[5][10][8], When the bomb detonated, the majority of the explosive force was channeled through loose ceiling tiles into the roof, and open windows acting as vents. Rich Haskell: Approximately three and a half days. Because it was sittin' low enough and the kids were low enough that it would have done it. Mark Junge: Do you think you've taken more joy out of life because of it? At that time, about 500 people lived in Cokeville, and there were slightly more than 100 students attending the elementary school. I was frightened and felt that we needed to do something to try to calm down or to be careful, because he was so agitated. Students, teachers, staff and visitors frantically exited the building, with teachers helping many of the children escape through the windows. On May 16, 1986, when former town marshal David Gary Young and his wife Doris Young took 154 children and thirteen teachers hostage at Cokeville Elementary school in Wyoming and kept them at bay with a shopping-cart sized bomb attached to five hairpin-trigger blast caps, it should have ended in great tragedy - one of the worst in American history. Mark Junge: And the explosion went straight up? David's youngest daughter from his first marriage, Princess, entered the elementary school with David and Doris, but refused to carry out the plan, leaving to report the incident at the town hall. It was there for a long time, all that support. (before I see Hollywood's version). Totally destroyed it! Had a small pin-hole leak in it and it dripped into both containers and they both became paste. You could see that the roof tiles had been lifted out of their brackets. Personally I gave him 17 pages of journal notes! She has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals on the history and heritage of Germans from Russia on the Northern Plains. Returning to the scene, David shot his wife, a teacher, then himself. Rich Haskell: Well, I didn't know a lot about 'em and I still don't know a lot about 'em. Mark Junge: This was a life-changing event. Well, with the window being open, with the ceiling tiles being able to lift up and down, I think that absorbed a lot of the explosion of the gasoline bottle. They forget about what happened in Cokeville with a lot more people and the potential of what was there. Retro Report took a look back at this episode, with a focus on how Johnson & Johnson and . Vengeance for having been fired did not seem to have been the motive, but rather a philosophy recorded in journal entries referring to a Brave New World where he wanted to reign over intelligent children. Lota, Louinn. Students, teachers, visitors, staff who survived the ordeal and bystanders began recounting their memories of this event as it was still unfolding. No, this is something that people need to know about. I never did get to see that untilI think it was two days lateractually what they had taken as far as the paperwork was concerned. We know for a fact that he had tried that device because he did it in Arizona and totally destroyed a school bus. I knew fairly quickly that he would be the best chance we had at this. Certified Bomb Technician. The mood did not lift with the singing and teachers quickly negotiated with the hostage takers to get items from the library to help the kids get their minds off the siege,[8] and help to pass the time. Weredo you think it had something to do with angels? The kids couldn't have done it. The wire was cut. Rich Haskell: No. But everything was black, like you had gone in there with a flamethrower and just torched everything inside there. Mark Junge: What's been your experiences since then? One hostage observed a birthday on that day and songs were sung in his honor. He knew it was a predominantly Mormon [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] community. Dr. Clark is the faculty advisor of the Sweet Memories: Research Group at Western. But I know that, well, I'll just be quite frank. Have there been any lingering psychological effects from going through something so traumatic while so young? Because they refused to participate, Princess, Deppe, and Mendenhall were never charged in relation to this crime. I think you should know that it can be difficult to watch - but that it has a very rewarding outcome. Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, Cheyenne. She was a divorce who earned money working as a waitress and singer in a local bar. I absolutely have. 1 of 7. When Columbine took place, it was such a big deal, and I mentioned to a couple people, "You know, Columbine wasn't the first school to have anything happen." On May 16, 1986, an elementary school in Cokeville, Wyoming, was held hostage by a couple with a bomb. Rich Haskell: Well, you know, that's a really good question. Rich Haskell: I think it could be a spiritual experience that I have with church, or being around the kids, I don't know. Mark Junge: And your great-grandkids? Hey, I am not the survivor, but I spent my summers in Cokeville, my family is from there, and I have been helping on publicity for the film. P. O. David, who dared not risk their reporting him to the authorities, responded by holding them at