Speaker 1: We have an active shooter. We have an acre shoot.
Speaker 2: It's go ahead of me, Claire with a mass casualty.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Active Shooter, a podcast that covers the whys,
Speaker 1: the hows, and the aftermath of active shooter and mass
Speaker 1: casualty events. They have an active shooter in the building.
Speaker 1: A teching call says they are big attacks. We got
Speaker 1: chush fire at four fifteen as broaching ninety one, so
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, I'm at a fire on active shooter.
Speaker 2: Orts of an active shooter, active shooter, active shooter.
Speaker 1: In mash casualty incidents. Thank you for listening.
Speaker 2: You are listening to Active Shooter, a podcast that may
Speaker 2: contain adult themes, explicit language, and graphic depictions of violence.
Speaker 2: Portions of this show may be traumatic for those under eighteen.
Speaker 2: Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 1: Twenty one years ago, a school shooting very briefly dominated
Speaker 1: headlines in September of two thousand and three. It was
Speaker 1: about four and a half years after what is arguably
Speaker 1: the most widely known school shooting in US history at
Speaker 1: Columbine High School on April twentieth, nineteen ninety nine. The
Speaker 1: shooting we are covering today wasn't as deadly and didn't
Speaker 1: seem to make the same kind of impact in the
Speaker 1: media as Columbine School mass shootings are much more common
Speaker 1: today than twenty one years ago, and perhaps the media
Speaker 1: held itself to a slightly higher standard. Still, all these
Speaker 1: years later, the students at Rocori High School are adults
Speaker 1: with children and and even some grandchildren of their own.
Speaker 1: They have watched the world around us become complacent and
Speaker 1: almost indifferent to maschool shootings, feelings that they will never
Speaker 1: comprehend or share with the world. Worse, they face the
Speaker 1: very real possibility that the person who shattered their innocence
Speaker 1: will one day walk free, free to wander the same
Speaker 1: streets as their children and grandchildren. For their sake, we
Speaker 1: pray that the way we view guns, mass shootings, and
Speaker 1: mental health has changed significantly by then. Today's case is
Speaker 1: dedicated to the two deceased students, Seth Bartel and Aaron Rawlins,
Speaker 1: as well as any injured survivors. We'd like to make
Speaker 1: a special mention in honour of the students and faculty
Speaker 1: at Rocori High School, along with their families and loved
Speaker 1: ones who are impacted by this tragedy. Active Shooter the
Speaker 1: podcast is a High five Holly production, and I'm your
Speaker 1: host JT. If you've listened to our prior episodes, you
Speaker 1: know that the Active Shooter podcast team has taken the
Speaker 1: no notoriety pledge and we will not be sharing the
Speaker 1: real name of the shooters that we cover. We will
Speaker 1: be giving the shooters a pseudonym and refer to them
Speaker 1: by that name throughout the episode. This will help in
Speaker 1: clearing up any confusion in the story while remaining true
Speaker 1: to our pledge and not naming the shooter by their
Speaker 1: actual name. We will refer to today's shooter as Gabe. Wednesday,
Speaker 1: September twenty fourth, two thousand and three commenced much like
Speaker 1: every other morning for students at the Rocori High School,
Speaker 1: located at five point thirty four Fifth Avenue North in
Speaker 1: cold Spring, Minnesota. Cold Spring is situated within Stearns County
Speaker 1: and sits approximately fourteen miles southwest of Saint Cloud, the
Speaker 1: twelfth largest city in Minnesota. Cold Spring, for its part,
Speaker 1: is a rather small town, consisting of just over four
Speaker 1: thousand residents as of the twenty ten census. The morning
Speaker 1: was chilly, as many autumn mornings in Minnesota are, and
Speaker 1: it was cloudy, though it warmed up to the mid fifties.
Speaker 1: There was only one student attending classes that morning who
Speaker 1: knew that each student would leave that day an entirely
Speaker 1: different child than they were walking into the building. Only
Speaker 1: fifteen years old, Gabe was aware of the panic and
Speaker 1: palpable fear that would soon permeate the hallways of their
Speaker 1: educational institution. It's important to note that this was two
Speaker 1: thousand and three. School shootings were not commonplace, and most
Speaker 1: students still felt a sense of safety within those hallways
Speaker 1: and classrooms. Before Gabe came to school on Wednesday morning,
Speaker 1: he snuck into his parents' bedroom and stole his dad's
Speaker 1: twenty two caliber semi automatic stainless steel handgun. The weapon
Speaker 1: wasn't loaded, and the bullets were hidden elsewhere in the house.
