JohnBT
Member
washingtonpost.com
At Pa. School, Pondering the Mind of 'an Average Kid'
Students Who Knew Teen Behind Murder-Suicide Couldn't Imagine Talk of Guns Would Ever Be Acted On
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 26, 2003; Page A03
RED LION, Pa., April 25 -- No one took 14-year-old James Robert Sheets seriously when he raised the idea of bringing guns to school or talked about his dislike for his junior high school principal.
People who knew him said the dark-haired eighth-grader seemed so well-adjusted. He was such a "normal guy" that nobody could imagine him acting on any of those ideas. But then he did.
Police say Sheets pulled a silver-colored revolver out of his book bag Thursday morning and, without saying a word, fatally shot Red Lion Area Junior High School Principal Eugene Segro in the chest as students gathered in the cafeteria for class.
"I heard the shot, and then looked up and saw Dr. Segro fall and grab his chest," said Trevor Koppenhaver, 14, an eighth-grader who was in the cafeteria at the time of the shooting.
After that, witnesses said, Sheets paused and looked around with what some described as a bemused look on his face, before pulling out a second handgun and shooting himself in the head as hundreds of horrified students fled the cafeteria.
Police and school officials here are still struggling to figure out why Sheets, armed with three loaded handguns that he apparently took from a locked safe at his home, suddenly resorted to violence.
"He was a normal kid. I understand he was well-liked," said Red Lion Police Chief Walt Hughes. "He was just an average teenager."
Many of Sheets's classmates agreed with that assessment. But some also said Sheets had talked -- in what his friends believed was a light-hearted way -- about disliking Segro and about bringing weapons to school. "He had said he wanted to bring guns to school, but nobody believed him," said one 14-year-old eighth-grader. "He is not an extremely serious person. He is not the type of person who would seem like he would want to do that."
Another eighth-grader said Sheets seemed fascinated by guns. "He likes to brag about guns," Amanda Schreiber told the York Daily Record. "Or he did. He was all about being a man's man. He said, 'Wouldn't it be funny if one of us brought a gun to school and started shooting everybody?' "
She said nobody took him seriously because Sheets laughed as he said it.
Helen Smith, a forensic psychologist in Knoxville, Tenn., who has written a book on violent children and has testified as an expert in juvenile murder trials, said Sheets's talk of bringing guns to school could have been a warning sign of a depressed child.
"Usually, that's a power play," said Smith, who recently completed a documentary on violent children. "It's something like, 'I want your attention; I want you to think I'm powerful. I don't feel that way, and I want some way for people to notice me.' "
Despite the description of Sheets as a normal, friendly child, Smith said she suspects there was something "brewing inside" him.
"My guess would be that the kid was depressed out of his mind for whatever reason, and as we hear more about it, I'm sure that we'll find out that everything wasn't so great," she said.
Indeed, many friends, schoolmates and neighbors described Sheets as an average young man who played wide receiver on his junior high school football team, played baseball on a local recreation team and enjoyed hunting with his stepfather.
"He was normal; he fit in," said Meredith Schmitt, a 14-year-old eighth-grader.
"He talked about hunting a lot, but I never heard him talking about bringing a gun to school," said Matt Jansen, 13, an eighth-grader.
Sheets recently broke up with his 14-year-old girlfriend, who is now dating a friend of his, some students said. But the relationship had been on and off for months, and few thought the breakup could have triggered the violence they witnessed on Thursday.
"They've broken up before and gotten back together," one said. "Every time it happened, it didn't seem like it affected him."
The students described the bald-headed Segro, 51, as an affable man whom they sometimes called "Dr. See-No-Hair-Grow" -- a joke that they said he enjoyed as well. Sheets's mild complaints about the principal sounded no more serious than the gripes many students have about administrators, students said.
At this early stage of the investigation, police and school officials say they're not even sure that Sheets came to school with the idea of killing the principal. "We have no reason to believe [Segro] was the person the student had some issue with," Red Lion Area Schools Superintendent Larry Macaluso said today.
Thursday's murder-suicide came two years after a man distraught over his divorce and over allegations that he had molested his stepdaughters used a machete to attack 11 kindergartners, the principal and two teachers at a Red Lion elementary school. No one was killed in that incident.
As this quiet, bedroom community absorbed the shock of the latest school attack, residents established a makeshift memorial, covering a sign outside the junior high school with bouquets of flowers in tribute to the slain principal.
School officials tried to steer the town back toward normalcy. Except for the junior high, all schools were open today and officials said attendance was close to normal. Grief counselors were on hand to help students and educators.
"It's a shame," said Allen Smeltzer, who lives across the street from the two-story home, just outside Red Lion, where Sheets lived with his family. "They were a really good family. Good people. Everybody feels sorry for them."
