School shooter Brenda Ann Spencer is arrested after shooting at an elementary school, 1979

School shooter Brenda Ann Spencer is arrested after shooting at an elementary school, 1979

Brenda Spencer was a 16-year-old girl from San Diego, California. Her parents were divorced and her father was an alcoholic. Brenda showed exceptional photography skills and won awards for her work but took little interest in school with one teacher claiming that she always had to check on Brenda to make sure that she was not sleeping in class. It was discovered later in custody that she suffered an injury to her frontal lobe which she acquired during a bicycle accident. She was also suicidal around this time too. It has also been said that Brenda had been sexually abused by her father, though there was no evidence presented by Brenda for this accusation, despite it being brought to the attention of the police.

During the summer of 1978, she started hunting birds in her neighbourhood. She was also arrested for shooting a BB gun out her window and for burglary. Neighbours also reported that she abused cats and dogs in the local area. Brenda was psychologically assessed and she was found to be depressed. That Christmas, her dad bought her a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic .22 calibre rifle with a telescopic sight and 500 rounds of ammunition. Spencer said in an interview "I asked for a radio and he bought me a gun." When asked why he had done that, she answered, "I felt like he wanted me to kill myself."

On Monday morning, January 29th 1979 while children were waiting outside Grover Cleveland Elementary, Spencer began firing at them with the Ruger out of her bedroom window across the street. She shot and killed the principal and the school's custodian who were both shielding and helping the children get to cover. No children were killed. Police arrested her after a standoff that lasted a few hours. When asked why she did it, she simply said "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." She is serving her sentence in the California correctional facility for women. She is a rare example of a school shooter who is a female.

To just clarify, I don't know who the boy is beside her. I tried to figure it out but I had no luck.

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