Speaker 1: That didn't matter to Gabe. He knew where everything was hidden,
Speaker 1: so he collected the bullets, loaded the gun, and placed
Speaker 1: it into his backpack. Gabe left for school wearing a
Speaker 1: T shirt that was either black or blue with a
Speaker 1: white stripe. Today was the day that Gabe was going
Speaker 1: to make sure that his school bully, Seth Barton Tell,
Speaker 1: was going to pay. Whether Seth was truly. Gabe's own
Speaker 1: personal bully is debatable, but in Gabe's mind, there was
Speaker 1: no doubt he felt tortured by Seth and had for
Speaker 1: many years. Gabe couldn't take it anymore, and he finally
Speaker 1: decided that he'd put an end to the constant bullying.
Speaker 1: He would take his father's gun to school shoot Seth,
Speaker 1: and the consequence would be that everyone would know, you
Speaker 1: don't mess with Gabe. You don't tease him or call
Speaker 1: him pizza face. You don't laugh or point or push him.
Speaker 1: Today he was going to show Seth why. It was
Speaker 1: very evident, both from his full confession and from his
Speaker 1: writings that were discovered later, that Gabe's sole motive and
Speaker 1: intention was to seek out Seth and shoot him. Just
Speaker 1: before Jim class started, Gabe took his backpack and entered
Speaker 1: the locker for reference, The locker room is located in
Speaker 1: the basement of the school, while the gym was one
Speaker 1: floor upstairs. Gabe withdrew the firearm, entered a bathroom stall,
Speaker 1: cocked it, and replaced it into his bag. He then
Speaker 1: sat on a bench to wait for his target. Other
Speaker 1: students entered and exited, but Gabe didn't ever see Seth enter.
Speaker 1: After sitting there for a few minutes, Gabe suddenly noticed
Speaker 1: Seth walking towards the exit. He had apparently entered without
Speaker 1: Gabe's seeing and changed in another part of the locker
Speaker 1: room where he wasn't visible. Seth and another student were
Speaker 1: walking towards the hallway when Gabe again pulled the gun
Speaker 1: out of his bag, aimed and fired at Seth. It
Speaker 1: was eleven forty four am when Seth was struck in
Speaker 1: the chest by the first shot. He clutched his side
Speaker 1: and rushed towards the hallway leading up to the gym,
Speaker 1: the classmates by his side. Gabe followed after him, guns
Speaker 1: still aimed at Seth's retreating back, Gabe attempted to shoot again,
Speaker 1: but the gun jammed. He quickly cleared the jam and
Speaker 1: raised the weapon and fired off another shot before Seth
Speaker 1: managed to make it to the stairs. He missed Seth,
Speaker 1: and the bullet struck student Aaron Rawlins in the neck,
Speaker 1: killing him instantly. Aerin was in the midst of walking
Speaker 1: towards Gabe, trying to reason with him when he was
Speaker 1: suddenly hit. Aaron's hands immediately flew up to his neck,
Speaker 1: where he desperately tried to apply life saving pressure to
Speaker 1: the wound. As he fell to the ground, Aaron murmured, quote,
Speaker 1: help me, I'm hurt, Help me, I've been shot. Sadly,
Speaker 1: Aaron was shot in a place and manner where life
Speaker 1: saving intervention wasn't possible. Seventeen year old Aaron Rawlins was
Speaker 1: born on February third, nineteen eighty six, to Tom and
Speaker 1: Sherry Rawlins. His hobbies included golfer hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and
Speaker 1: most of all, spending time with his family and friends.
Speaker 1: Those who knew him best say that Aaron was outgoing
Speaker 1: and easily got along with others. The entire senior class
Speaker 1: at Rocori was named honorary pallbearers, sitting together at the
Speaker 1: funeral for one of their own, a child who should
Speaker 1: have been graduating with them in a few months. Students
Speaker 1: at the funeral wore black and white T shirts that
Speaker 1: bore Eron's photo on the front. His death profoundly affected
Speaker 1: everyone who knew him. Meanwhile, Seth and his classmate made
Speaker 1: it to the stairs and were climbing up when Seth
Speaker 1: lifted his shirt exclaiming quote, look, I'm shot. The two
Speaker 1: boys made it into the gym, where they sought out
Speaker 1: their pe teacher Gabe entered the gymnasium directly behind the
Speaker 1: boys and raised his gun once more, walking towards Seth.
