The Cleveland Elementary School shooting (also known as the Stockton schoolyard shooting and the Cleveland School massacre) occurred on January 17, 1989, at Cleveland Elementary School in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

, United States, when 24-year-old Patrick Purdy, who had an extended criminal history, shot and killed five students and wounded 32 others. As

first responder A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, disaster, medical emergency, structure fire, crime, or terr ...

s arrived at the scene, Purdy committed

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 ...

by shooting himself in the head. His victims were predominantly

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s. The attack was the U.S. non-college school shooting with the highest number of fatalities and injuries until the

Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...

, and of all U.S. school shootings in the 1980s, it had the largest number of victims.

Shooting

On Tuesday morning, January 17, 1989, an anonymous person phoned the

Stockton Police Department Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquired Rancho Campo de los Franceses. The city is named after R ...

regarding a death threat against Cleveland Elementary School in

Stockton Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom *Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk *Stockton, Chirbu ...

, California. At noon that day, Patrick Purdy, a disturbed

drifter A drifter is a vagrant who moves from place to place without a fixed home or employment. Drifter(s) or The Drifter(s) may also refer to: Films and television Films * ''The Drifter'' (1917 film), an American film directed by Fred Kelsey * ''Th ...

and former Stockton resident, began his attack by setting his fireworks-laden

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

on fire with a Molotov cocktail after parking it behind the school, later causing the vehicle to explode. Purdy went to the school playground, where he began firing with a semi-automatic rifle from behind a portable building. Purdy fired 106 rounds in three minutes. Purdy committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

. He had carved the words "freedom", "victory", "Earthman", and "

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

" on his rifle, and his flak jacket was inscribed with "

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...

", " Libya", and .

Victims

The shooting killed five children and wounded about thirty others, including a teacher.Schoolyard gunman called a troubled drifter, ''The Deseret News''
(January 18, 1989) All of those who died and many of the wounded were Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants, who had come with their families to the U.S. as

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

Perpetrator

Patrick Edward Purdy (November 10, 1964 – January 17, 1989) was an unemployed former

welder In a broad sense, a welder is anyone, amateur or professional, who uses welding equipment, perhaps especially one who uses such equipment fairly often. In a narrower sense, a welder is a tradesperson who specializes in fusing materials together ...

and drifter. He was born in Tacoma, Washington, to Patrick Benjamin Purdy and Kathleen Purdy (née Toscano). His father was a soldier in the U.S. Army and was stationed at

Fort Lewis Fort Lewis may refer to: *Fort Lewis (Colorado), a former United States Army post (1878–1891) in the U.S. State of Colorado **Fort Lewis College, a college in the Durango, Colorado, United States **Fort Lewis Skyhawks, athletic teams of Fort Lewi ...

at the time of his son's birth. When the younger Purdy was two years old, his mother filed for divorce against her husband after he had threatened to kill her with a firearm. Toscano later moved with her son to

South Lake Tahoe South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 2010 census. The city, along the southern edge of Lake ...

before settling in Stockton, California.From quiet, unhappy child to mass killer, ''San Jose Mercury News''
January 19, 1989) Purdy attended Cleveland Elementary from kindergarten through second grade. Purdy's mother remarried in September 1969; she divorced her husband four years later. Albert Gulart Sr., Purdy's stepfather, said Purdy was an overly quiet child who cried often. In fall 1973, Kathleen separated from Gulart and moved with her children from Stockton to the Sacramento area. In December of that year, the Sacramento Child Protective Services were twice called to her residence, on allegations that Kathleen was physically abusing her children. When Purdy was thirteen, he struck his mother in the face and was permanently banned from her house.''Under Fire'', Osha Gray Davidson He lived on the streets of San Francisco for a period before being placed in foster care by authorities. He was later placed in the custody of his father, who was living in Lodi, California, at the time. While attending Lodi High School, Purdy became an alcoholic and a drug addict, and attended high school sporadically. On September 6, 1981, Purdy's father died after being struck by a car. His family filed a wrongful-death suit in San Joaquin

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

against the driver of the car, asking for US$600,000 in damages; the suit was later dismissed. Purdy accused his mother of taking money his father had left him, using the money to buy a car and taking a vacation to New York City. This incident appeared to deepen the animosity between them."Troubled drifter erupted, became killer"
''The Deseret News,'' (January 22, 1989)" 'Man who never smiled' resented the Vietnamese"
''San Jose Mercury News'' (January 19, 1989) After his father's death, Purdy was briefly homeless, before being placed in the custody of a foster mother in Los Angeles. Purdy's criminal activities had begun by 1977, when Sacramento police confiscated BB guns from then 12-year-old Purdy. In June 1980, Purdy was first arrested at age 15 for a court-order violation. He was arrested that same month for underage drinking. Purdy was then arrested for

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

in August 1980, possession of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

and drug dealing in 1982, and in 1983 for possession of an illegal weapon and

receipt of stolen property Possession of stolen goods is a crime in which an individual has bought, been given, or acquired stolen goods. In many jurisdictions, if an individual has accepted possession of goods (or property) and knew they were stolen, then the individua ...

