Evan Ramsey

Evan E. Ramsey (born February 8, 1981) is a former American high school student who perpetrated a school shooting at Bethel Regional High School in Bethel, Alaska, on February 19, 1997. During the shooting, Ramsey killed two people and wounded two others. He is serving two 99-year prison sentences and will be eligible for parole in 2066.

Background

When Evan Ramsey was five years old, his father was imprisoned after a police standoff, and his mother became an alcoholic. Evan and his family soon after were forced to relocate to the Anchorage area after their house was set on fire. When Evan was seven, the Anchorage Department of Youth and Family Services removed Evan and his two brothers from his mother's custody and placed them in foster care. Evan was soon separated from his older brother, John, and lived in eleven foster homes between 1988 and 1991.^[1] Ramsey and his younger brother were allegedly abused by several foster parents. Evan's younger brother, William, claimed that their foster brothers would pay other children to beat Evan as a sick game.

Evan was adopted with his brother at age 10, and settled in Bethel, Alaska with their foster mother. Evan Ramsey has suffered from depression since early childhood, and had attempted suicide when he was 10 years old.^[1]

Motives

Ramsey was believed to have been frequently bullied at school.^[2][3][4] According to his friends, Ramsey complained of being harassed and teased by other students, even to the extent of only addressing him as "Screech", a character from the TV series Saved by the Bell.^[3] In addition to being picked on by peers, however, Evan had a long history of abuse. His mother lived with a series of violent men who abused Evan and his brothers. He also was physically and sexually abused by an older boy in one of the foster homes he was placed.^[5]

Evan was not the first in his family to bring a firearm into a public place. In October 1986, Evan's father, Don Ramsey, went to the Anchorage Times newspaper office armed with an AR-180 .223 rifle, a Snub-nosed .44 Magnum revolver, and more than 210 rounds of ammunition. While inside the building, Don Ramsey began taking hostages and was involved in a brief standoff with police until he surrendered. His motive for doing this was because he was angered that the Times refused to publish a political letter he had written. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and was paroled just several weeks before his son Evan perpetrated the school shooting.^[1] Also, a week before Evan's attack, his older brother was arrested for armed robbery.^[6]

Reports say in the two weeks prior to the incident, more than 15 students knew of Ramsey's intention to commit a school shooting, and two actually assisted him.^[7] One student named James Randall taught him how to load and fire a shotgun, and another named Matthew Charles told him of the infamy that would come.^[1] Reports say that several students brought cameras to school on the day of the shooting, and that many students were watching the shooting from a library balcony overlooking the student commons area.^[8]

The shooting

On Feb. 19, 1997, Evan Ramsey armed himself with a Mossberg 500 12-gauge shotgun, and arrived at Bethel Regional High School by school bus. Ramsey approached the student commons area, brandishing the shotgun, and shot 15-year-old Josh Palacios in the abdomen, an immediate fatal wound. He also shot and injured two other students. Reyne Athanas, an art teacher, entered the commons area after hearing the gunshots. Athanas said she tried and failed to convince Ramsey to surrender. He then entered the main lobby, where he shot principal Ron Edwards twice, killing him. Ramsey then retreated to the commons area, shooting once at police. Ramsey later placed the shotgun barrel under his chin, and reportedly said, "I don't want to die," and laid the shotgun on the ground and surrendered without further incident.

Aftermath

Following his arrest, Ramsey claimed he did not understand his actions would kill anyone.^[7] His trial was delayed as prosecutors discussed whether Ramsey should be tried as a juvenile or as an adult. Prosecutors decided to try Ramsey as an adult in Anchorage. On Dec. 2, 1998, Ramsey was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree attempted murder, and fifteen counts of third-degree assault. Judge Mark Isaac Wood sentenced him to 210 years in prison; on appeal, however, his sentence was reduced to two 99-year prison sentences.^[9] He is imprisoned at the Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward, and will be eligible for parole in 2066, when he will be 85 years old.

On February 15, 2006, Ramsey did an interview with Anderson Cooper titled In the Mind of a Killer, in which his father Don Ramsey blamed the video game Doom for the shooting.^[10] His crime was also profiled on the Court TV series Anatomy of a Crime.

References

External links

• Violence goes to School
• Young lives at risk
• Court case of Evan E. Ramsey
• Portrait Of A High School Killer