Speaker 1: Though eye witness accounts of how close he was differ,
Speaker 1: it seemed that Gabe was approximately only two feet away
Speaker 1: from Seth when he shot him again, striking him in
Speaker 1: the forehead. Fourteen year old Seth Bartel was born coincidentally
Speaker 1: the same date as Aaron Rawlins February third, but three
Speaker 1: years later in nineteen eighty nine. Seth was adored by
Speaker 1: his parents, Raleigh and Kim Bartel, and was sibling to
Speaker 1: Jesse and Whitney. Loved Ones described Seth as a high
Speaker 1: energy young man who was an extreme sports enthusiast. He
Speaker 1: snowboarded and skateboarded, and was happiest when he was out
Speaker 1: in active. Seth was buried at Saint Boniface Cemetery in
Speaker 1: Cold Spring, and he is deeply mourned each and every day.
Speaker 1: Pe teacher Mark Johnson was sitting on the jim bleachers
Speaker 1: working on paperwork when he heard a commotion and looked
Speaker 1: up in time to see a student Gabe shoot his
Speaker 1: classmate seth in the head. In disbelief at what his
Speaker 1: eyes had just witnessed. Mark began to walk after Gabe,
Speaker 1: who was headed towards the exit. He stopped and turned
Speaker 1: to see his teacher, and he aimed the gun at Mark.
Speaker 1: Mark stopped, raised his hands in the surrender motion while
Speaker 1: loudly and sharply saying no. Gabe lowered the firearm, ejected
Speaker 1: the remaining shells onto the ground, and dropped the gun.
Speaker 1: Mark purposely strode to the weapon, snatched it up, grabbed
Speaker 1: by the wrist, and walked him to the school's administrative office.
Speaker 1: Four minutes after the shooting started, police were on the scene.
Speaker 1: Students were gathered from all corners of the school and
Speaker 1: released on the east side of the building as classrooms
Speaker 1: were cleared one by one. Police escorted petrified students to
Speaker 1: the elementary school nearby, where those students and faculty who
Speaker 1: witnessed the shooting were sent to the media center at
Speaker 1: the high school to be interviewed and give statements. It's
Speaker 1: a very stark contrast to the way we respond to
Speaker 1: school shootings today. Emergency technicians arrived on the scene and
Speaker 1: began attempting life saving measures on aaron Rawlins as he
Speaker 1: was rushed to Saint Cloud Hospital, where he was declared
Speaker 1: dead on arrival. Seth was airlifted by Lifeling Helicopter Services
Speaker 1: to Saint Cloud Hospital, where he was sprinted into surgery
Speaker 1: to treat massive head and brain trauma. Seth succumbed to
Speaker 1: his extensive injuries, passing away sixteen days later on October eleventh,
Speaker 1: two thousand and three. As expected, police immediately whisked Gabe
Speaker 1: away to the local station for questioning. He was eventually
Speaker 1: interrogated by Agent Ken MacDonald of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Speaker 1: Gabe fully admitted to shooting Seth, but he expressed surprise
Speaker 1: that anyone else was shot and killed, claiming that wasn't
Speaker 1: his intent. He only meant to shoot Seth, but he
Speaker 1: admitted that he could have missed and thus shot someone
Speaker 1: else by mistake. When he was informed of Aaron Rollins's death,
Speaker 1: Gabe began to weep, claiming he didn't want to kill anyone.
Speaker 1: He said he didn't even mean to seriously injure anyone,
Speaker 1: that he only wanted to shoot Seth in the shoulder
Speaker 1: or arm so Seth would have a scar and always
Speaker 1: remember Gabe just like Gabe would always remember the bullying
Speaker 1: he endured. Gabe continued his confession, saying he didn't believe
Speaker 1: a twenty two was powerful enough to cause much harm,
Speaker 1: let alone kill someone. Gabe admitted that he planned the
Speaker 1: shooting for at least two days prior. He essentially cased
Speaker 1: the school by looking for metal detectors and security cameras
Speaker 1: throughout the building. To a casual observer or listener, it
Speaker 1: might have seemed that Gabe truly thought he could shoot
Speaker 1: someone and only injure not kill them. However, when agent
Speaker 1: MacDonald asked Gabe if he believed he'd done something wrong,
Speaker 1: Gabe responded in the affirmative, replying simply, yeah, it was obvious.
