MossMan
07-18-2003, 07:33 AM
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Right here in little ole Charleston, WV
Charleston Gazette (http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/200307187)
July 18, 2003
Capital High teacher shot at school board meeting
Kanawha schools worker allegedly douses boss with gas
By Eric Eyre
STAFF WRITER By Dawn Miller
STAFF WRITER
A disgruntled Kanawha County school employee walked into a school board meeting Thursday night, threw a bucket of gasoline on his supervisor, pulled out an assault rifle and shot a teacher, police said.
Three Kanawha County school administrators subdued the man and wrestled the rifle from him after he fired three shots and tried to set his supervisor on fire with a charcoal lighter.
Richard Dean “Rusty” Bright, 58, of Rand was charged with malicious wounding in the shooting of Karen Taylor, a Capital High School teacher, and with wanton endangerment for spraying gasoline on several people at the board meeting.
- advertisement-
Police said Bright shot Taylor with an AK-47 assault rifle, which, in its original Russian design, is a fully automatic battlefield weapon.
Taylor, 56, librarian and media center director at Capital High, was shot once in the lower abdomen. She was in stable condition at CAMC General Hospital late Thursday, a spokeswoman said.
Bright, a door repairman for the school board who was on sick leave for the past several months, told of dire financial problems when arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.
The soft-spoken Bright held his head in a hand, covering his face during most of the hearing. He told Magistrate Kim Aaron that his sick-leave benefits were about to expire.
Divorced with no dependents, he said he brings home about $1,300 a month. His sick-leave pay is “... the same, but it’s running out,” he said.
Bright said he owes slightly more than $53,000 on his Rand house, and owns an older-model pickup. He told Aaron he has little money remaining. “I’ve got $500,” he told the magistrate. “Checking.”
Bright was known to county principals and teachers as “Rusty the Doorman,” because he often worked on doors in schools.
“He’s a nice fellow,” said South Charleston High School Principal Bill Walton. “He always was friendly.”
In recent months, Bright had complained about his supervisor, Jeff Allred, to schools Superintendent Ron Duerring, according to school officials. Duerring tried to mediate the dispute, and school officials said they thought the matter had been resolved.
Three years ago, Bright complained about management at the school system’s warehouse at Crede, which Allred oversees.
According to a co-worker, Bright also had complained recently about cigarette smoke at the Crede warehouse, saying it had made him sick.
Thursday evening, Bright apparently slipped through the Elizabeth Street office’s rear entrance and entered the building through the boiler room before the board meeting.
The meeting had just started, shortly after 7 p.m., when Bright walked into the boardroom carrying three buckets. He set the AK-47, which was wrapped in a black plastic bag, on the press table.
“He looked like a janitor,” school board President Bill Raglin said. “He calmly set the buckets down.”
At 7:08 p.m., Bright threw one of the buckets, which apparently contained gasoline, onto Allred, the board’s maintenance director.
“Then we smelled gas,” said Leonard Allen, an assistant superintendent.
Board member Pete Thaw said Bright “got out a striker, like one you would use to light a grill, and he was going to light up Allred.”
Three school administrators, including Allen, seized Bright. They wrestled, the rifle went off and a bullet hit Taylor, who was sitting in the back of the school board auditorium.
Allen, along with school administrators Bill Courtney and Bill Buchanan, then got the rifle away from Bright. They held him until police arrived, about two minutes later. “It was quite a bit of a struggle,” Allen said.
“If you three hadn’t grabbed that guy, somebody would have gotten killed,” Raglin told Allen a few minutes later.
Most administrators and audience members dropped to the floor. Others tried to race out of the room. Duerring shouted for someone to call 911.
Allred dashed from the building and ran up Quarrier Street, his clothes soaked with gasoline. Another administrator, Karen Williams, also got splashed by the gasoline.
After police came and the building was evacuated, Allred returned in his boxer shorts. The pants he carried dripped with gasoline. His shirt and tie were still wet.
Outside, Thaw asked if he was OK. “I think so,” Allred said. “I don’t know what made me run away.”
A paramedic directed those doused with gasoline to water, where they could rinse off.
Police blocked off surrounding streets for several hours. All of Elizabeth Street from Quarrier to Washington streets was clogged with Charleston Fire Department engines and city police cruisers.
The parking lot on the school board’s Quarrier street side was roped off. In the lot was a navy-blue and tan Ford truck, which police said was Bright’s vehicle. The rear glass of the truck’s topper was open.
Aaron set bail for Bright at $250,000 cash, and detectives took him to South Central Regional Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 25.
Staff writers Chandra Broadwater, Greg Stone and Tom Searls contributed to this report. To contact staff writer Eric Eyre, use e-mail or call 348-4869.
