Editing Kip Kinkel (section)

== Childhood ==
Kipland Philip "Kip" Kinkel was born on August 30, 1982 in Springfield, Oregon. The second child to William Kinkel and Faith Zuranski and the younger of two siblings [a sister, Kristen, who was six years Kip's senior], Kipland was raised in a relatively typical family environment. Those who knew William and Faith described the couple as loving and supportive, despite their families' concealed history of severe mental illness.

Both Faith and Bill made a living as teachers. The Kinkels even spent a year in Spain when Kipland was six years old, as Faith taught Spanish. While Kristen was a gifted student, Kipland reportedly had trouble with the kindergarten's curriculum possibly due to a mixture of a language barrier and a later diagnosis of dyslexia. Unfortunately, Kip's scholastic disposition did not improve upon the Kinkel's return to Oregon. In elementary school, Kip's lack of emotional and physical development was acknowledged by teachers, as well as his apparent immaturity. Kinkel was ultimately required by William and Faith to repeat the first grade and, by the start of second grade, was placed in special education classes.

From a young age, Kip had an interest in explosives and firearms, a fascination that would later be the root of significant troubles. Despite his interest being met with discouragement from both Faith and Bill, his father eventually made the decision to register Kipland for gun safety courses. Kip was also gifted two firearms, a .22 caliber long rifle and, at age 15, a 9mm Glock handgun.

In high school, Kipland's character underwent a significant change and was even suspected by peers as being "schizoid" or "psychotic". Kinkel engaged in a plethora of concerning behaviors, attracting the attention of both his parents and police officers alike. Examples of Kip's emerging destructive behavior included setting off stink bombs in the lockers of classmates and instructing his class on how to construct explosives as part of a school presentation. Kinkel would also discuss violent events and Kinkel himself committing acts of violence. Concerned, William and Faith sought the help of a psychologist and enrolled him [Kip] in anger management classes.

=== Expulsion from School ===
Kip's troubles intensified on May 20, 1998 when he was suspended from Thurston High School and was even pending an expulsion. Kipland had received the already-stolen a loaded handgun from a friend who had swiped it from his father. Kinkel paid the friend $110 in exchange for a Beretta Model 90 .32-caliber pistol, which contained a loaded nine-round magazine. When said friend's father discovered that his firearm had been stolen, he reported the incident to the police and presented the officers with a list comprised of the names of possible students who could have taken the weapon. Surprisingly, Kip's name was not included in the list. However, he was still interrogated after being deemed a potential participant by the school. While being searched for weapons, Kinkel lead authorities to the weapon, which was stored in a paper bag and hidden in Kinkel's locker. Both Kinkel and the student that had sold Kinkel the gun were arrested. The Kinkels would later be informed of their son's suspension and pending expulsion. After remaining in police custody for an unspecified amount of time, Kip was released and driven home by William Kinkel.