Barry Loukaitis
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Barry Loukaitis (February 26th, 1981 - ) is the perpetrator of the 1996 Frontier Middle School shooting. At the time of the incident Loukaitis was 14 years old, he reportedly suffered from clinical depression and delusions in the years leading up to the incident at his school where he would kill 3 people.
Personal life edit
Loukaitis lived with his mother and father until 1995 when they separated. His family was dysfunctional and his mother often thought of suicide. Barry's mother frequently said that Loukaitis and her would commit suicide on Valentine's Day, however he talked her out of doing so.[1]
Loukaitis suffered from hyperactivity, and took Ritalin, a common medication in the 1990s. In the years leading up to the incident his mother, Jo Ann Philips became increasingly distant and depressed; this is thought to have contributed to Barry's suicidal and homicidal urges.
During his trial, a state mental health expert said that Barry had been experiencing delusional and messianic thoughts in the months leading up to the shooting.
Loukaitis began to suffer from clinical depression and started having suicidal feelings in the month's leading up to the incident. Barry was also a fan of the controversial film Natural Born Killers.
Frontier Middle School shooting edit
On February 2nd, 1996 (the same Month as Loukaitis's parents officially were divorced) Barry would walk from his home to Frontier Middle School (where he was a student) in Moses Lake, Washington dressed as a Western style gunslinger.[2]
Armed with a 357 Magnum revolver, a .30-30 rifle, and a .25 ACP Pistol he would walk into his 5th period Algebra class and opened fire killing two students, Arnold Fritz and Manuel Vela, Jr., both fourteen. Another student, 13-year-old Natalie Hintz, sustained critical gunshot wounds to the right arm and abdomen, she would later be airlifted to hospital.[3]
Loukaitis would then fatally shoot his teacher Leona Caires in the chest stating "This sure beats the hell out of Algebra, doesn't it?" Two staff members would enter the classroom to find Loukaitis holding his classmates hostage, he started asking for a hostage so he could safely exit the school. Jon Lane, a sports coach at the school, volunteered as a hostage. Lane grabbed Loukaitis' rifle and wrestle him to the ground with the assistance of other students, keeping him subdued until police arrived and arrested Loukaitis.[4]
Trial and aftermath edit
Loukaitis' trial would occur in June 1996, where he was tried as a minor. The Court appointed a psychiatrist by the name of Joan Petrich to evaluate Loukaitis' mental health. Petrich said Loukaitis suffered from delusions saying that he stated, "He felt like he was God and would laugh to himself. He felt he was superior to other people, and then those feelings were later replaced by hate, disdain, and not measuring up."[5]
Loukaitis pled not guilty by reason of insanity to all charges, and said that he had only intended on killing Manuel Vela and that the other deaths were accidental.[6]
Loukaitis was convicted of murder and hostage taking and sentenced to life without parole. A later supreme court decision that those who committed murder while underage could not be sentenced to life without parole led to Loukaitis being resentenced to 189 years in prison in 2017.[7]
Trivia edit
- Loukaitis has an IQ of 116 and was an honor student.
References edit
- ↑ Loukaitis' mother says she told son of plan to kill herself, The Seattle Times
- ↑ Barry Loukaitis, Moses Lake school shooter, breaks silence with apology, The Seattle Times
- ↑ Where Rampages Begin: A special report.; From Adolescent Angst To Shooting Up Schools, The New York Times
- ↑ Barry Loukaitis: Teen Killer School Shooter, My Crime Library
- ↑ Moses Lake trial to be open, The Seattle Times
- ↑ Murder trial jurors hear Loukaitis' confession, The Seattle Times
- ↑ Moses Lake school shooter Barry Loukaitis resentenced to 189 years, The Seattle Times