Speaker 1: Gabe knew he did something absolutely terrible. He understood that
Speaker 1: he had taken not just one, but two lives, and
Speaker 1: he most assuredly grasped that every action he took on
Speaker 1: September twenty fourth, two thousand and three, had a deadly
Speaker 1: conscert sequence that he must pay for. Gabe understood he
Speaker 1: would be going to prison. Fifteen year old Gabe was
Speaker 1: born on July nineteenth, nineteen eighty eight, the only child
Speaker 1: to loving parents who adored their son Gabe's parents married
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty five, and after having their son, their
Speaker 1: family settled in a home in Cold Spring. They each
Speaker 1: had children from previous marriages, giving Gabe a total of
Speaker 1: five half siblings, three from his father and two from
Speaker 1: his mother. All of his siblings were quite a bit
Speaker 1: older than Gabe, and none were living at home at
Speaker 1: the time of the shooting, though each had briefly lived
Speaker 1: together before the elder children started moving out. Gabe's dad
Speaker 1: worked for Cold Spring County Sheriff Department as a deputy sheriff.
Speaker 1: He worked in law enforcement for twenty one years, with
Speaker 1: fourteen of them spent working in undercover narcotics enforcement. Gabe's
Speaker 1: mother worked at the Golden Plump Factory, a job she
Speaker 1: held for over fourteen years. The couple split up in
Speaker 1: two thousand, separating for a period of about six months.
Speaker 1: Gabe and his mother moved into an apartment in Saint Cloud.
Speaker 1: Gabe took this separation very very hard. It affected the
Speaker 1: young boy immensely, so much so that when his parents
Speaker 1: eventually got back together, Gabe went out of his way
Speaker 1: to never upset his mother or misbehave. He was constantly
Speaker 1: anxious that something he did would cause them to separate,
Speaker 1: and if they even got into an apartment, Gabe shut
Speaker 1: down and became paranoid that his family would break up again.
Speaker 1: Not apartment, He was constantly anxious that something he did
Speaker 1: would cause them to separate, and if they ever even
Speaker 1: got into an argument, Gabe shut down and became paranoid
Speaker 1: that his family would break up again forever this time.
Speaker 1: His mom described her as having a normal childhood and
Speaker 1: she had a typical pregnancy with him. There were no
Speaker 1: early childhood illnesses, injuries, or other known traumas. He was
Speaker 1: something of a quote mama's boy, and that he gravitated
Speaker 1: towards his mother more and developed an exceptionally close bond
Speaker 1: with her. In two thousand, which was during the separation
Speaker 1: time frame, Gabe and his mom lived in the Saint
Speaker 1: Cloud apartment, Gabe's behavior became increasingly combative with his mother.
Speaker 1: She attributes the change in his behavior to the anxiety
Speaker 1: experience because of the separation, which seems to track because
Speaker 1: Gabe seemed to simultaneously become very protective over his mother.
Speaker 1: When his folks reconciled, Gabe was relieved, yet he felt conflicted.
Speaker 1: He couldn't enjoy his family being back together, because he
Speaker 1: lived in a perpetual state of distress that they would
Speaker 1: separate again. Around the same time Gabe's parents got back together,
Speaker 1: he began noticing thoughts and feelings he was experiencing that
Speaker 1: didn't feel normal. Gabe seemed to have some sense of
Speaker 1: his mental health decline, but he was unable to vocalize
Speaker 1: his fears to his parents because he worried it would
Speaker 1: throw off their delicate balance at home. He developed an
Speaker 1: irrational paranoia that he would cause his parents to separate again.
Speaker 1: So the more his mental health deteriorated, the more Gabe
Speaker 1: withdrew from the world. He became very isolated and started
Speaker 1: spending nearly all of his time alone. Gabe had little
Speaker 1: interest in physical activity. He occasionally went snowmobiling with his
Speaker 1: older brother, but typically his time with his family was
Speaker 1: spent doing things like playing card and board games. Gabe
Speaker 1: made an effort to interact with his family just enough
Speaker 1: to ward off concerns. He tried out for the football
Speaker 1: team in seventh grade, but he didn't make the team
Speaker 1: due to experiencing blackouts when he physically exerted himself. Gabe
Speaker 1: later claimed that he never told anyone about the blackouts,
Speaker 1: because again, he was worried about upsetting his parents or
Speaker 1: causing issues that would make his parents split up again.
