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NewsThursday, October 11, 2007 9:03 AM CDT
Gunfire reported at high school in Cleveland
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CLEVELAND -- A gunman opened fire in a downtown high school Wednesday before killing himself, and five people were taken to a hospital, authorities said.

After the shooting, shaken teens called their parents on cell phones, most to reassure but in at least one case with terrifying news: ``Mom, I got shot.''

Mayor Frank Jackson said three teens and two adults were hurt. He said the children were in ``stable, good condition,'' and the adults were in ``a little elevated condition.''

Police said SuccessTech Academy had been secured and that the lone suspect had fatally shot himself. Students said he was enrolled at the alternative school but did not attend class Wednesday.

Student Doneisha LeVert, who hid in a closet with two other students after she heard a ``Code Blue'' alert over the loudspeaker, said the shooter had threatened students Friday.

``He's crazy. He threatened to blow up our school. He threatened to stab everybody,'' she said.

Ronnell Jackson, 15, said he saw a shooter running down a school hallway.

``He was about to shoot me, but I got out just in time,'' he said. ``He was aiming at me I got out just in time.''

Tammy Mundy, 38, who has a son and daughter at the school, told The Plain Dealer that her daughter called when the shooting started.

``She said, 'Mom they're shooting in here, kids are running out, I'm hiding in the closet,''' Mundy told the newspaper.

Then she called her 18-year-old son, Darnell Rodgers, on his cell phone, and he told her he had been shot in the arm.

``He said, 'Mom, I got shot,''' Mundy told the newspaper.

Rodgers' girlfriend, 17-year-old Lateisha Riddlehill, who hid in a bathroom during the shootings, confirmed that Rodgers had been shot in the elbow. She said he told her he was going to be fine.

The mayor said two boys, ages 14 and 17, were hurt, as were two men, ages 42 and 57, and a 14-year-old girl he said fell and hurt her knee while running out of the school. It was not immediately clear if the 17-year-old he referred to might actually be Rodgers.

The 57-year-old is a teacher and was in good condition, said Eileen Korey, a spokeswoman for Metro Health Medical Center. She said the older teenage student was in stable condition, and that conditions on the other patients were not being released.

Students stood outside the building, many in tears, hugging each other and on cell phones. Others shouted at reporters with TV cameras to leave them alone. Family members also stood outside, anxiously waiting for their children to be released.

``I'm scared. I'm hoping no more people got hurt,'' Ronnell Jackson said.

The shooting occurred across the street from the FBI office in downtown Cleveland, and students were being sent to the FBI site.

``There are a lot of emergency vehicles,'' said spokesman Scott Wilson. ``They're just trying to sort things out right now.''

Wilson said he had no information on the shooting.

SuccessTech Academy is an alternative high school in the Cleveland city school district that emphasizes technology and entrepreneurship. It is is housed on several floors of the district's downtown Cleveland Lakeside Avenue administration building.

``It's a shining beacon for the Cleveland Metropolitan School System,'' said John Zitzner, founder and president of E City Cleveland, a nonprofit group aimed at teaching business skills to inner-city teens. ``It's orderly, it's disciplined, it's calm, it's focused.''

The school has about 240 mainly black students with a small number of white and Hispanic students. All the students are considered poor under federal poverty guidelines.

The school, opened five years ago, ranks in the middle of the state's ratings for student performance. Its graduation rate is 94 percent, well above the district's rate of 55 percent.

