According to CNN, there have already been 23 school shootings in the United States this year, as of May 13, 2025.
Many people think of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre as the first school shooting in modern times. While it is one of the deadliest mass shootings in a K-12 school, it was not the first.
Brenda Spencer is regarded as the first modern day school shooter in the United States. The 1979 shooting at Grover Cleveland Elementary is the earliest recorded school shooting in this country.
Unfortunately, school shootings have drastically increased since then.
San Diego Deputy District Attorney Richard Sachs believes Brenda “had so much to do with starting a deadly trend in America.”
In 2001, Brenda remarked, “With every school shooting, I feel I’m partially responsible. What if they got the idea from what I did?”
Who was Brenda Spencer?
Brenda Spencer was born on April 3, 1962 to Dorothy “Dot” and Wallace Spencer. She was the youngest of three.
When Brenda was nine, her mother divorced Wallace after claims of infidelity. Brenda remained with her father, but her normal childhood came to an end.
Their home was filthy, unkempt, and littered with empty alcohol bottles. She shared a single mattress with her father.
Brenda would later claim sexual abuse by her father and neglect by her mother. Both parents have disputed those claims.
By the time Brenda turned 16, she was angry and withdrawn. At some point, she began expressing hostility towards authority, specifically law enforcement.
She would call officers pigs and verbalize shooting a cop or doing something violent enough to get her on television. A self-described “radical,” classmates thought she was crazy and were genuinely frightened to be around her.
Brenda attended Patrick Henry High School, but was completely uninterested in school and constantly sleeping in her classes. After getting in trouble for truancy, Brenda was referred to a facility for problem students.
In the summer of 1978, Brenda was arrested for shooting out the windows of Grover Cleveland Elementary School. This school was across the street from where she lived with her father, and would soon be the site of her deadly shooting.
A month before the shooting, a psychological evaluation recommended that Brenda be admitted to a mental hospital for depression and suicidal thoughts. Her father refused.
For Christmas just a few weeks later, Brenda’s father gifted her a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight and 500 rounds of ammunition.
Brenda would later claim that her father bought her the rifle so she would kill herself.
The Shooting of Grover Cleveland Elementary School
On Monday, January 29, 1979 in San Diego, California, students began arriving at Grover Cleveland Elementary School. They had no idea that someone across the street had them in her sights.
Principal Burton Wragg, 53, had just walked up to unlock the front gate when the first shot rang out. Nine-year-old Cam Miller was shot, all because he was wearing blue, Brenda’s favorite color.
Principal Wragg immediately began ushering the children through the gate and to safety, but he was very quickly shot and killed. Custodian Mike Suchar, 56, rushed in to help a fallen child, but was also shot and killed.
Minutes after the shooting began, the first officer on the scene, Robert Robb, 28, was shot in the neck and critically injured.
In just a matter of minutes, two adults had been killed, and eight children and one officer had been injured.
Police soon realized the shots were coming from directly across the street. To protect the entrance of the school and prevent any further casualties, they moved a garbage truck in place.
Brenda shot her rifle 36 times before barricading herself inside her house. Police surrounded her home, but anytime someone made a move, Brenda fired.
Police negotiators and her own parents urged her to surrender. But Brenda refused and threatened to “come out shooting.”
For several hours, she spoke only to a reporter with The Evening Tribune. When asked why she did it, Brenda responded, “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.”
After a six-hour standoff, Brenda was promised a meal from Burger King and she peacefully surrendered.
Upon a search of the home, police found beer and whiskey bottles throughout, although Brenda did not appear to be intoxicated. A toxicology test would also indicate that Brenda was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident.
The Aftermath of America's First School Shooting
Brenda was immediately taken into custody and charged as an adult.
Before a trial could commence, she pled guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Nine counts of attempted murder were dismissed.
On April 4, 1980, one day after her 18th birthday, Brenda Spencer was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. She is currently serving her time at the California Institution for Women in Corona, California.
Brenda has been denied parole five times, with her most recent hearing held on February 21, 2025. Her next parole hearing will be in 2028.
