

Red Lake High School has about 300 students, according to its Web site.

The reservation is about 240 miles north of the Twin Cities. It is home to the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe, one of the poorest in the state. According to the 2000 census, 5,162 people lived on the reservation, and all but 91 were Indians.

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It's easy to see who is really behind these shootings.....Satan.

warm regards

-bud

[Guest baby_blair]

Well, yes, satan is reponsible, however, I don't think they're going to convict him in a court of law. The person was responsible for what he did. God always provides a way out of temptation, this person simply chose to ignore God. The sad thing is he took his life as well. Though he would have been spending life in prison or sentenced to death, he still would have had time to repent and go to heaven. Isn't that cool?? That God would forgive a person even if they did something that horrible??

[Khristeeanos]

That is very, very sad.

We should all be in prayer for the people who are affected by this incident.

[dwinkjr]

Native American Reservations have higher crime and death rates then most cities in the US. The Number 1 cause of death on Native American Reservations is Accidents (usually related to drugs or alcohol). the Number 2 cause is Suicide, followed by Homicide.

We need to not only pray for these people but for all of those on these reservations that they may repent and come to know the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

God Bless,

Dave

[AFaceInTheCrowd]

I wish that the secular news media would show hope in their broadcasts instead of sorrows and gloom.I feel the media has alot to do with the way people see this world around us.Just as we,christians,are planting the seeds of salvation,the old serpent comes behind us and eats them up.The media is just one of the tools used by satan.This latest school shooting puts us all in mind of Columbine.The media wasnt interested in one girl's faith as the shooter asked her if she believed in GOD!They just wanted to show us the worst of this not the hope that could have come about.It's sad what we are facing today in our world.One person received CHRIST today and was saved from hell.......BUT we wont tell the world...a shooting that left 12,000 people dead today...life footage of the massacre today at 5!No JESUS no peace....Know JESUS,know peace.If negativity affects us just image what positivity would do?

[SDAinFLA]

Blood, I'm with you on that one. I sometimes don't like to watch the news because we all hear about people dying little girls getting kidnapped, people dying in the middle east...etc.

I know Christ said these things would happen but it can sometimes be depressing.

In these last days its imperative that we have our hope in Christ!

[nebula]

We need to not only pray for these people but for all of those on these reservations that they may repent and come to know the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

A big AMEN to that!

[hmh]

It's the negative things that sells the news, not the positive. No more small town newspapers with positive stories in them. I remember years back in a small town I grew up in Alabama where the news stories would be like, "Mae Fowle's dog had nine puppies over the weekend" and "Junior Johnson's calf won third place in the state fair in Montgomery." Unfortunately, the newspaper was forced out of business by one of the bigger media organizations when it began to bring in the big city papers.

[Ovedya]

Sound familiar?

"Cassie went to the Columbine High School library to study during lunch on Tuesday. Shortly afterward, a member of the Trenchcoat Mafia pointed his gun at her and asked: "Do you believe in God?"

"Yes, I believe in God," she said.

"Why?" the gunman asked. But he did not wait for an answer. He shot Cassie Bernall dead.?

[hmh]

Satan at work again. And again using the youth as a means to destroy. I can't wait for that day when satan is tossed into the lake of fire. I would love to kick him in the crotch first.