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Revision as of 02:55, 29 December 2006 by Carcharoth (talk | contribs) (→Imprisonment: change link)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Wayne Lo (born November 14, 1974) is an American school shooter. He was one of the first school shooters of the 1990's.
Early life
Wayne Lo was born in Tainan, Taiwan. His father was a fighter pilot in the Taiwanese air force and his mother was a music teacher. Lo has a younger brother. The family immigrated to the US in 1987, settling in Billings, Montana. His parents ran a restaurant business in Billings. Lo attended Lewis and Clark Jr. High School and then attended Billings Central Catholic High School. Lo was a violinist and played in the Billings Symphony beginning his freshmen year of high school. He attended the Aspen Music Festival and studied under Dorothy Delay.
In 1991, Lo was accepted by Simon's Rock College of Bard in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and given the W.E.B. DuBois minority scholarship.
Shooting rampage
Lo did not adjust well to the liberal college environment of Simon's Rock. Lo held conservative views which were deemed racist, homophobic and anti-semitic by fellow students at the college. Lo steadily became more and more outcasted by his fellow students.
On December 14, 1992, Lo carried out his shooting rampage. He had ordered ammunition from a mail order arms company 2 days earlier and received the package on the morning of the 14th. He went to Pittsfield, MA and purchased an SKS carbine at a gun shop that afternoon. Lo commenced shooting at around 10:30 pm. The victims:
- Nacunan Saez - 37 - professor - shot dead
- Galen Gibson - 18 - student - shot dead
- Theresa Beavers - 42 - security guard - wounded
- Thomas McElderry - 19 - student - wounded
- Joshua Faber - 15 - student - wounded
- Matthew David - 18 - student - wounded
Lo surrendered to the police after his rifle jammed and he called 911, informing he was the shooter. He was taken into custody without incident.
Trial and conviction
Although many statements were made prior to the trial regarding Lo's bigoted and racist views, he was never charged with a hate crime and the racist accusations were never substantiated during the month long trial. Instead, the focus turned to his mental state at the time of the shootings as Lo's defense lawyers entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea.
Lo's psychiatrists testified he was suffering from schizophrenia while the prosecution expert psychiatrist witnesses merely attributed Lo's actions to his narcissistic personality disorder.
The jury sided with the prosecution and delivered a guilty verdict after 3 days of deliberation. Lo was found guilty on all 17 counts he was charged with and sentenced to two consecutive life without possibility of parole terms. He was immediately sent to prison on February 3, 1994.
Imprisonment
Lo spent 9 months at a maximum security facility at Walpole, MA and then transferred to MCI-Norfolk, a medium security prison where he remains today.
In 1998, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts rejected Lo's appeals.
In 1999, Gregory Gibson, the father of Galen Gibson, wrote and published Gone Boy - A Walkabout (Kondasha Press). A detailed book recounting the shooting and Gibson's search for answers in his son's death. The book spurred correspondence between Gibson and Lo. A New York Times article (NY Times April 12, 2000 front page) as well as a documentary film Running Amok by George Stefan Troller (German TV ZDF 2001) was made detailing this correspondence.
Popular culture
Lo wore a t-shirt with the name of a New York hardcore band Sick of it All during his shooting rampage. This spurred the band to issue press releases denouncing Lo's crime.
The rock band Weezer wrote a song about Lo it appeared on their Deluxe Edition Blue Album (2004) disk 2, track 12. The song is called "Lullaby for Wayne".
References
- Gone Boy - A Walkabout (1999) Gregory Gibson, Kondasha International.
- Running Amok (2001) Georg Stefan Troller, German TV ZDF (documentary film)
- Man and His Son's Slayer Unite to Ask Why- New York Times, April 12, 2000, William Glaberson