gunpoint. Mark Junge: Which means you had to be doing over a hundred miles an hour! Young met his second wife, Doris Waters, while in Cokeville. Sue Castaneda: Which is the son who is also running for sheriff? over there. David saw John Miller, the music teacher, trying to escape and shot him in the back. I believe there was a hundred-and-sixty-plus people involved that was being held. I do think the key is talking about it often and early. David Young had initially planned to involve longtime friends Gerald Deppe and Doyle Mendenhall, who had invested money with him in a get-rich-quick scheme that he had called "The Biggie. Mark Junge: No? ", All told, 79 of the hostages suffered injuries, mostly second-degree burns, smoke inhalation, and other injuries from the exploding bomb. She was a total torch! results in the deaths of perpetrators David and Doris Young; 154 hostages survive. Both men were handcuffed in a van outside the school.[1]. Virginia Tech, it wasn't that way. 2 Recreation Board, Indigenous People in Wyoming and the West, http://news.google.com/newspapers/p/deseret_news?id=nz1TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BYQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4165,3587249&dq=cokeville+bombing&hl=en, http://archive.org/details/SurvivorIsMyName-VoicesOfTheCokevilleElementarySchoolBombing, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udNB_xdPiYE, http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mz1TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BYQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6656,2193766&dq=cokeville+trying+to+rebuild&hl=en, http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oD1TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BYQDAAAAIBAJ&dq=cokeville&pg=7027%2C3851642, http://wyospcr.state.wy.us/MultiMedia/Display.aspx?ID=86&icon=1, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19870529&id=-AogAAAAIBAJ&sjid=c2UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1067,6238243, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19870521&id=w4sfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zH4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4596,6209063, https://www.deseret.com/2006/5/15/19953524/cokeville-recollects-miracle-of-1986, http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18072820, http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article%E2%80%943077bf4a-a45e-5dad-ae3a-a99aa8fcf3aa.html, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19960515&id=Ke5LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fuwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5227,9406392, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19940404&id=GoQwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iuwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2778,1992787, http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705372484/Cokeville-miracle-marking-25-years.html, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe_ZX4Qbsi4, Emergency Management Coordinator Kathy Davison on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, EMT Glenna Walker, Mother of Three Young Children, on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Public Works Director and Fireman Kevin Walker, Father of Three Young Children, on the 1986 bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Lead Investigator Ron Hartley, Father of Four Student Survivors, on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Certified Bomb Technician Rich Haskell on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Secretary Tina Cook on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, First grade teacher Janel Dayton on the 1986 bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Second grade teacher Carol Petersen on the 1986 bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Third grade student Rachel Walker Hollibaugh on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Third grade student Jamie Buckley King on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Fourth grade teacher Kliss Sparks on the 1986 bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Fourth grade student LeaKae Roberts on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Law and Order in Cokeville: A Woman Mayor and Prohibition, Green River Historic Preservation Commission, Natrona County Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Natrona County Recreation Joint Powers Board, Sublette County Historical Preservation Board, University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources, A Projectile Killed Doris Young, Not Bomb Blast, Police in Cokeville Say., Castaneda, Sue and Mark Junge. When were you satisfied that there were no more bombs? It just embedded into the walls from the ammunition from the heat. For more information about our sponsors and the people behind WyoHistory.org, visit our About Us page: Hostage crisis at the elementary school in Cokeville, Wyo. But I walked up to the window and looked inside the window and didn't hardly see anything out of the ordinary except it was all black inside. If I deleted an entire phrase, I have inserted ellipses . Rich Haskell: I