Barry Loukaitis
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Barry Loukaitis (born February 26, 1981) is a convicted American murderer, who killed 3 people in a school shooting at Frontier Junior High, in Moses Lake, Washington on February 2, 1996.
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[edit] Barry Loukaitis
Loukaitis was born to Terry Loukaitis and Joann Phillips. He spent the early part of his life in Iowa and Minnesota and moved to Washington in fifth grade. His parents owned and operated a sandwich and ice-cream shop in Moses Lake.
Years before the shooting, his father began an affair and his mother became increasingly distant and often spoke of suicide, implying that Barry would also have to kill himself. In January of 1996, she informed Barry the date of the double-suicide would be Valentine's Day.
He suffered from clinical depression, which was also present in the last four generations of the Loukaitis and Phillips families. His depression was worsened by bullying, which may have been a motive for Barry's murderous rampage
[edit] Weapons and Shooting
On the 2nd of February, 1996, Barry Loukaitis, then 14, dressed as a wild west style gunslinger and used a duster (Long coat - See Trenchcoat) to conceal a high powered hunting rifle and two handguns. He was carrying almost 80 rounds of ammunition. Rather than taking the bus, he walked the distance between his house and the middle school.
Loukaitis opened fire on his algebra teacher as soon as he opened the door and hit her with one round in the chest. She died immediately, still holding an eraser in her hand. He then fired at students, killing two, one of them a bully to him. He also shot a girl in the arm.
[edit] Arrest and Punishment
Loukaitis took hostages for a short amount of time, but released the wounded. The hostage situation was stopped when teacher Jon Lane came into the room, assisted in the evacuation of injured students, then tackled Loukaitis, keeping him there until police arrived. Loukaitis is now serving two mandatory life terms without parole plus 205 years at Clallam Bay Corrections Center in Washington state.