Speaker 1: There doesn't seem to be any indication whatsoever that his
Speaker 1: parents fought a lot after getting back together, or that
Speaker 1: they gave Gabe a specific reason to fear their separation.
Speaker 1: Gabe acted as though another separation was inevitable, but research
Speaker 1: only seems to suggest that his parents worked things out
Speaker 1: and were happy to be back together. During seventh and
Speaker 1: eighth grades, Gabe continued to isolate and withdraw. His parents
Speaker 1: may have intervened, but Gabe went out of his way
Speaker 1: to present an image of a high schooler who regularly
Speaker 1: hung out with his friends and did high school boy things.
Speaker 1: He was rapidly losing touch with reality, but no one
Speaker 1: seemed to know because Gabe was able to hide it
Speaker 1: from everyone around him. It seems impossible, but at the
Speaker 1: risk of being repetitive, it was two thousand and three.
Speaker 1: Social media wasn't nearly as prevalent, and people weren't broadcasting
Speaker 1: every minute of their life to the entire world. Gabe
Speaker 1: faked it for his parents, and because he had a
Speaker 1: genuine connection with his mom, he enjoyed running errands with
Speaker 1: and for her, and helping her cook. He did a
Speaker 1: lot around the house to keep his mother from stressing out.
Speaker 1: Keeping his mom happy and worry free is how and
Speaker 1: why Gabe would later claim that he successfully concealed his
Speaker 1: downward spiral from her. After the separation, Gabe developed a
Speaker 1: fascination for making things, things being explosive devices like bombs.
Speaker 1: He told a psychiatrist after the shooting that he made
Speaker 1: the bombs in response to a voice in his head
Speaker 1: that instructed him to do so. He created explosive out
Speaker 1: of test tubes he stole from school, shotgun shells, and wires.
Speaker 1: Gabe's interest in the military increased at this time because
Speaker 1: he associated making bombs as something one would do in
Speaker 1: the military. Gabe began to be convinced that he didn't
Speaker 1: even need to attend school, believing his intelligence to be
Speaker 1: off the charts and indeed certainly far more advanced than
Speaker 1: his classmates. The only issues that seemed evident was Gabe's
Speaker 1: claim that he was experiencing intense teasing that rose to
Speaker 1: the level of bullying. He would say that Seth Bartel
Speaker 1: was the main bully who relentlessly made fun of Gabe's acne,
Speaker 1: which admittedly was rather severe. Allegedly, Seth called Gabe pizza face,
Speaker 1: and he pushed, shoved, poked, and slapped Gabe. There don't
Speaker 1: appear to be many, if any reports to the school
Speaker 1: that Gabe was having a difficult time. Again, being that
Speaker 1: this was two thousand and three, the world didn't acknowledge
Speaker 1: that such behaviors like teasing and rough housing could indeed
Speaker 1: be very dangerous and harmful to a young person. As
Speaker 1: a young teen, Gabe's father introduced him to firearms, though
Speaker 1: not in any sort of nefarious way. Because his dad
Speaker 1: was in law enforcement, he wanted to ensure his son
Speaker 1: understood guns, safety and how to properly handle firearms. Gabe
Speaker 1: completed a firearms safety class, and he eventually took and
Speaker 1: passed the Minnesota Fire and Arm Safety Training Exam. Because
Speaker 1: his dad was a police officer a narcotics officer, that
Speaker 1: his dad watched Gabe for signs of being overly interested
Speaker 1: in guns, and he never noticed his son spending an
Speaker 1: inordinate amount of time handling them, researching, or reading about them. Academically,
Speaker 1: Gabe struggled in elementary school. His grades were below average.
Speaker 1: When he was in seventh grade, his language usage and
Speaker 1: expression was rated at a fourth grade level. His report
Speaker 1: cards contained score such as outstanding, satisfactory, though most were
Speaker 1: needs improvement. During the summer following seventh grade, Gabe attended
Speaker 1: a summer program where he reached the partial mastery in
Speaker 1: problem solving. Despite no clear understanding of how or why,
Speaker 1: Gabe's brain just seemed to stop developing normally in his
Speaker 1: preteen in early teen years. By eighth grade, he was
Speaker 1: failing four classes, yet in his own mind he was
Speaker 1: rather brilliant and didn't actually need school. Most of the
Speaker 1: background on Gabe didn't come out until after the shooting.
