Shooting Spree At Cleveland High School

Suspended Student Injures 5 Before Killing Himself

(CBS/AP)  A 14-year-old suspended student, dressed in black, opened fire in his downtown high school Wednesday, wounding four people as terrified schoolmates hid in closets and bathrooms and huddled under laboratory desks. He then killed himself.

The 14-year old freshmen at SuccessTech Academy alternative school had been suspended for fighting, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.

“When he got suspended, he said ‘I got something for you all,’ and I thought he was just playing 'cause he says it all the time,” said a fellow student. “But I see that he was for real.”

“He's crazy. He threatened to blow up our school. He threatened to stab everybody,” Doneisha LeVert said. “We didn't think nothing of it.”

Asa H. Coon was armed with two .38 caliber revolvers, and police found a duffel bag stocked with ammunition and three knives in a bathroom, officials said. Parents were angry that firearms got into a school equipped with metal detectors that students said were intermittently used.

Officials said two teachers and two students were shot, and that a 14-year-old girl fell and hurt her knee while running out of the school.

Witnesses said the shooter moved through the converted five-story downtown office building, working his way up through the first two floors of administrative offices to the third floor of classrooms. Officials said he was wearing a black Marilyn Manson concert shirt, black jeans and black-painted finger nails.

“He just came back and started shooting at people,” a student tells CBS News. “He would just shoot at anybody who was in the hallway, so everybody just ran down the hallway.”

The first person shot, student Michael Peek, had punched Coon in the face right before the shootings began, said student Rasheem Smith, 15.

Coon “came out of the bathroom and bumped Mike and he (Mike) punched him in his face. Mike started walking. He shot Mike in the side.” Peek, 14, didn't know Coon had a gun, Smith said.

Antonio Deberry, 17, said he and his classmates hid under laboratory tables and watched the shooter move down the hallway. “I saw him walking past. He didn't see us, we saw him.” The shooter swore and shot several times, Deberry said.

LeVert said she hid in a closet with two other students after she heard a “Code Blue” alert over the loudspeaker. She said she heard about 10 shots.

Darnell Rodgers, 18, was walking up to another floor when the stairway suddenly became flooded with students.

“It took me a couple of minutes to realize that I was actually shot, when I felt my arm burning in the area, that's when I realized that I had got shot,” Rodgers said.

“They were screaming, and they were saying, 'Oh my God, oh my God.' I knew something was wrong, but thought that it was probably just a fight, so I just kept going,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers was released from a hospital after treatment for a graze wound to his right elbow.

Coon had been suspended since Monday for fighting near the school that day, said Charles Blackwell, president of SuccessTech's student-parent organization. He did not know how Coon got into the building Wednesday.

Blackwell said that there was a security guard on the first floor, but that the position of another guard on the third floor had been eliminated.

Students and parents described the gunman as troubled, Reynolds reports.

“It could have been avoided, because there were warning signs,” said one parent.

Student Frances Henderson, 14, said she often got into arguments with Coon, who once told her, “I got something for you all.” He was a “gothic” who usually wore a trench coat, black boots and a dog collar, she said.

[devoidofenvy]

I find it unbelievable how you could talk about giving guns to teachers or hitting kids like this.I will agree that today''s youth is very unstable and wild.Who''s to say if it''s the fault of parents, or of media, or of something else that might influence our youth.Adding to these problems by giving stressed out teachers guns or having military or police as supervisors would only create an even more tense environment.

If teachers or staff would pay attention to the signs more that could help a bit.

[kpnwknj]

Thanks KPNwkNJ but I don''t want to be ignorant and hate on any race. I''d never say what you suggested. I''ll just hope my sons stay on the straight and narrow and never cause anyone to fear them. I wish everyone else the best with theirs. I have no hard feelings about the person I was as you say DEBATING with. It''s their opinion. I''m a decent person.

[kpnwknj]

SanOnPad
Why did you waste your time debating with someone who is bias. You on the other hand were honest about the black males in "your" neighborhood and all races of youth needing guidance showing you were not bias. That person was racist bringing up black leaders. You should have brought up the fact most school shooters and serial killers are white males.