was cookin' right along, yes I was! It was perfect! Mark Junge: Do you think you were cut out to do this job? I called back to my dispatcher and they did inform me that the school in Cokeville was being held hostage by two individuals and there was bombs involved. Located in Lincoln County and nestled between the towns of Star Valley and Kemmerer on the Wyoming-Idaho border, Cokeville, many residents believed, was a safe place to rear children. Rich Haskell: Sure. The gasoline bottle was leaking. Mark Junge: Well, what do you think would cause two people like this to do this? Mark Junge: And what happened? Cokeville Elementary School teachers and staff tried to keep kindergarteners through sixth graders calm and entertained. Davids writings reveal that he hoped life would be better for him and Cokevilles children in this imaginary place. Excerpt from the book "On This Day In Wyoming History": David young David became increasingly agitated, and decided to leave the room. Cokeville Public Library. On one hand people didn't want money to be made off of suffering, but on the other hand it felt ungrateful to not share it in the way that TC would or could. Used with thanks. ", About 2 1/2 hours into the standoff, David transferred the triggering mechanism of the bomb to Doris' wrist, and went to a small bathroom that connected the first and second grade rooms. And screaming, I can't imagine the screams that she was making. I was a little bit nervous, of course. Okay? One teacher was shot when he tried to flee,. You HAVE to find the positives or the negatives can eat you up the rest of your life. The Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis occurred on Friday, May 16, 1986 in Cokeville, Wyoming, United States, when former town marshal David Young, 43, and his wife Doris Young, 47,[1] took 136 children and 18 adults hostage at Cokeville Elementary School. [5], "You could see that the roof tiles had been lifted out of their brackets. Mark Junge: Well, you've been blessed in a lot of ways. So we took the tiles off and went up into the ceiling and crawled up into the upper space up there and found a .45 slug up embedded into the iron girders up in the wall, and thought, okay, where did that come from? Read more Mark Junge: Do you still think about this? The town has worked to be as respectful as possible to the multitude of experiences that day. As I come to the junctionI'm sorry, I don't know what the road is that goes over to Bear Lakebut as I was passing that intersection, they did inform me that the bomb had exploded. During my years here in Wyoming I have refereed both basketball and football on the high school and the junior high school level, and I was watching the ball game at that time. He had been aware of above-average achievement scores from Cokeville's education system. Here is a local story from the 20 year anniversary (we are at the 29th year now), What's your side of the story? Mark Junge: But all of these holes were above the level of the children. It was just shootin' everywhere. That dead-man switch is a piece of string that goes around your wrist and it's hooked into a clothespin, the other end of it. Young was a former Cokeville town marshal who had been living in Arizona for several years. So I went to Huntsville, Ala., to Redstone Arsenal. Rich Haskell: And fourteen and a half great-grandchildren. [5] The wooden piece was tied to Doris' wrist by a string. David had also sent a copy of the manifesto to Reagan. I was literally blown out the door when the bomb went off , and i remember how time slowed down in those seconds. David attached the bomb trigger to his wrist and threatened the group that he might, at any time, move his arm and ignite the bomb. Details: At 1:20pm on Friday, May 16, 1986, forty-three-year-old David Young and his forty-seven-year-old wife, Doris, wheeled a shopping cart containing a homemade gasoline-filled bomb into Cokeville Elementary School in Cokeville, Wyoming, just after the lunch hour recess. The kids couldn't have cut it. Reporters from all the regional news outlets were on the scene by the time of the explosion or shortly thereafter. When you say what cut the wire? Edit: Thank you so much for your questions! And if I had been a little less of a jokester I may have seen something in that strange light. The Cokeville Town Hall is located at 110 Pine St. For more information, visit the website of the Cokeville Chamber of Commerce at http://www.cokevillewy.com or call (307) 459-4195. It's a continuous training thing and years and years and years of continuous training with the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, with the fire marshals and now that it has come into it with the hazardous materials and everything else. The miraculous events that followed transformed the lives of hundreds of people, including many who witnessed angels or received heavenly help from deceased ancestors. To go off to the side? Meanwhile, Doris went from classroom to classroom, luring 136 children, six faculty, nine teachers, and three other adults, including a job applicant and a UPS driver, into a first-grade classroom for a total of 154 hostages.