Speaker 1: Gabe claims that he kept everything a secret from his
Speaker 1: family because he knew it would cause problems, which he
Speaker 1: immediately assumed would break his parents up. It was around
Speaker 1: the time he was in sixth grade when Gabe started
Speaker 1: to hear a male voice. The first time it happened,
Speaker 1: he was walking home from a friend's house when he
Speaker 1: heard someone say his name. It was a muffled voice,
Speaker 1: but they most definitely said Gabe's name. He was so
Speaker 1: sure that he heard the voice that he looked up
Speaker 1: and around, but no one was around, so he let
Speaker 1: it go. The next time it happened, he was on
Speaker 1: the school bus. Gabe reported. The next time he recalled
Speaker 1: hearing the voice was when he was playing with his dog,
Speaker 1: a Doberman pincher. Gabe stopped when he heard the voice
Speaker 1: speak very clearly. However, it was obvious to Gabe that
Speaker 1: the dog didn't hear anything. The dog was very territorial
Speaker 1: and would have reacted if someone it didn't know was around.
Speaker 1: He reported that the voice told Gabe that he was
Speaker 1: Dante lu Cassilvara. Gabe denied picking the name up from
Speaker 1: a video game or having heard of it from anywhere
Speaker 1: besides the voice. Gabe said that the voice later changed
Speaker 1: its name to Jake. Jake continued to speak to Gabe,
Speaker 1: and although he tried his best to ignore Jake, he
Speaker 1: started to do things like build bombs at Jake's sto direction,
Speaker 1: but Jake wanted him to blow things like buildings up.
Speaker 1: He knew this was concerning, but he still refused to
Speaker 1: share with his parents what he was experiencing due to
Speaker 1: his paranoi about causing them undue stress. He didn't tell
Speaker 1: anyone else because he knew people would think he was strange,
Speaker 1: and people would talk about him even more than he
Speaker 1: already believed they did. Gabe made up stories, telling his
Speaker 1: dad that he regularly ate lunch with friends at school
Speaker 1: and attended social events. His dad seemed to believe it.
Speaker 1: There didn't appear to be any reason not to believe
Speaker 1: his son. He told detailed, believable stories. His classmates, on
Speaker 1: the other hand, seemed much less inclined to believe Gabe's
Speaker 1: tall tales. He talked about being a paintball champion, winning tournaments,
Speaker 1: and traveling the country. In the summer of two thousand
Speaker 1: and three, Gabe spent even more time alone than normal.
Speaker 1: He reported that he started to experience hallucinations and they
Speaker 1: intensified at a startling rate, and he claimed to smell
Speaker 1: metal and aluminum. His feelings of anxiety, loneliness, and depression increased,
Speaker 1: and a feeling of pain like a vibration, would run
Speaker 1: from his hand to his foot. During the same timeframe,
Speaker 1: summer of two thousand and three, Gabe met a group
Speaker 1: of individuals in which he started hanging out with. He
Speaker 1: would later describe the group as a meth dealing drug gang.
Speaker 1: These friends were essentially imaginary. They existed only in Gabe's mind.
Speaker 1: While he recognized that he was seriously losing control over himself,
Speaker 1: Gabe just to seriously believe that this drug dealing gang
Speaker 1: of friends from the Woods was real. His story about
Speaker 1: being with this group were vivid. He described helping the
Speaker 1: drug production by creating maps on his computer, and he
Speaker 1: could describe the vehicles they drove, a van, their clothing,
Speaker 1: and he alleged the group kept him protected all while
Speaker 1: running a methamphetamine lab Gabe's He said that the gang
Speaker 1: buried one hundred thousand dollars in the Woods and that
Speaker 1: was his payment for all the work he did for them.
Speaker 1: He further went on to say that he never had
Speaker 1: an urge to try the drugs because he knew what
Speaker 1: drug use could do to a person. He'd seen it
Speaker 1: in his dad's work, but he never seemed concerned that
Speaker 1: his father, who was an narcotics police officer, might catch
Speaker 1: the gang. Gabe reported that when he decided he was
Speaker 1: going to shoot Seth for bullying him, he asked the
Speaker 1: gang to come up to the high school and shoot
Speaker 1: him in the head when it was over. After the shooting,
Speaker 1: Gabe said he saw the van arriving at school, but
Speaker 1: they were too late. To carry out killing him. After
Speaker 1: the shooting, Gabe was held at the Prairie Lake Detention
Speaker 1: School and he was evaluated by a number of psychiatrists
Speaker 1: and doctors. He was prescribed a variety of different medications
Speaker 1: with varying results. However, in time, as he began to adjust,
Speaker 1: Gabe later reported that he became aware that the gang
Speaker 1: was probably not real, but when he was living in
Speaker 1: real time, he truly and completely believed that they were.
