2003 John McDonogh High School shooting

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Coordinates: 29°58′08″N 90°03′55″W / 29.9688°N 90.0652°W / 29.9688; -90.0652
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2003 John McDonogh High School shooting
Location
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Coordinates29°58′08″N 90°03′55″W / 29.9688°N 90.0652°W / 29.9688; -90.0652
DateApril 14, 2003
approximately 10:30 a.m. (CDT)
Attack type
School shooting
WeaponsAK-47 semi-automatic rifle, semi-automatic pistol
Deaths1
Injured4 (3 by gunfire, one by trampling)
PerpetratorsSteven R. Williams
James Tate

The John McDonogh High School shooting was a

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.[2] Two young teenagers shot and killed 15-year-old student Jonathan "Caveman" Williams during a mid-morning gym class in a gang neighborhood retaliation killing.[3]

Details

At 10:30 a.m. on April 14, 2003, two men armed with an AK-47 and a semi-automatic pistol entered the school property via gaps in the fence.[4] Immediately after students and faculty entered the school gymnasium, the two men shot at 15-year-old Jonathan "Caveman" Williams[5] at least 20 times. Three female students were wounded, and a pregnant senior was trampled by a stampede of students.[6][7] Jonathan Williams died at the scene and the two perpetrators immediately fled the school campus.[4] The injured recovered.[5]

After the event, officers commanded by Jimmy Keen, a lieutenant with the

Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq. The people in the neighborhoods don't want us here. They don't speak our language. They won't talk to us.'"[8]

Involved parties

It was eventually determined in court that Steven R. Williams

Joseph S. Clark High School student,[1] and Brown's cousin.[4] Hillard Smith was found dead from gunshot wounds in front of an abandoned house on April 7, one week before Jonathan Williams died.[5]

Articles of

The Times-Picayune stated police believed that Smith's friends and family felt Jonathan Williams killed Hillard Smith.[1][10]

Later murders

On October 27, 2003, two people related to Jonathan Williams's killers received fatal injuries after an ambush: 76-year-old Myrtis Bickham, a retired automobile mechanic and Smith's grandfather, and 31-year-old Roosevelt Brown Jr., one of Smith's cousins, were hit with

Medical Center of Louisiana. On October 30, a close friend of the Brown family died; 24-year-old Kenya Ambrose, a welder at an Avondale, Jefferson Parish shipyard, died at the 2300 block of St. Bernard Avenue three days after the killings of Bickham and Roosevelt Brown occurred; the location of Ambrose's death is within walking distance of Bickham's house. Police believe that Ambrose died because of his relationship with the Brown family.[1]

Investigators believed that the Williams family was not directly responsible for the killings; investigators said that friends and associates of Jonathan Williams tried to avenge the high school student's death by killing everyone that they believed had responsibility for the death, even though the suspects were already in prison.[1]

Aftermath

Jacquielynn Floyd of The Dallas Morning News said that the story would not have made national headlines if the killers had not killed Jonathan Williams in a school gymnasium and injured three bystanders and instead killed him off campus.[3]

The court system convicted Steven Williams of second degree murder and he received a

life sentence. (In Louisiana, current laws dictate that a second degree murder conviction equals a mandatory life imprisonment without possibility of parole or early release.[12]) Tate pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit second degree murder and received a 15-year sentence. On September 20, 2006, four people with less direct involvement pleaded guilty and received their sentences. Raymond Brown pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit second degree murder and received nine years. Crump pleaded guilty to "accessory after the fact" and received five years. Everett pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit second degree murder and received five years. Fulton pleaded guilty to the same charge as Everett and Raymond Brown and received five years. Everett and Fulton, in prison since 2003, received credit for time served after sentencing in 2006. Crump and Raymond Brown made bail months prior to the sentencing and faced re-arrest due to a weapons charge.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^
    The Times-Picayune
    . Wednesday February 11, 2004. Retrieved on January 7, 2009.
  2. The Times-Picayune
    . Monday February 9, 2004. Retrieved on January 7, 2009
  3. ^ a b Floyd, Jacquielynn. "Pointless tragedy's postmortem." The Dallas Morning News. April 22, 2003. Retrieved on January 7, 2009.
  4. ^
    TIME. Sunday May 24, 2006. Retrieved on January 7, 2009. 1
    .
  5. ^ a b c d Nolan, Bruce. "4 plead guilty in killing at school Archived 2008-04-21 at the Wayback Machine." The Times- icayune. Thursday September 21, 2006. Retrieved on January 7, 2009.
  6. The Times-Picayune
    . Wednesday February 11, 2004. Retrieved on January 7, 2009.
  7. ^ Lewis, Edmund W. "Madness and mayhem." The Louisiana Weekly. April 28, 2003. Retrieved on July 7, 2009.
  8. ^ Time (magazine) The Gangs of New Orleans
  9. The Advocate
    . April 18, 2003. Retrieved on January 7, 2009.
  10. The Times-Picayune
    . Sunday February 08, 2004. Retrieved on January 7, 2009.
  11. ^ Double Murder Investigation. (Archive) New Orleans Police Department. October 27, 2003. Retrieved on January 19, 2010.
  12. ^ http://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/2006/146/78398.html 2006 Louisiana Laws - RS 14:30.1 — Second degree murder
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