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Reader comments on this story - 11 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

kind of funny wrote on Oct 10, 2007 10:18 PM:

" a wet-behind-the-ears wannbe cop shoots everyone up in Wisconsin, the media platers it all over the world and whatdayaknow...another shoot-all incident a day or two later. Thank you media. "

Re:whuppin wrote on Oct 10, 2007 5:09 PM:

" thanks for saying the way I feel, I'm 44yrs old and doin ok! "

MRS. wrote on Oct 10, 2007 4:54 PM:

" Well, I believe we should be able to have a weapon to defend ourselves. As far as the teacher that wants to carry she should be able to however, wouldn't making public exactly who has a gun out them in danger? If a nut wants to go into a classroom and he/she knows the teacher has a gun wouldn't he just shoot the teacher first BEFORE there was time to react? I carried a gun with me at all times when I lived in Mesa. I used it for target practice and to scare to coyotes away from our business door. Every morning there were one or two around where I parked. "

To GOM wrote on Oct 10, 2007 3:53 PM:

" If you don't like it - move to another country. It's pretty simple, really. . . . "

Irrelevant Information wrote on Oct 10, 2007 3:49 PM:

" At the end of the article is states 'All the students are poor under federal poverty guidelines.' Does that mean its okay if any of them get hurt or killed? What was the purpose of writing that? What does it matter if the students are poor or rich? I believe the more important factor is the well being of the kids regardless of income-level. "

Kids need a good ole whuppin wrote on Oct 10, 2007 3:48 PM:

" Kids today have NO respect. When i was growing up (by the way im between 38-42) if i did something wrong i got the belt or a willow switch. Yes i did deserve it when i got it. It was not child abuse, it was a good ole behind the shed whuppin. I turned out just fine. Kids dont respect, teachers, police, parents ect. Time outs DO NOT WORK, it shows ith todays kids. Its sad that you can not give you child a spankin when needed, parents are more scared that DCFS will be call. Bring back respect spank the child when needed, and only when needed. "

CJS wrote on Oct 10, 2007 3:34 PM:

" WOW!! A high school shotting that doesn't involve rich white yuppies that gets reported!! This is a first. "

TO: Funny from Gov't Opressed Mule wrote on Oct 10, 2007 2:24 PM:

" You can't blame the gun or gun manufacturer but you can sue them. and TO...... This IS(!!!) the land of the free. Free to the powers and the people in uniform. We Have Freedom of speech (But watch what you say). The Freedom to assemble (as long as the gov't has given you a permit) Freedom of religion (as long as everyone agrees to it.) Freedom to bear arms (if you are in the service controlled by the gov't). Land of the Free (sure to everyone but you and me.) IT IS TIME TO STOP WHINING AND STAND UP AND FIGHT. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT BEN FRANKLIN, GEORGE WASHINGTON, THOMAS JEFFERSON, AND MANY OTHERS FOUGHT AGAINST! STAND UP AND FIGHT! TAKE UP ARMS AGAINST KING GEORGE AND THE REST OF THIS OPPRESIVE TOTALITARIAN FACIST STATE! "

Typical NRA Cra$ wrote on Oct 10, 2007 2:23 PM:

" Here we go again lets arm the teachers so that they can take matters into their own hands. Lets place guns in plastoc cases with a sign in an emergency break plastic and shot. You people are idiots. No it is never the gun it is the person with the gun. Ever think that if we did not have so many guns on the street that we would not have a problem in the first place. And yes I am for strict gun control, so let the blasting begin, since that all you NRA nutcases look for. I love it then I can sit back and laugh at all the NRA dribble spoken by all the NRA sheeple. "

funny wrote on Oct 10, 2007 2:01 PM:

" I just talked to my brother who lives in a right to carry state. Just yesterday a man with a pistol walked in a store and tried to rob it. One of the customers, who had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, used it to stop the robbery. The assailant was kept at the store at gun point until the police arrived. I wonder why the media never reports any stories of guns saving lives, and property. It happens a heck of alot more than you could possibly imagine. Stories like this one are tragic but, you can't blame the gun or the gun manufacturer. "

... wrote on Oct 10, 2007 1:49 PM:

" Democracy has become a hypocracy. The land of the free is a myth. We live in a land of "this is what you cannot do". We blame, yet take no responsibility. Everything done wrong requires an right answer. For any bad deed, a law must be passed. We have free will. Whether you believe in your God or not, we have free will. Killers will be killers. Saints will be saints. Those that want to do good, will do good. Those that want to do bad things to people, will do bad things. We have free will and all of us will die someday. "

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