Georgia Teen Terrorizes Fellow High School Students with Rifle Shots

Apr. 29, 1965 - In Chamblee, Ga., today, a 16-year-old Chamblee High School sophomore terrorized more than 100 fellow students today with shots from a high-powered rifle.

No one was injured, though 20 teenage girls were so upset they were sent home by school authorities.

The boy, apparently unhappy over a low grade in a history class this morning, left school at about 10:30 a.m. 

He returned with the rifle, climbed to the top of the football stadium at the school, and began firing shots at 40 boys and 80 girls taking physical education classes on the field below. The boy’s girlfriend was in one of the classes, a faculty member said.

“I didn’t know at first what it was when the first shot rang out,” said Miss Sue Colquitt, gym instructor.

On the second shot, Miss Colquitt said, the boys’ coach shouted for them to take cover under the edge of the concrete stadium steps.

About 40 girls on the far side of the football field with Miss Colquitt flattened themselves against light poles. Some fled into nearby woods.

The boy, barefoot and wearing dungarees and sweatshirt, fired at random for about 15 minutes from the top of the stadium press box until police arrived.

He then surrendered to Capt. T.L. Terrell of the Chamblee police.

“I demanded that he put his gun down. As I approached, he fired over my head once. I drew my pistol and told him to put the rifle down or I’d have to shoot him,” Terrell said later.

The boy dropped the rifle and raised his hands.

“I know the boy. His parents have told me he has a great deal of respect for me,” Terrell said, adding that he thinks this is why the youth surrendered quickly.

Police turned the boy over to DeKalb Juvenile Court authorities. A court spokesman said he was being taken immediately to a psychiatrist for examination.The youth, whose name is being withheld under Georgia law because of his age, was considered a “normal student,” Assistant Principal Don Schultz said.

His grades were not especially good, Schultz said, but he “seemed a nice boy, a polite boy.”

Several students said the boy seemed upset over a low grade in a class this morning, but school authorities were otherwise at a loss to explain his actions.

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