Another School Standoff

Front Of Marinette High School/Photo Marinette School District

Residents here in the city of Santee, Ca. where having flashbacks once again after another school standoff with a student holding fellow students hostage, this time in the city of Marinette, Wisconsin a town of 11,600 bordering Lake Michigan.

A 15 year old male student, whose name has not been released was armed with a .22 caliber semiautomatic and a 9 mm semiautomatic pulled out the weapons and refused to let anyone leave the classroom as classes ended for the day, inside the classroom the student kept 23 fellow students and a female teacher hostage for about five hours and would only communicate with police through the teacher, and according to police never indicated the reason for the standoff.

According to Marinette Police Chief Jeff Skorik the suspect released 5 hostages at about 7:40 who had to use the restroom, than shortly after police entered the room about 8:03 when they heard 3 shots fired. Inside the room they found the remaining hostages safe and the suspect injured by a self inflected gunshot wound. As of this morning he is alive at the Bay Area Medical Center in the city, however police are not releasing the seriousness of his wounds.

Santee residents are having flashbacks because just 9 years ago on March 5, 2001, fifteen-year-old Santana High student began shooting, killing two, and wounding thirteen. Bryan Zuckor, a fellow student, was the first killed, as he and another student were shot in the bathroom where shooter Charles Williams began. Williams then exited the bathroom and headed for the Santana High School quad, where he opened fire on surrounding students and faculty. There, he fatally shot another student, Randy Gordon, and wounded twelve others (ten students and two staff). Williams then returned to the bathroom where he later surrendered to the police.

Personal accounts of the events relate the initial confusion during the incident, describing the sound of the shots as "like firecrackers". Panic followed as people began to realize what was happening. Witnesses also describe Williams as "smiling" during the shooting. Referring to the chaos after the shooting, one parent remarked, "They just don't have a system to handle this." Students and faculty were evacuated to a nearby shopping center, and local businesses and churches helped to handle students and parents. Others also said that they heard him saying, weeks before the shootings, that he was "going to pull a Columbine".