Speaker 1: He admitted he didn't really know what was real and
Speaker 1: what wasn't. When teachers at the detention facility interviewed Gabe
Speaker 1: about how he functioned at school, he claimed he thrived
Speaker 1: excelling at school and was at about an eleventh or
Speaker 1: twelfth grade, which simply isn't true. It was determined that
Speaker 1: Gabe struggled with perceiving concepts and subtle or abstract meanings.
Speaker 1: He lacked motivation and was far behind in math skills.
Speaker 1: He showed a keen interest in very few subjects and
Speaker 1: was often caught staring intently at other inmates, causing friction
Speaker 1: because it was so off putting. Each of his teachers
Speaker 1: at the detention school agreed that Gabe functioned emotionally cognitively
Speaker 1: at the level of a twelve year old and did
Speaker 1: not display the typical maturity of a sixteen year old.
Speaker 1: While in the facility, Gabe disgussed having auditory hallucinations. He
Speaker 1: was diagnosed by one psychiatrist as being schizophrenic paranoid type
Speaker 1: and noted that there was evidence of cognitive and hallucinatory
Speaker 1: experience of schizophrenia. In December of two thousand and three,
Speaker 1: Gabe reported that the voice Jake appeared at a morning meeting.
Speaker 1: When Jake entered, Gabe asked someone who the new guy was,
Speaker 1: thinking it was perhaps a staff member. It quickly dawned
Speaker 1: on Gabe that no one else saw the man, and
Speaker 1: he became aware that the voice was truly only heard
Speaker 1: by him. Yet he still failed to communicate these things
Speaker 1: to anyone, even doctors. In December of two thousand and four,
Speaker 1: Gabe detailed a visual hallucination in which he he saw
Speaker 1: dead bodies hanging from the ceilings in the bathroom. He
Speaker 1: could smell the rot and decay and immediately became ill,
Speaker 1: but again chose not to report because he was afraid
Speaker 1: no one would believe him. It wasn't until Gabe was
Speaker 1: sitting with his attorney's paralegal, that he began describing the voice, hallucinations,
Speaker 1: and the rest, and she urged the attorney to get
Speaker 1: Gabe properly evaluated, and he finally made the choice to
Speaker 1: participate in his own medical treatment. During the initial police interrogation,
Speaker 1: Gabe told agent MacDonald that his issues with Seth began
Speaker 1: in the sixth grade and escalated. He claimed that Seth
Speaker 1: mainly teased him about his acne. A number of students
Speaker 1: testified at Gabe's eventual trial, and of the twelve that testified,
Speaker 1: only two could ever recall noticing any issue with Seth
Speaker 1: and Gabe. These two students reported some pushing and shoving,
Speaker 1: but they did not mention Seth calling Gabe names or
Speaker 1: teasing him about his acne. One of the students testified
Speaker 1: to the grand jury that they witnessed Seth and some
Speaker 1: friends approach Gabe and start pushing him around, but on
Speaker 1: cross examination, the student admitted that they didn't actually witness
Speaker 1: the interaction. They actually heard the story through the quote
Speaker 1: rumor mill. During high school, Gabe began to correspond with
Speaker 1: a female student named Brittany Kelly. They knew each other
Speaker 1: since elementary school and became friends of sorts. In middle school,
Speaker 1: Gabe claimed to Brittany that he had a girlfriend and
Speaker 1: asked her if she would like to correspond with her too.
Speaker 1: The pretend girlfriend was a fantastical Japanese female named Suki,
Speaker 1: though he sometimes referred to her as Soki. She was dominant, fearless,
Speaker 1: and aggressive. She was everything Gabe was not, which probably
Speaker 1: allowed him the freedom to speak to his real life
Speaker 1: crush in a way he could not. Brittany agreed, and
Speaker 1: she was soon smiling with both the alleged girlfriend and Gabe,
Speaker 1: who emailed her from his own account, which had the
Speaker 1: user name Sharpest Shot two ninety. The fake girlfriend emailed
Speaker 1: Brittany quite a bit, and Brittany eventually became suspicious that
Speaker 1: she was really chatting with Gabe, but it wasn't something
Speaker 1: she could prove. It seems Gabe developed a sort of
Speaker 1: obsession with Brittany, although he certainly never acted inappropriately towards her.
