 |
| CNN WEB SITES: |
|
| TIME INC. SITES: |
| MORE SERVICES: |
| video on demand |
| video archive |
| audio on demand |
| news email services |
| free email accounts |
| desktop headlines |
| pointcast |
| pagenet |
| DISCUSSION: |
| message boards |
| chat |
| feedback |
| SITE GUIDES: |
| help |
| contents |
| search |
| FASTER ACCESS: |
| europe |
| japan |
| WEB SERVICES: |
Haunted by rampage, students returning to school
May 26, 1998Web posted at: 4:16 a.m. EDT (0816 GMT)
SPRINGFIELD, Oregon (CNN) -- Students at Oregon's Thurston High School are returning to school Tuesday for the first day of classes since last week's shooting rampage that left two students dead and 22 other classmates injured.
Counselors are to be on hand to help students cope with the tragedy, and students will be let out early to attend the funeral for one of the students killed, Mikael Nicholauson, 17. On Monday, a funeral was held for the other slain student, Ben Walker.
Also Monday, hundreds of students returned to the crime scene -- the school cafeteria -- with the horror of Thursday's shooting still fresh on their minds.
"It felt like sheer terror, like you were going through it again, like the shooting had started again," said 15-year-old Stacy Compton, who was in the cafeteria when shots rang out. "It was the same way I felt when it first started."
'We owe it to Ben'
Memorial Day was a somber time for the residents of Springfield, a day to begin taking their lives back and burying the first of the dead -- 16-year-old Walker, who suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
| |
| A fence near the school has become an impromptu memorial | |
Pastor Ray Trowbridge of the Calvary Temple described Walker "as in a hurry to get going with life from the very beginning" and a boy with a "mischievous sparkle" in his eye.
"Ben's life has left us with rich memories," he said.
Springfield Mayor Bill Morrisette told about 500 mourners at Springfield Faith Center the shooting was a "tremendously tragic event" but that the funeral was a start to healing the community.
"This is a testimonial to Ben and his family, but it's also a testimonial to the city of Springfield," he said.
Morrisette said Walker's family donated the 16-year-old's organs and that 12 people were recipients. "Ben will live through other people," he said. "In that sense, his life was not in vain."
The mayor said the school shootings were part of an "epidemic" spreading across the country.
"If you joke about guns in an airport, you're history. Why do we treat young people differently?" Morrisette said. "We owe it to Ben and we owe it to Ben's family to make sure something is done. This can be a living memorial to Ben Walker."
"My Heart Will Go On," the theme song from the movie "Titanic," was played at the service, along with "Nothing Else Matters" by the group Metallica, a reference to Walker's guitar playing.
'It was haunted'
| |
| Bagpiper plays Amazing Grace at Thurston High School Monday | |
Thurston High School was open Monday for three hours so the 1,400 students could visit the school and talk to counselors.
The blood was gone and the bullet holes filled in, but students had difficulty dealing with their grief and memories. A bagpiper played "Amazing Grace" as students, parents and teachers filed in.
Inside, they went back to the seats where they had been at the time of the shooting and scribbled their feelings on a long sheet of butcher paper. Principal Larry Bentz said that when he first went in, "I sat in a corner and probably cried for 45 minutes."
"It looked like it was haunted in there. It was dead silent," said 18-year-old Brandon Mainard, who admitted he had to stop for a second and collect his thoughts before swinging open the heavy cafeteria door.
The suspect in the killings, 15-year-old Kipland Kinkel, remains at a juvenile detention center on suicide watch. He is accused of shooting and killing his parents, then driving to the school and opening fire on classmates in a crowded cafeteria with a .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle.
The funeral for Kinkel's parents, William Kinkel, 59, and Faith Kinkel, 57, is scheduled for Friday night.
Kinkel is monitored on closed-circuit television and is dressed in paper clothing to prevent him from harming himself.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Special section:
Message board:
Related stories:
- First victim buried in Oregon school shooting - May 25, 1998
- Funeral today for teen killed in Oregon shootings - May 25, 1998
- Cafeteria where Oregon students shot reopens Monday - May 24, 1998
- Sheriff: 'Warning signs' preceded Oregon school shooting - May 24, 1998
- Kinkel lunged at officer with a knife after arrest - May 23, 1998
- Accused Oregon school shooter shows no emotion in court - May 22, 1998
- Bombs found in Oregon shooting suspect's home - May 22, 1998
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- Eugene Free Community Network
- Springfield, Oregon Public School District
- Springfield Chamber of Commerce
- Welcome to Springfield, Oregon
- National Center for Education Statistics
- National Alliance for Safe Schools
- Gun-free Schools Act of 1994
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.