'I've been an isolated loner': Missouri school shooter Orlando Harris wrote CHILLING note before going on rampage
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: Missouri school shooter Orlando Harris, 19, reportedly left a chilling note describing himself as a "loner" before carrying out his rampage. Two people died and several others were injured after Harris opened fire at a high school in St Louis, Missouri. The gunman, who was a former student of the school, entered Central Visual & Performing Arts High School on Monday, October 24, and began shooting.
Police found a notebook in which Harris detailed his desire to carry out the shooting. "I don’t have any friends; I don’t have any family. I’ve never had a girlfriend; I've never had a social life. I've been an isolated loner my entire life. This was the perfect storm for a mass shooter," Harris wrote in a note, according to the Daily Mail. He brought an AR-15-style rifle and over 600 rounds of ammunition to the school, police said.
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Cops found a note that listed different shooters across the country and how many people they killed. There was also a detailed map of the school. The gunman mentioned he wanted to be the next national school shooter.
According to witnesses, Harris' weapon jammed mid-attack. He allegedly yelled, "You’re all gonna f***ing die" before going on his evil rampage. St Louis Public Schools said cops were able to "quickly" stop the suspect by gunning him down. He exchanged gunfire with police and later succumbed to his injuries. Harris had graduated from the school last year.
The city's police commissioner Michael Sack said students were running out of the school when officers arrived. Harris, he said, had a "long gun." He also had around a dozen 30-round ammunition magazines with him, CNN reported. Seven security workers who were on the site acted quickly and notified other staff, and contacted the police. "This is a heart-breaking day for all of us," he said, according to BBC. FBI agents are now assisting in the investigation.
Student Alexis Bell, 16, was pronounced dead at the scene and a 61-year-old physical education teacher Jean Kuczk later died at the hospital. A chilling video posted to TikTok shows students hiding under desks as gunshots ring outside the classroom.
Student Taniya Gholston, 16, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that Harris entered a classroom she was in and tried to shoot her. "I was trying to run and I couldn't run," she said. "Me and him made eye contact but I made it out because his gun got jammed." She also said she heard the attacker saying, "I'm tired of this damn school."
The doors of the school building were locked and it is unclear how he entered. Sack refused to open up on how the shooter got in as he did not want "to give a blueprint" to other would-be shooters. "The gun laws in St Louis are very broad," Sack said, according to the Daily Mail. "If someone walks down the street with a rifle, if we have no cause we can't go and talk to them. And that's one of the greatest challenges we face." People who were injured are said to be suffering from gunshot wounds, shrapnel injuries, and cardiac arrest.