Evan Ramsey
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Evan Ramsey is a convicted American murderer, who killed two and wounded two in a school shooting at Bethel High School in Bethel, Alaska on February 19, 1997. Ramsey was a 16-year-old sophomore at the time.
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[edit] Childhood
Evan's father was sent to prison when he was seven, and then his mother slipped into alcoholism. Ramsey and his siblings were then sent to foster homes, and in at least one he was sexually abused. He suffered from depression from as young as ten and was contemplating suicide five years before the shootings.
[edit] Motives
Ramsey was reportedly picked on frequently at school. According to friends, Ramsey wasn't very smart and was often called names such as "retard", "spaz" or "braindead".
Additionally, Evan wasn't the first in his family to bring a gun into a public place. In 1986 Evan's father Don was nicknamed "Rambo of Alaska" after an incident in which a newspaper refused to publish his letter, he went to the newspaper's office armed with an .223 semi-automatic assault rifle and a .44 magnum revolver and over 200 rounds of ammunition. After a short stand-off, Don Ramsey surrendered, and was imprisoned.
Two weeks after his father was paroled Evan perpetrated the school shooting. Reports say over 20 people knew of Ramsey's plan to shoot up the school, and two actually helped Ramsey, one by teaching him how to use a shotgun, and the other telling him of the infamy that would come. Reports say one student even brought a camera to school on the day.
Ramsey also played Doom frequently, and his father told the press after the shooting that he believed his son may have been imitating Doom, a first-person shooter video game[1].
[edit] Firearm
Ramsey used a 12 gauge pump action shotgun. As aforementioned, Ramsey was a fan of the game Doom, in which the pump action shotgun is used frequently. Ramsey took the weapon without permission from the home of his foster mother.
[edit] Shooting
On February 19, Ramsey entered the school lobby brandishing a shotgun, and killed 15-year-old student Josh Palacios. This shot to the abdomen of Palacios also injured two other students. He then shot the principal, Ron Edwards, in the hallway of the school. The principal died later on the floor of his office. Ramsey then put the shotgun barrel under his chin, but couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. When police arrived on the scene, he placed the gun on the ground and surrendered.
[edit] Sentencing
Ramsey was charged as an adult, and sentenced to 200 years in a maximum-security prison, and is eligible for parole in 2066[2].
[edit] Victims
- Josh Palacios
- Ron Edward
Evan Ramsey recently did an interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN titled "In The Mind of a Killer" in which he blamed DOOM for his school shooting. His crime was also profiled on the Court TV series Anatomy of a Crime.