[gilb7386]

I believe that it is getting tougher to grow up in todays society. There are more things/problems/situations making our children to lose their way. Making them unable to cope and adjust. And I am sorry to say, I don''t believe it is going to get better. As all these(things/problems/situations) progress and intensify, so does our youths anger and frustration.

[sanonpad]

I wish someone out there agreed with me. As parents we aren''t 100% responsible for our children''s actions but we can try and teach them to respect others and have regard for human life. I think the children who are taught at an early age stand a better chance than those ignored and not disciplined, those allowed to read bomb making books and have a cache of assault weapons.Those allowed to skip school and sell drugs. I am being knocked for trying to raise males that the world won''t fear. Who in their right mind looks up to Al Sharpton or the Rev Jesse Jackson who cheated on his wife and had an illegitimate child from the affair. Not our family

[sanonpad]

tuckerndfw
YOU are missing my point. I still think it starts at home and it''s all races involved. Parents have to get more involved with their children while they are young. I am talking about staying in tune with them watching observing etc. Know what your child IS or IS not doing. I only brought up race because we seem to focus more on black males at times when a lot of young teens of all races are violent. I said all youths are in need someone positive to train them and that so many parents are no longer involved and so many teens do not go to school any learn anything positive. They seem to run the streets and internet sites instead of school. No civil rights or gay rights etc. have anything to do with youth being violent. You''re not speaking about the same thing I am, LET''S drop it. YOU have a whole different thing going on and I want no part of it. WHITE males are NOT to blame if my sons take the wrong path. Neither is Al Sharton. He is NOT an influence on my household ha ha HOW ignorant a statement. I would not blame a white male if my sons failed. You are talking about civil rights leaders and all this junk what has that to do with picking up a gun and killing innocent people? What homosexuals and women are shooting up the schools or on the street corners selling drugs. I was speaking of today''s youths and thier lack of respect for life. BEFORE writing READ.

[michellem99-2009]

If he is mentally ill how could he plan this. I have seen TV shows that look real but and I say but they are not real. The music is trash that they like. I came from a broken home. Foster mother would NOT give us what ever we wanted. No sah. We could not dress,do as we please. So let put the kids in dchool uniforms,have them do their lessons, be good citzens, Go back to the basics.

[miles1102]

darkmeat4 the kid was WHITE

[sanonpad]

Who in the hell is blamimg white males for anything. Where did that off the wall ignorant statement come from? I said today''s youths are terrible and that not just black youths. Youths of all races are putting us at risk and that the parents have to step up and tune into what their children are doing or about to do. As a parent of blacks males and knowing the temptation out there I keep my eyes opened and stay alert to new friends and behaviors. I made sure my sons went to school. I wouldn''t ever see them with weapons or large sums of money and think it was okay. I was saying if a child doesn''t have a parent teaching him and refuses to go to school and have teacher teaching him where does he learn values. I blame no white male for anything my sons would ever do. I was trying to make a point saying it''s all races. We just seem to talk about the black thugs. ALL races have youth problems today. It was an Asian youth who did the killing of the people at VA tech. It''s just the way today''s youths are, no regard for the next person. I think we should pay closer attention to what our children do and with whom before trouble happens. Don''t be afraid to ask questions and check out what doesn''t seem right. How is that blaming a white man. I disagree.

[sanonpad]

There is always a lot of talk about young black youths being drug dealers but who is it doing the majority of school shootings? We have to be frank and admit it seems all races of youth have issues and seem to be in need of help. It seems it''s the youths of today that are spoiling tomorrow for so many of us. How can young people be so bold as to shoot down someone with no remorse. How are our babies getting guns so easily? I live in a neighborhood where the majority of young black males do not even go to school, they hang out all day selling drugs. I see their own parents get drugs and money from them. How can your child be taught the right way of life with no teacher. No school or home training. These high school shooters'' parents aren''t in tune with their children enough to know what they are doing or capable of. These street thugs selling drugs are not getting proper home training. They are allowed to skip school and have knots of money in the pockets with their parents approval. I am afraid of today''s youth...very afraid