112 Years For School Shooter

Kip Kinkel was sentenced Wednesday to 112 years in prison for gunning down his parents and opening fire in the cafeteria of Thurston High School, killing two students.

The sentence came after Kinkel apologized in court for the rampage, saying the acts took him to "a place of deterioration and self-loathing."

"I thought about what I could say to make people feel better. Nothing I can do can take away the pain and destruction I caused. I am truly sorry for all of this," he said.

Kinkel, 17, pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and 26 counts of attempted murder. He had agreed to serve 25 years in prison for the murders, but Judge Jack Mattison had the option of adding time for the attempted murders at the Springfield school.

Mattison said emotional statements made by victims and their families convinced him "this case needed accountability for each of the wounded."

Victims, allowed to speak Tuesday, told of their lingering confusion, fear, pain and anger.

"I don't care if you're sick, you're insane or crazy," said Jake Ryker, who tackled Kinkel despite being shot in the chest. "I can't stand here and look at you without wanting to kill you."

The judge told Kinkel that, if he met his own goal of being a model prisoner and helping others behind bars, he may one day qualify to have his sentence commuted.

In addition to the 25-year sentence for the murders, Mattison crafted a combination of concurrent and consecutive sentences on the 26 attempted murder counts that added up to another 86.67 years in prison.
Defense lawyer Mark Sabitt urged Mattison to give Kinkel hope of eventual freedom, recounting testimony that Kinkel was psychotic and driven by hallucinatory voices to commit the murders in May 1998.

"This defendant is mentally ill. He is neurologically impaired and he is a child," Sabitt said.

Kinkel insisted he loved his parents, who were killed after he was expelled from school for having a stolen gun in his locker.

"These events have taken me down to a place of deterioration and self-loathing I didn't know existed," he said.

Kinkel had hid his face or put his head on the table when his crimes were described earlier in the weeklong hearing. But he sat attentively during the victims' statements and looked at them when they asked him to, apparently keeping a resolution recounted by his sister, Kristin, to listen.

Jennifer Alldredge, shot while talking with friends about a surprise birthday party for her boyfriend, said she is still startled by loud noises, embarrassed by her scars and somehow ashamed for what happened to her.

"I hate you, I hate what you have done, I hate what I have become because of you," Alldredge said. "I'm so tired of having all this run my life."

Many parents cried, and one had to be told by the judge not to threaten Kinkel. Students described how thei grades had gone down, old friends had deserted them and they were haunted by nightmares.

A few expressed forgiveness, but none expressed any greater understanding of what had happened.

"I ask myself every day, 'Why, Kip, why?' " said Rebecca Lynn, whose daughter, Betina, was almost paralyzed from a bullet to the back. "Why did I take Betina to the doctor every week for five months? Why did you shoot her? Why did you feel such need to destroy lives?"