The SuccessTech Academy shooting was a school shooting that occurred on October 10, 2007, at the SuccessTech alternative high school in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, United States. Fourteen-year-old freshman Asa H. Coon shot two students and two teachers before committing

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

on the fourth floor of the building.

Shooting

On Wednesday, October 10, 2007, Coon entered the five-story school building shortly before 1:00 p.m. EST, armed with two handguns (a .22-caliber

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

and a .38-caliber

), and a box of additional rounds of ammunition for each pistol; three folding knives were also in Coon's possession, which were all stocked together in a duffel bag. Wearing a

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

concert shirt, black jeans, and black-painted fingernails,"5 Hospitalized After 14-Year-Old Goes on Shooting Rampage at Cleveland High School"
/ref> Coon walked to the fourth floor of the building and entered the men's washroom where he loaded two revolvers. The shooting began at approximately 1:06 p.m. on the fourth floor of the building, after 14-year-old Michael Peek punched Coon in the face for bumping into him. When Peek walked away, Coon shot him in the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. ...

. Another student, 17-year-old Darnell Rodgers, suffered a graze gunshot wound to the elbow in the same hallway. Michael Grassie, a social studies teacher, was shot in the chest when Coon entered his classroom. A second teacher, David Kachadourian, was shot in the back of his shoulder while in the hallway evacuating his students. During the entire shooting, Coon was said to be cursing. The shooting ended when Coon entered another room and fatally shot himself in the right side of his head. The school was placed on Code Blue lockdown shortly after the shooting.

Victims

Four individuals were wounded in the shooting; two students and two teachers. The two injured teachers were treated at

MetroHealth Medical Center The MetroHealth System is a nationally ranked non-profit, public health care system located in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1837 as City Hospital, The MetroHealth System serves the residents of the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. It is one ...

, and the two students injured were treated at the

Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital is a pediatric acute care children's teaching hospital located in Cleveland, Ohio. It is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and has a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), pediatr ...

. A 14-year-old student was also hospitalized for knee and back injuries received from being trampled in a hallway by fleeing students. One student and one teacher were discharged later that day; the other students were released the following day. The last victim was discharged from the hospital on October 15.

Perpetrator

Fourteen-year-old Coon had been placed on a three-day suspension two days prior to the shooting for an altercation with another student regarding the existence of God. According to Coon's uncle, Larry Looney, Coon said he was upset because the teachers would not listen to what he had to say regarding the fight. According to fellow students and teachers, Coon had apparently been the target of

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

by students at the school for his

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

appearance and eccentric behavior, and had made threats of violence in front of students and teachers the week before the shooting. Joseph Fletcher, a friend of Coon, said he had been "pushed too far" and that teachers were unable to help with his problems. Michael Grassie, who was one of Coon's teachers, said that Coon was frustrated because he was given a failing grade in his World History class, and had made attempts to goad him into a fight.

Juvenile Court A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal s ...

records show that Coon had a criminal history and mental health problems since 2005, and threatened to commit suicide while in a

mental health facility Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

in summer 2006.

Aftermath

At 2:50 p.m., an hour-and-a-half after the shooting, Cleveland Mayor

Frank G. Jackson Frank George Jackson (born October 4, 1946) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 57th Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 2006 to 2022. He was first elected on November 8, 2005, unseating incumbent Jane Campbell, and re-elected in 2 ...

announced in a news conference that five people, including three students, were hurt in a shooting at the SuccessTech Academy. Four of them were shot; the students being in "stable" condition and the adults being in a more "elevated" state. Classes throughout the Cleveland Metropolitan School District were canceled the following two days and resumed on Monday, October 15, and classes at SuccessTech Academy did not resume until Tuesday, October 16. Cleveland's public school system established an anonymous

hotline A hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook. An example would be a phone that automat ...

for students to report threats and dangerous behavior. The school system also announced plans to install metal detectors in all its schools and hire additional armed security guards to patrol the campuses. Schools were instructed to implement additional security precautions, to be reviewed by a professional security firm. A crime scene photo taken of Coon after his suicide was posted by Cleveland

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

Shane French (Rover) on a webpage promoting ''

Rover's Morning Glory ''Rover's Morning Glory'' is a syndicated hot talk morning radio show originating from Cleveland rock station WMMS (100.7 FM). Hosted by radio personality Rover (Shane French), the show first began at cross-town rival WXTM (92.3 F ...

'' and soon taken down. Mayor Jackson called the photo, which he did not see, "extremely inappropriate". Cleveland police officer Walter Emerick, who took the picture using his cell phone camera, was suspended from duty for eight days for sending the photo to other people, who eventually leaked it to the Internet.

References

External links

Cleveland.com — Coverage of the SuccessTech Academy shooting
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