Give a Boy a Gun (19 page)

—Dustin Williams

When Allison said she thought they should
do something to help Sam, the kids became extremely agitated. Up to that point you didn't know whose side she was on.

— Dick Flanagan

In 1995 more than one million guns manufactured outside the United States were imported into this country. More than half were handguns.

It was a madhouse. I mean, twenty people started yelling at Allison at once. I guess they thought she could reason with those guys. Get them to give up or something.

— Paul Burns

Brendan started yelling at everyone to shut up, and there was a burst of gunfire. It was insane in the dark. You heard gunfire and had no idea who it was. Was it the police? Those guys? Someone else? And then in the middle of it that girl screamed.

—Dustin Williams

I was right next to Robin [Lewis], so when she screamed, I thought they'd shot her. Brendan was yelling at everyone to shut up, but the wailing and crying just tripled. It was beyond nightmarish.

—Beth Bender

To the good people of Middletown:

I hope this gets printed in big, bold letters on the front page of the newspaper, because it's something every single one of you should read. I'm gone now, and you want to know why I took your kids with me?

Here's why. You made my friggin' life miserable. How? By the way you raised your kids to all want to be the same and to hate anyone who dares to be a little different. Oh, no, you're probably thinking, you didn't do that.

You sure did. I've seen you in your cars staring at me and my friends.
Look at those creeps. Look at their clothes and the music they listen to. Why can't they go out for sports or at least root for our team?

Know what? Not everybody has to do what you A-holes want them to do. Maybe your kids
did, but me and my friends chose not to. And you and your kids couldn't deal with that. And so you had to do what stupid, ignorant people always do when they don't understand—you had to attack and torment us.

And you teachers. I thought you taught us that America is supposed to be about freedom. Kids are supposed to be able to be different without the status quo police smashing us over the head and ridiculing us. But that's all you teachers did to me and my friends. Just like everyone else, you tried to make us conform to your narrow-minded expectations of how we were supposed to dress and act.

Well, screw you. Screw all of you. I hope this letter is like a knife in your hearts. You ruined my life. All I've done is pay you back in kind.

Respectfully yours,
Brendan Lawlor

Brendan started to shoot again. From the muzzle flashes I knew he was firing at the ceiling. But in the dark like that a lot of kids couldn't see and didn't know. They just assumed everyone around them was being slaughtered. You don't know what terror really is until you experience it yourself.

— Dustin Williams

Robin [Lewis] screamed because she felt warm liquid seeping into her clothes from the floor and thought it was blood. Everyone knows now it was something else. It's just completely gross.

—Deirdre Bunson

You lose track of how many times you think this is it, you're really going to die now, but that was certainly one of those moments. Brendan was screaming at everyone to shut
up. He probably fired that semiautomatic until he'd emptied the whole clip. There were bullets ricocheting all over the place. A couple of kids were grazed. We're incredibly lucky no one was actually hit. It was utter mayhem.

—Allen Curry

It got quiet, and I heard those clicking sounds and realized Brendan was reloading. Then I heard Gary say, “Brendan, we gotta talk.” Brendan cursed him out something awful. So now
these
two guys were arguing. I guess it was something in Gary's voice. Everyone who heard it started begging Brendan to listen to him. Of course, that just totally set Brendan off again.

—Chelsea Baker

In a situation like that, you search madly for anything to hope for. When I heard Gary say they had to talk, I thought we had a chance. It wasn't much, but it was all we had. But with all the crying and pleading, Brendan wasn't listening. So I raised my voice and told
everyone to quiet down and let the boys talk.

—Beth Bender

First Brendan was screaming at everyone to shut up. Then Ms. Bender said we should be quiet. Then Mr. Flanagan said it too. It was so weird. They were all agreeing with Brendan. For a second I thought they'd gone over to the other side or something.

—Deirdre Bunson

Everyone [on the floor] started whispering to each other to be quiet and let [the boys] talk. In the dark I heard Brendan say he couldn't effing believe it. He just couldn't effing believe it.

—Allison Findley

Gary wanted to talk. Brendan said there was nothing to talk about. They'd chosen their
path. So Gary goes, “Things have changed.” Brendan started cursing at him and saying nothing had changed. The rest of us just lay there listening to it. Here were these two crazy boys discussing whether we'd live or not. Our lives were totally in their hands.

— Chelsea Baker

Like any other business, the gun industry must constantly introduce new products to keep buyers interested and enhance profits. People who buy computers look for more memory and faster chip speed. People who buy guns look for increased killing power.

I worked my hands free. If there'd just been one [guy with a gun], I think I would have jumped up in the dark and taken him down. But there were two. I thought about grabbing one, getting his gun, and shooting the other, but it seemed awful risky. The truth is I was brought up in a family that was totally against guns and I'd never actually fired one. I wasn't sure I'd know how.

—Paul Burns

Gary said he was still with Brendan all the
way, but they had to get Allison out of there. Brendan was completely sarcastic. Like, exactly how did Gary propose to do that? You know, with the doors locked and booby-trapped. Meanwhile, I started to hear this strange sound. Something half whirring, half grinding. I realized it was a drill. Someone was trying to drill into the gym.

— Dustin Williams

Several studies have pointed out that the number of rampage shootings each year has remained somewhat consistent. However, the number of victims has increased dramatically. The reason? Semiautomatic weapons capable of spraying more bullets in a shorter period of time.

They both stopped talking. I heard the drilling sound and knew they were listening too. They started swinging their flashlights over the walls and the basketball nets and the air-conditioning ducts, trying to see where the sound was coming from. I heard a screech of metal and looked up. Of course, it was pitch-black and I couldn't see anything. Those boys were swinging their flashlights around like spotlights at a movie premiere. Then one of the beams fixed on something. It was a black cable wire coming down from the ceiling. Near the end it curved slightly, and something at the very end of it reflected the light from the flashlight
beam. I thought,
Well, what do you know? It's a camera
.

—Dick Flanagan

This was unreal. No one's saying anything. Except for the flashlights it's still dark. In the flashlight beam you can see this wire thing slowly start to turn in a circle. Like it's looking around to see what the story is.

—Paul Burns

I rolled onto my side a little so I could see what everyone was looking at. It was hard to see the cable, because if the flashlight beam moved just a little, you lost sight of it. Then out of nowhere there's this voice whispering in my ear. It was Paul, and he said he'd gotten his hands free.

—Dustin Williams

I was so glad when I saw that camera come down. So they'd know Brendan and Gary
had put us near the doors, and if anyone tried to come in, those doors might explode.

—Chelsea Baker