APRIL 20, 1999 - LITTLETON, COLO.
1927 school bombing killed nearly 40 children
EDITOR'S NOTE: The nation's most deadly massacre at a school may have been on May 18, 1927, in Bath, Mich. Following are excerpts from an article published by the Daily Camera the day after that tragedy.
Associated Press
BATH, Mich. — The magnitude of the horror that befell Bath Wednesday when a demented farmer blew up the consolidated school, killing nearly 40 children and several adults, continued to grow today. Up to noon 38 pupils and six adults were dead. Forty-three others were seriously injured, some perhaps fatally. ...
The fate of Mrs. Andrew Kehoe, wife of the demented farmer who served as treasurer of the school district, was established today when portions of her body were found in an outbuilding of the Kehoe farm. Kehoe had dynamite in his home, barn and wagonshed, and the buildings were destroyed by subsequent fire.
Indications were that Kehoe had killed his wife and thrown her body into the outbuilding, for the skull was crushed. ...
Scarcely a family in the little town of Bath, 7 miles north of Lansing, the state capital, escaped unscathed from the diabolical plot which culminated in a series of dynamite explosions. ...
A few moments before the explosion shattered the west wing of the Bath Consolidated grade school, the man believed responsible for the tragedy, A. E. Kehoe, was killed, together with the village postmaster, the school principal and another man, in an explosion which wrecked Kehoe's automobile. ...
Faced with a disaster which threw the little village of 700 inhabitants into a frenzy of despair, the authorities believe that it was the school treasurer, demented by worry, who sowed dynamite and fired the fuses beneath the school house.
A moment or two before the blast which destroyed the west wing and hurled the bodies of the tiny victims, many of them kindergarten age, into a twisted, tortured mass of flesh, Kehoe was seen to dart from the building and enter his automobile parked at the curb.
A moment later, those running to the scene of the blast were horrified when a thunderous roar from the school house came simultaneously with the lifting of the walls and ceiling of the west wing and the collapse of the wreckage upon the children inside. ...
The discovery of additional dynamite beneath the east wing of the little school house, with slow fuses smoldering while practically the entire town gathered about the scene of the tragedy, prevented further and greater disaster.
Fathers and mothers were crowded about the pitiful line of little bodies laid out beside the ruins of the school house. They, together with the firemen who were taking dead and injured children from the wreckage, would have been killed but for the timely discovery of the lighted fuses. ...
Down on the Kehoe farm, nailed to a barn door, searchers late Wednesday found a laconic note:
"Criminals are made, not born." ...
Kehoe, an electrician, had wired all the dynamite and had let go with a "hot shot" presumably from his automobile. Apparently he had planned his diabolical act for some time.
Had his plans carried to the full, the 260 pupils in the school, and all the teachers, undoubtedly would have been killed. ...
April 25, 1999
|
BACKGROUND
Full index of the shooting Reconstruction of the shooting Timeline Location the school Floorplan Weapons used
|
|
AUDIO
'Friend of Mine' Listen to the Columbine Memorial song sung by Columbine students Jonathan and Stephen Cohen.
911 tapes
Interview with Arun Ghandi |
|
PHOTOS
A Daily Camera photo essay detailed the tragedy of April 20 and the recovery and remembrance in the following weeks: photo essay
|
|
INTERACT
In light of the shooting on April 20, should the state legislature allow people to carry concealed weapons? vote here
With the recent rise in school violence, do you feel schools are still safe? vote here
|
|
THE INVESTIGATION
Gunmen paid for weapons, teenager claims CHS investigators focus on computers Investigators try to disprove third CHS shooter Man charged with selling handgun to child FBI investigator's son linked to case Agents creating models of Columbine Teen targeted by sheriff denies involvement in school attack Arrest in Columbine shooting Killer reportedly took Luvox antidepressant Officials no closer to arresting suspects Detectives question shooter's girlfriend Security videotapes at school may show whether gunmen had help Bombs found in cafeteria Portraits of the killers Killer's diary describes plot of hate |
|
SCHOOL VIOLENCE
Violence in Georgia School violence stuns nation Teen wounds six fellow students Teens charged in alleged school attack plot Michigan teenagers charged in plot Other school shootings 1927 school bombing killed nearly 40 children Suspensions, arrests across country La. school site of another shooting Facts: Death in schools 'Blood in the School Yard', from the Cincinnati Post full series |
|
REACTION
High schools' 'cult of the athlete' under scrutiny Parents of Columbine shooters sued Suit planned against parents of Columbine High shooters Columbine spurs interest in home schools Columbine healing fund raises $2.3 million Safe Night aims to curb youth violence CU frat shows support for Columbine 'Healing bear' arrives to help in Littleton Doctors: Guilt a normal reaction for survivors School security business surges Media the message? Broomfield couple campaigns to 'Erase the Hate' Clint Talbott - BVSD rejects dress code What now? Video of Clinton's Wednesday morning speech Video of Clinton's Tuesday speech
|
|
GUNS AND LAW
GOP tinkers further with gun legislation Columbine dad lobbies Washington Group forms to back gun control Poll says two-thirds in U.S. support tougher restrictions on guns Senate passes more gun controls Columbine killers also wounded the NRA Senate rejects any new restrictions on gun-show sales Dems want special session Gun control strife House won't debate gun bill New gun laws on table Leaders scrap gun bills Guns and legislatures |
|
HOW TO HELP
- The Denver Rocky Mountain News has established a drive to raise money for a memorial to the victims of the Columbine High School tragedy. Contributions may be mailed to the Columbine Memorial Fund, c/o The Jefferson Foundation, 809 Quail St., Building 1, Lakewood, CO 80215.
|