Appalachian School of Law shooting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Appalachian School of Law shooting occurred January 16, 2002, at the Appalachian School of Law, an American Bar Association accredited private law school in Grundy, Virginia, United States. Three people were killed (and three others wounded) when a disgruntled former student opened fire at the school with a handgun.
Contents |
[edit] The shooting
On January 16, 2002, Peter Odighizuwa, 43, of Nigeria, who had recently flunked out of the Appalachian School of Law, arrived at the school. Odighizuwa first discussed his academic suspension with professor Dale Rubin, where it is reported that he told Rubin to pray for him.[1] Odighizuwa then walked to the offices of Dean Anthony Sutin and Professor Thomas Blackwell, where Odighizuwa opened fire with a .38-caliber semi-automatic handgun. According to a county coroner, powder burns indicated that both people were shot at point blank range.[2] Killed along with the two staff members was a student, Angela Denise Dales, age 33. Three other people were wounded.
[edit] Students subdued Odighizuwa
When Odighizuwa exited the building where the shooting took place, he was approached by two students with personal firearms.[3] At the first sound of gunfire, fellow students Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross, unbeknownst to the other, had run to their vehicles to grab their personal firearms[4] (with Bridges pulling his .357-caliber Magnum pistol from beneath the driver's seat of his Chevy Tahoe). As Bridges later told the Richmond Times Dispatch, he was prepared to shoot to kill.[5]
Bridges and Gross then worked with another student, Ted Besen. The three students approached Odighizuwa from different angles. Bridges raised his revolver and pointed it at Odighizuwa while yelling at Odighizuwa to drop his gun.[6] Odighizuwa then dropped his firearm and was first subdued by Besen, followed by other students.[7] Once Odighizuwa was securely held down Gross went back to his vehicle and retrieved handcuffs to help hold Odighizuwa until police could arrive. Police reports noted there were two empty eight round magazines belonging to Odighizuwas .380 semi-automatic handgun. It is unclear whether Odighizuwa ran out of ammunition or if there was still a round in the chamber at the time that he dropped his firearm.
[edit] Trial
At trial, Odighizuwa was found mentally competent and pleaded guilty to the murders to avoid the death penalty. Odighizuwa was sentenced to multiple life terms in prison.
[edit] Analysis
This case was cited by John Lott[8] and others[9] as an example of the media's supposed bias against guns, as the use of a firearm in a defensive role was not reported in most news stories of the event.
[edit] References
- ^ "Suspect in law school slayings arraigned" USA Today, January 17, 2002.
- ^ "Suspect in law school slayings arraigned" USA Today, January 17, 2002.
- ^ The Bias Against Guns: Why Almost Everything You've Heard About Gun Control Is Wrong by John R. Lott, Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2003. This book's section on this shooting incidence is summarized at "Appalachian Law School Shootings, Media Crushes The Truth" by Ted Lang, the Price of Liberty Website, accessed April 17, 2007.
- ^ "Helping to Stop a Killer: Students Went After Law School Gunman" by Rex Bowman, Richmond Times Dispatch, 5/5/2002. Also "Ex-Charlottean: I Helped Nab Suspect" by Diane Suchetka, The Charlotte Observer, 2002-01-18, Page 2A.
- ^ "Helping to Stop a Killer: Students Went After Law School Gunman" by Rex Bowman, Richmond Times Dispatch, 5/5/2002.
- ^ "Helping to Stop a Killer: Students Went After Law School Gunman" by Rex Bowman, Richmond Times Dispatch, 5/5/2002.
- ^ "Law school, guns, and a media bias" by James Eaves-Johnson, The Daily Iowan 01/24/2002.
- ^ The Bias Against Guns: Why Almost Everything You've Heard about Gun Control is Wrong by John R. Lott, Regnery Publishing, 2003, page 27.
- ^ "When Guns Stop Crime, Media Attach Their Silencers" by Donny Ferguson, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.), February 4, 2002, page B11.
[edit] External links
Categories: School shootings in the US perpetrated by students | School killings in the United States | Spree shootings | University shootings | 2002 in the United States | History of Virginia | Buchanan County, Virginia