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A student looks at flowers left by mourners at Thurston High after a student opened fire in the school cafeteria.   (AP)

About 90 minutes later, sheriff's deputies found the bodies of two adults, believed to be the boy's parents, at his home just outside this blue-collar suburb of Eugene in the heart of central Oregon's logging country.

Kipland Kinkel in 1997.   (AP)

"These situations are getting more volatile and severe," said Ronald Stephens, director of the National School Safety Center. "We're going from single victims in these incidents to multiple victims, and we seem to be dealing more with youngsters who are more callous and who have much more rage. It's changing the landscape of the schools."

Frantic parents raced to Thurston High School in Springfield this morning as sobbing, dazed students, some of them bloodied during the rampage, staggered out of the 1,350-pupil school. They told a story of sudden carnage that erupted when the freckled-faced youth, identified by police as Kipland P. Kinkel, leaped onto a table and began randomly firing into a crowd of 400 students.

Police Capt. Jerry Smith said Kinkel parked a car outside the school shortly before 8 a.m. and calmly walked inside carrying a .22-caliber rifle, a .22-caliber handgun and a Glock semiautomatic pistol.

One student, Stephanie Quimby, 16, told reporters she was sitting one table away when the youth, wearing a cream-colored trench coat and hat, seemed to focus on one table as he held his rifle at his hip and opened fire. When he ran out of ammunition, witnesses said, he reached for another of his weapons but was gang-tackled by students and a wrestling coach, who held him until police arrived.

Gary Bowden, the wrestling coach, said that one of the school's top wrestlers, Jake Ryker, got the gun away from the suspect and, despite being shot himself, held him down until help arrived. Ryker's brother, Josh, said he heard the suspect say, "Just shoot me. Shoot me now."

Lane County District Attorney Doug Harper said that Kinkel, who was said to have played on the school football team, will be charged as an adult and brought to court Friday for an initial appearance. However, because of his age he cannot be sentenced to death if he is convicted, Harper said.

Harper said Kinkel was not detained after being arrested on a firearms violation at the school Wednesday, but was released to his parents. Harper said it is common for a youngster to be released to parents even if charged with possession of a firearm on school property.

Twelve victims, including three in critical condition, were taken to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield. Another 11 of the wounded, all students, were taken to a hospital in Eugene, 15 miles west Some of the victims had gunshot wounds. Others were injured in the chaos of students diving under tables to avoid the gunfire, authorities said.

Lane County Sheriff Jan Clements said that when deputies went to the suspect's home in a rural area called Walterville on the outskirts of this city of 51,000, they found the two people dead. A sheriff's deputy at the scene said he believed the two victims were the suspect's parents, William P. Kinkel, 59, and Faith M. Kinkel, 57, both Spanish teachers. Police later cordoned off the property and evacuated nearby residents as a bomb squad searched for explosives.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D), in a news conference, said it was incomprehensible to him that "such a sick and tragic event" could occur in such a placid community, and that the shootings raised troubling questions for parents and educators.

"We need to ask ourselves what kind of fear leads people to do something like this, what kind of lack of opportunity drives them to make this horrible choice," Kitzhaber said. He said everyone should ask "what it implies for our community and our future . . . so this kind of thing doesn't occur again."

President Clinton expressed the nation's sympathy to the victims and their families, declaring in Washington, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the people who were killed and wounded, and with that entire fine community."

Springfield Mayor Bill Morrisette said, "This is not a Springfield problem, but a problem of society."

Just two days ago, in Fayetteville, Tenn., a senior at Lincoln County High School shot and killed an 18-year-old senior, and last month, in Edinboro, Pa., a 14-year-old student shot and killed a teacher, John Gillette, and wounded two 14-year-old boys in a shooting rampage.

Two boys, ages 11 and 13, shot and killed one teacher and four girls and wounded nine girls and one other teacher at Westside Middle School on March 24 in Jonesboro, Ark. Last Dec. 1, in Paducah, Ky., a 14-year-old boy shot and killed three girls and wounded five other people at Heath High School.

At Thurston High School, there were angry recriminations, with parents saying the school should have sensed something from the suspect's behavior. One mother, who did not identify herself, told reporters, "He told people he was going to do something. Why they let him out I can't believe. Someone should be feeling pretty guilty right about now."

Students said Kinkel, who they said has been in trouble before for throwing rocks at cars from a highway overpass, once gave a talk in his speech class about how to build a bomb.

Staff writer Rene Sanchez in Washington contributed to this report.

© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company

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