Weston High School shooting

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The Weston High School shooting occurred on September 29, 2006 at Weston High School in Cazenovia, Wisconsin.

1 Overview of event
2 Motive of shooter
3 Timing of events
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Overview of event

Eric Hainstock, a 9th grade student, entered the school with both a handgun and a shotgun, both owned by his parents. After arriving at school at approximately 8:00 a.m., he aimed the shotgun at a teacher, but it was wrestled from him by the custodian. A struggle ensued, and the shotgun was taken away.
Still armed with the handgun, Hainstock sought out and confronted school principal John Klang. Klang attempted to subdue Hainstock; in response, Hainstock shot Klang several times. Klang then managed to wrestle Hainstock to the ground, where others helped to hold him down.
Klang was treated at Reedsburg Area Medical Center and then flown to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, where he later died as a result of the wounds he received.
Hainstock was arrested and charged with first degree intentional homicide by the Sauk County District Attorney’s office. This occurred only two days after the Platte Canyon High School shooting in Colorado.

[edit] Motive of shooter

Reports indicate Hainstock was repeatedly attacked and bullied by homophobic remarks.^[1] He perceived that teachers and the principal did nothing to help the matter. However, other students and acquaintances of Hainstock's family had described him as a troubled child. Furthermore, on the day prior to the shooting, the school principal John Klang gave Hainstock a disciplinary warning for having tobacco on school grounds.

[edit] Timing of events

The shooting occurred only two days after the Platte Canyon High School shooting and was the third school shooting in the United States and Canada in two weeks, the first two being the Dawson College shooting and the aforementioned Platte Canyon High School shooting. A fourth shooting, the Amish school shooting, transpired a few days after the Weston incident.