Teen gunman Orlando Harris, who left two dead at a South St. Louis high school, had described his lonely life in the handwritten notes left behind. The victims included a teenage female student and a 61-year-old teacher.
Harris' Gun Jammed During the Shooting
In the incident which took place on Monday, the 19-year-old shooter entered the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School Harris through a side door. A former student of the school, Harris was carrying an AR-15-style rifle.
After breaking into the building, Harris carried out a shooting spree killing two and injuring six other students. The deceased have been identified as 61-year-old Jean Kuczka, who taught health and physical education, and 15-year-old Alexzandria Bell.
Harris was shot dead by the police on the building's third floor, near the library. Harris, who was working as a part time food services worker at Cardinal Ritter Senior Services since 2019, was heard saying that he was "tired of everybody" in the school as he carried out the massacre. An eyewitness told the Post-Dispatch that during the shooting spree, the Harris' gun jammed once.
Revealing the detailed timeline of the incident, the Police said that they received a call for an active shooter came at 9:11 a.m. and officers arrived on the scene four minutes later. "At 9:23 a.m. officers engaged with the suspect, then two minutes later the suspect was reportedly downed. At 9:32 a.m. the suspect was secured and at 9:52 a.m. the building was cleared," the police said.
Notes Reveal Shooter Had No Social Life
Claiming that the gunman led a lonely life, interim St. Louis police Chief Michael Sack said that a notebook recovered from his car revealed his life.
"I don't have any friends. I don't have any family. I've never had a girlfriend. I've never had a social life. I've been an isolated loner my entire life," the note said, according to Sack. "This was the perfect storm for a mass shooter." The police also revealed that Harris had 600 rounds of ammunition.
Speaking to the outlet, a teacher remembered the shooter as friendly and outgoing with teachers and fellow students. "He would laugh and joke with members of his graduating class," Lauren Ogundipe, the school's theater director and teacher of theater arts, told the outlet. "He would talk with different teachers, he would talk about his school life — he didn't really talk about his home life. He would talk about girls he was interested in."