Staff writer Christopher Lee contributed to this report.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
At Pa. School, Pondering the Mind of 'an Average Kid'
Students Who Knew Teen Behind Murder-Suicide Couldn't Imagine Talk of Guns Would Ever Be Acted On
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 26, 2003; Page A03
RED LION, Pa., April 25 -- No one took 14-year-old James Robert Sheets seriously when he raised the idea of bringing guns to school or talked about his dislike for his junior high school principal.
People who knew him said the dark-haired eighth-grader seemed so well-adjusted. He was such a "normal guy" that nobody could imagine him acting on any of those ideas. But then he did.
Police say Sheets pulled a silver-colored revolver out of his book bag Thursday morning and, without saying a word, fatally shot Red Lion Area Junior High School Principal Eugene Segro in the chest as students gathered in the cafeteria for class.
"I heard the shot, and then looked up and saw Dr. Segro fall and grab his chest," said Trevor Koppenhaver, 14, an eighth-grader who was in the cafeteria at the time of the shooting.
After that, witnesses said, Sheets paused and looked around with what some described as a bemused look on his face, before pulling out a second handgun and shooting himself in the head as hundreds of horrified students fled the cafeteria.
Police and school officials here are still struggling to figure out why Sheets, armed with three loaded handguns that he apparently took from a locked safe at his home, suddenly resorted to violence.
"He was a normal kid. I understand he was well-liked," said Red Lion Police Chief Walt Hughes. "He was just an average teenager."
Many of Sheets's classmates agreed with that assessment. But some also said Sheets had talked -- in what his friends believed was a light-hearted way -- about disliking Segro and about bringing weapons to school. "He had said he wanted to bring guns to school, but nobody believed him," said one 14-year-old eighth-grader. "He is not an extremely serious person. He is not the type of person who would seem like he would want to do that."
Another eighth-grader said Sheets seemed fascinated by guns. "He likes to brag about guns," Amanda Schreiber told the York Daily Record. "Or he did. He was all about being a man's man. He said, 'Wouldn't it be funny if one of us brought a gun to school and started shooting everybody?' "
She said nobody took him seriously because Sheets laughed as he said it.
Helen Smith, a forensic psychologist in Knoxville, Tenn., who has written a book on violent children and has testified as an expert in juvenile murder trials, said Sheets's talk of bringing guns to school could have been a warning sign of a depressed child.
"Usually, that's a power play," said Smith, who recently completed a documentary on violent children. "It's something like, 'I want your attention; I want you to think I'm powerful. I don't feel that way, and I want some way for people to notice me.' "
Despite the description of Sheets as a normal, friendly child, Smith said she suspects there was something "brewing inside" him.
"My guess would be that the kid was depressed out of his mind for whatever reason, and as we hear more about it, I'm sure that we'll find out that everything wasn't so great," she said.
Indeed, many friends, schoolmates and neighbors described Sheets as an average young man who played wide receiver on his junior high school football team, played baseball on a local recreation team and enjoyed hunting with his stepfather.
"He was normal; he fit in," said Meredith Schmitt, a 14-year-old eighth-grader.
"He talked about hunting a lot, but I never heard him talking about bringing a gun to school," said Matt Jansen, 13, an eighth-grader.
Sheets recently broke up with his 14-year-old girlfriend, who is now dating a friend of his, some students said. But the relationship had been on and off for months, and few thought the breakup could have triggered the violence they witnessed on Thursday.
"They've broken up before and gotten back together," one said. "Every time it happened, it didn't seem like it affected him."
The students described the bald-headed Segro, 51, as an affable man whom they sometimes called "Dr. See-No-Hair-Grow" -- a joke that they said he enjoyed as well. Sheets's mild complaints about the principal sounded no more serious than the gripes many students have about administrators, students said.
At this early stage of the investigation, police and school officials say they're not even sure that Sheets came to school with the idea of killing the principal. "We have no reason to believe [Segro] was the person the student had some issue with," Red Lion Area Schools Superintendent Larry Macaluso said today.
Thursday's murder-suicide came two years after a man distraught over his divorce and over allegations that he had molested his stepdaughters used a machete to attack 11 kindergartners, the principal and two teachers at a Red Lion elementary school. No one was killed in that incident.
As this quiet, bedroom community absorbed the shock of the latest school attack, residents established a makeshift memorial, covering a sign outside the junior high school with bouquets of flowers in tribute to the slain principal.
School officials tried to steer the town back toward normalcy. Except for the junior high, all schools were open today and officials said attendance was close to normal. Grief counselors were on hand to help students and educators.
"It's a shame," said Allen Smeltzer, who lives across the street from the two-story home, just outside Red Lion, where Sheets lived with his family. "They were a really good family. Good people. Everybody feels sorry for them."
Staff writer Christopher Lee contributed to this report.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