Speaker 1: He emailed Brittany one last time on the morning of
Speaker 1: the shooting, saying quote goodbye my love. Gabe was charged
Speaker 1: with six offenses as an adult, including premeditated murder in
Speaker 1: the first degree, intentional murder in the second degree and
Speaker 1: felony murder in the second degree, each of which applies
Speaker 1: to the murder of Seth Bartel, along with account of
Speaker 1: felony murder in the second degree for the murder of
Speaker 1: Aaron Rollins, account of assault in the second degree for
Speaker 1: the threat to Mark Johnson, and one count of possession
Speaker 1: of a dangerous weapon on school property. The trial commenced
Speaker 1: on July fifth, two thousand and five. Gabe's attorneys argued
Speaker 1: that Gabe never intended to kill anyone and didn't even
Speaker 1: really want to seriously injure anyone. He just wanted a
Speaker 1: scare Seth. The prosecution argued that the deaths were premeditated,
Speaker 1: as evidenced by Gabe's full confession to police that he
Speaker 1: made the decision to commit the shooting several days prior
Speaker 1: to the act. Six mental health experts testified about Gabe's
Speaker 1: mental health and state of mind. Three diagnosed Gabe with
Speaker 1: schizophrenia and the other three diagnosed him with major depression
Speaker 1: in remission and quote in emerging personality disorder. The trial
Speaker 1: was a benched trial before the judge rather than a jury, which,
Speaker 1: given the defense's arguments, was likely the safest rout for
Speaker 1: their client. A judge is better suited to weigh legal
Speaker 1: issues than a jury of a defendant's peers. However, the
Speaker 1: judge found Gabe guilty of first degree and second degree murder.
Speaker 1: He sentenced Gab to life in prison for first degree
Speaker 1: murder and twelve years for second degree murder. The sentences
Speaker 1: are to be served consecutively to each other. Gabe's attorneys
Speaker 1: tried to file a claim of guilty by reason of insanity,
Speaker 1: which would have allowed Gabe to serve his sentence in
Speaker 1: a mental health facility rather than prison. The judge denied
Speaker 1: this claim, ruling that Gabe was sane based on his
Speaker 1: writing and the videotaped confession to police. His attorneys filed
Speaker 1: multiple appeals on gabe sentence, citing a life sentence wasn't
Speaker 1: constitutional for a juvenile, but none have been successful. The
Speaker 1: shooter is currently thirty four years old and is housed
Speaker 1: in the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights. He
Speaker 1: will become eligible for parole in two thousand thirty eight,
Speaker 1: when he is fifty years old. Two days after the shooting,
Speaker 1: the Rocori High School reopened. We all have the unique
Speaker 1: ability to help prevent such catastrophic event from happening. If
Speaker 1: we keep our eyes and ears open and never hesitate
Speaker 1: to report when something or someone just doesn't seem right.
Speaker 1: With the delicate balance of mental health reform, education, active
Speaker 1: shooter training, and common sense gun laws, we may one
Speaker 1: day realize the dream, the dream that there will be
Speaker 1: no more active shootings. We pray that love will prevail
Speaker 1: over hate. Too many have died, we should say to ourselves,
Speaker 1: not one more. In the meantime, we urge our listeners
Speaker 1: to stay aware of your surroundings and keep in touch
Speaker 1: with your loved ones. If you see something, say something,
Speaker 1: you never know how many lives you'll be saving. Thank
Speaker 1: you for listening to today's episode of Active Shooter the Podcast.
Speaker 1: Remember if you see something, say something, there's no telling
Speaker 1: how many lives you may be saving. A big thank
Speaker 1: you to Darren Curtis, who composed some of the songs
Speaker 1: on our show. You can find him online at www
Speaker 1: dot Darren Curtis music dot com. Make sure to check
Speaker 1: us out on social media. You can find us on
Speaker 1: Facebook at Active Shooter the Podcast and on Twitter at
Speaker 1: podcast Active. Thank you and be safe.