Before more school shooters took over, there weren’t many shooters or schools, but there was one school shooter named Brenda Ann Spencer who went on a shooting spree at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in the late 1970s, killing two people and injuring nine. She later gave her reason as she quoted:
“I don’t like Monday”
Her quote garnered national media attention and made history as the school’s first female shooter.
Brenda Ann Spencer was born in San Diego, California on April 3, 1962, to parents Dot and Wallace Spencer. When she was little, her parents separated. Her father, Wallace, was a gun enthusiast, which fascinated Brenda and got her interested in collecting and playing with guns. In December 1978, her father bought Brenda a Ruger 10/22 .22 semi-automatic rifle as a Christmas present. Neighbours say Spencer has a history of petty theft, drug abuse and truancy. Classmates claimed that a week before the shootings, Spencer said she wanted to “do something big to get on TV.” But that would all change by January 29, 1979.
January 29, 1979
It was the morning of January 29, 1979, and students at Grove Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California lined up and waited for the principal to open the school doors to usher them into class. Across the street, Spencer was home alone, watching them from her house, which was filled with empty whiskey bottles and the only mattress she shared with her father. She skipped class that day and later claimed to drink her epilepsy medication with alcohol. As the kids lined up, Spencer pulled out her .22 semi-automatic rifle (her Christmas present) and headed for the school. She shot a nine-year-old boy and then went on to shoot seven more children.
Principal Burton Wragg spoke with the teacher until he heard the shots. He went outside and saw school children falling on the floor, begging and bleeding for their lives. After he was shot, another adult, janitor Michael Suchar, tried to help him until he was shot. Soon after police arrived at the scene, they realized the shots had come from Spencer’s house. Although the officers sent negotiators to speak with her, she refused to cooperate with them. . In total, the standoff lasted over six hours. During this time, Spencer gave her infamous phone interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune. One negotiator remembers promising her a Burger King Whopper before she finally walked out.
Spencer steps out of his house surrenders to the authorities and is arrested. Children and a policeman were seriously injured and two adults: Headmaster Burton Wragg and janitor Michael Suchar were killed.
Spencer was found guilty of all charges and was sent to prison for 25 years. At a parole hearing in 2001, Spencer claimed that her violence was the result of an abusive home life in which her father beat and sexually abused her. The chairman of the parole board, Brett Granlund, expressed doubt about Spencer’s allegations, saying Spencer never discussed the allegations with counsellors. Bob Geldof, the lead singer of the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, wrote a song called “I Don’t Like Mondays”.
Released just months after the attack, the tune held the top spot in the UK charts for four weeks and also received extensive airtime in the US. Spencer heard the song and was happy with the song. Cleveland Elementary School was eventually closed, but for the students there that day, the tragedy affected their future decisions and changed their lives forever. Spencer still serves at the California Institute for Women in Chino, California