Right here in little ole Charleston, WV
Charleston Gazette (http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/200307187)
July 18, 2003
Capital High teacher shot at school board meeting
Kanawha schools worker allegedly douses boss with gas
By Eric Eyre
STAFF WRITER By Dawn Miller
STAFF WRITER
A disgruntled Kanawha County school employee walked into a school board meeting Thursday night, threw a bucket of gasoline on his supervisor, pulled out an assault rifle and shot a teacher, police said.
Three Kanawha County school administrators subdued the man and wrestled the rifle from him after he fired three shots and tried to set his supervisor on fire with a charcoal lighter.
Richard Dean “Rusty” Bright, 58, of Rand was charged with malicious wounding in the shooting of Karen Taylor, a Capital High School teacher, and with wanton endangerment for spraying gasoline on several people at the board meeting.
- advertisement-
Police said Bright shot Taylor with an AK-47 assault rifle, which, in its original Russian design, is a fully automatic battlefield weapon.
Taylor, 56, librarian and media center director at Capital High, was shot once in the lower abdomen. She was in stable condition at CAMC General Hospital late Thursday, a spokeswoman said.
Bright, a door repairman for the school board who was on sick leave for the past several months, told of dire financial problems when arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.
The soft-spoken Bright held his head in a hand, covering his face during most of the hearing. He told Magistrate Kim Aaron that his sick-leave benefits were about to expire.
Divorced with no dependents, he said he brings home about $1,300 a month. His sick-leave pay is “... the same, but it’s running out,” he said.
Bright said he owes slightly more than $53,000 on his Rand house, and owns an older-model pickup. He told Aaron he has little money remaining. “I’ve got $500,” he told the magistrate. “Checking.”
Bright was known to county principals and teachers as “Rusty the Doorman,” because he often worked on doors in schools.
“He’s a nice fellow,” said South Charleston High School Principal Bill Walton. “He always was friendly.”
In recent months, Bright had complained about his supervisor, Jeff Allred, to schools Superintendent Ron Duerring, according to school officials. Duerring tried to mediate the dispute, and school officials said they thought the matter had been resolved.
Three years ago, Bright complained about management at the school system’s warehouse at Crede, which Allred oversees.
According to a co-worker, Bright also had complained recently about cigarette smoke at the Crede warehouse, saying it had made him sick.
Thursday evening, Bright apparently slipped through the Elizabeth Street office’s rear entrance and entered the building through the boiler room before the board meeting.
The meeting had just started, shortly after 7 p.m., when Bright walked into the boardroom carrying three buckets. He set the AK-47, which was wrapped in a black plastic bag, on the press table.
“He looked like a janitor,” school board President Bill Raglin said. “He calmly set the buckets down.”
At 7:08 p.m., Bright threw one of the buckets, which apparently contained gasoline, onto Allred, the board’s maintenance director.
“Then we smelled gas,” said Leonard Allen, an assistant superintendent.
Board member Pete Thaw said Bright “got out a striker, like one you would use to light a grill, and he was going to light up Allred.”
Three school administrators, including Allen, seized Bright. They wrestled, the rifle went off and a bullet hit Taylor, who was sitting in the back of the school board auditorium.
Allen, along with school administrators Bill Courtney and Bill Buchanan, then got the rifle away from Bright. They held him until police arrived, about two minutes later. “It was quite a bit of a struggle,” Allen said.
“If you three hadn’t grabbed that guy, somebody would have gotten killed,” Raglin told Allen a few minutes later.
Most administrators and audience members dropped to the floor. Others tried to race out of the room. Duerring shouted for someone to call 911.
Allred dashed from the building and ran up Quarrier Street, his clothes soaked with gasoline. Another administrator, Karen Williams, also got splashed by the gasoline.
After police came and the building was evacuated, Allred returned in his boxer shorts. The pants he carried dripped with gasoline. His shirt and tie were still wet.
Outside, Thaw asked if he was OK. “I think so,” Allred said. “I don’t know what made me run away.”
A paramedic directed those doused with gasoline to water, where they could rinse off.
Police blocked off surrounding streets for several hours. All of Elizabeth Street from Quarrier to Washington streets was clogged with Charleston Fire Department engines and city police cruisers.
The parking lot on the school board’s Quarrier street side was roped off. In the lot was a navy-blue and tan Ford truck, which police said was Bright’s vehicle. The rear glass of the truck’s topper was open.
Aaron set bail for Bright at $250,000 cash, and detectives took him to South Central Regional Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 25.
Staff writers Chandra Broadwater, Greg Stone and Tom Searls contributed to this report. To contact staff writer Eric Eyre, use e-mail or call 348-4869.