. On October 11, 1984, he was arrested for being an accomplice in an armed robbery at a service station, for which he spent 32 days in the Yolo County Jail. In 1986, Kathleen called police after Purdy vandalized her car after she refused to give him money for narcotics. In April 1987, Purdy and his half-brother Albert were arrested for firing a

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actuall ...

at trees in the

Eldorado National Forest Eldorado National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the central Sierra Nevada mountain range, in eastern California. Geography Most of the forest (72.8%) lies in El Dorado County. In descending order of land area the others counties ...

. At the time, he was carrying a book about the white supremacist group

Aryan Nations Aryan Nations is a North American antisemitic, neo-Nazi, white supremacist organization that was originally based in Kootenai County, Idaho, about miles (4.4 km) north of the city of Hayden Lake. Richard Girnt Butler founded the group i ...

. He told the County Sheriff that it was his "duty to help the suppressed and overthrow the suppressor."Gunman "hated Vietnamese", ''The Prescott Courier''
(January 19, 1989) In prison, he twice attempted

, once by hanging himself with a rope made out of strips of his shirt, and a second time by cutting his wrists with his fingernails. A subsequent psychiatric assessment found him to have a mild mental impairment, and to be a danger to himself and others. In the fall of 1987, Purdy began attending welding classes at San Joaquin Delta College; he complained about the high percentage of Southeast Asian students there. In October 1987, he left California and drifted among Oregon, Nevada, Texas, Florida, Connecticut, South Carolina, and Tennessee, searching for jobs. In early 1988, he worked at Numeri Tech, a small machine shop located in Stockton. From July to October 1988, he worked as a boilermaker in Portland, Oregon, living in

Sandy Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Sandy (surname), a list of people *Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983) * (Sandy) ...

with his aunt. On August 3 in Sandy, he purchased a Chinese-made AK-47 at Sandy Trading Post,Weapon Used by Deranged Man Is Easy to Buy"
''The New York Times'', January 19, 1989 which he later used in the shooting. He eventually returned to Stockton and rented a room at the El Rancho Motel on December 26. After the shooting, police found his room decorated with numerous toy soldiers. On December 28, Purdy purchased a Taurus 9mm

at the Hunter Loan pawn shop in Stockton. Police stated that Purdy had problems with alcohol and drug addiction. He talked openly of hatred toward Asian immigrants, believing that they took jobs from "native-born" Americans. According to Purdy's friends, who described him as friendly and never violent toward anyone, he was suicidal at times and frustrated that he failed to "make it on his own". Steve Sloan, a night-shift supervisor at Numeri Tech, said: "He was a real ball of frustration, and was angry about everything." Another one of Purdy's former co-workers stated, "He was always miserable. I've never seen a guy that didn't want to smile as much as he didn't." In a notebook found in a hotel where he lived in early 1988, Purdy wrote about himself in the following terms: "I'm so dumb, I'm dumber than a sixth-grader. My mother and father were dumb."

Reaction and aftermath

The multiple murders at Stockton received national news coverage and spurred calls for regulation of semiautomatic weapons. "Why could Purdy, an alcoholic who had been arrested for such offenses as selling weapons and attempted robbery, walk into a gun shop in Sandy, Oregon, and leave with an AK-47 under his arm?", '' Time'' magazine asked. The article continued: "The easy availability of weapons like this, which have no purpose other than killing human beings, can all too readily turn the delusions of sick gunmen into tragic nightmares." Immediately following the shooting, Michael Jackson made a short visit to the school and met with some of the children affected by the event. On September 14, 1989 (four months after the shooting) in Louisville, Kentucky, Joseph Wesbacker (who was allegedly inspired by Purdy) shot up his former workplace using an AK-56 that Purdy also used, killing 8 people and injured 12 others before committing

. When police raided his house, they found a TIME magazine issue with an article on Purdy. In California, measures were taken to first define and then ban assault weapons, resulting in the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989. On the federal level, Congressional legislators struggled with a way to ban weapons such as military-style rifles without banning sporting-type rifles. In 1989, the

ATF The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...

issued a rule citing the lack of "sporting purpose" to ban importation of assault weapons. In July 1989, the G.H.W. Bush Administration made the import ban permanent. The

Federal Assault Weapons Ban The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), was a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a United States federal law which include ...

was enacted in 1994, and expired in 2004. President Bill Clinton signed another executive order in 1994 which banned importation of most firearms and ammunition from Mainland China.

In popular culture

Cambodian-American writer

Anthony Veasna So Anthony Veasna So (February 20, 1992 – December 8, 2020) was an American writer. His short stories were described by ''The New York Times'' as "crackling, kinetic and darkly comedic" and often drew from his upbringing as a child of Cambodian i ...

's short story collection ''Afterparties'' (2021), the mass shooting is a major element in the last story in the book, "Generational Differences".

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

's "Livin In A World (They Didn't Make)" from her album '' Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' (1989) was in reference to the shooting.

Shooting

Victims

Perpetrator

Reaction and aftermath

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading