34 pages • 1 hour read
Shooter
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BetaChapters 4-5 and AppendixesChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary: “Madison High School Incident Analysis Report IV—Interview with Cameron Porter Submitted by Sheriff William Beach Mosley, Harrison County Criminal Bureau”
Cameron tells the sheriff about Len’s plan to blow up a dumpster at the school. He says Len asked him to accompany him to his father’s work to get money. This was to buy fuses to light the cherry bombs Len had made. When they arrived at his father’s job, Len and Cameron witnessed Len’s father being chewed out by his boss. Len and Cameron left without getting the money for the fuses, and Cameron notes that Len was “out-of-his-mind mad” about the incident (125).
Cameron recalls Len’s anger at Carla and calling her “a fool and a slut” (126). Len also called her a “Tulsa girl” (127); Cameron notes that “Tulsa” is “a slut” spelled backward. Later, Carla and Len made up.
Cameron says Len blew up at him when he refused to paint “Stop the Violence” on the school walls (114). Len called him “a traitor” and a “Judas,” Cameron says. After talking with Carla, Cameron changed his mind and decided to go along with Len’s plan. Len asked him to buy paint, so he figured Len had given up on painting in blood. Cameron didn’t think anything terrible would happen.
Cameron says he went to the school library on the morning of April 22nd and entered through an unlocked basement door. Len was already there with a duffel bag. Cameron says Len asked him if he wanted to cut him to start the bleeding. Cameron said no. “Then he opened the duffel bag and pulled out the Kalashnikov,” Cameron recalls (135). “That’s when I started panicking” (135). Cameron says he told Len he didn’t want any part of a plan involving guns, and that’s when Len pointed the gun at him and cocked it.
However, Len just laughed and put down the gun. Then, he opened the duffel bag and told Cameron to take a gun. He told Cameron he should start painting signs in the hallway. Cameron took a gun and left the library. He painted “Stop the Violence” on a wall across from the library. When he looked back into the library, he saw Len bleeding and painting “Stop the Violence” and “Amos 8:3” on the wall. Cameron says that was when he decided he had to get out of there. As he was heading for the exit, he ran into Carla and told her they needed to split. He says Len was yelling down the hall at them, that he shot “a blast” at them as he and Carla ran down the stairs. Bullets flew. Len saw a fire alarm and smashed it with the butt of the rifle, making it go off and alerting the school.
Cameron says he led Carla to a broom closet and told her to stay in there. He went back down the hall toward the staircase and fired a shot at a wall next to Len. Len ducked and was screaming at him. Cameron says he didn’t know if he had the nerve to shoot Len, so he went and hid in a classroom. He looked out the window and “saw kids running, dodging between the school buses” (138). Cameron tells the sheriff: “I saw two people on the ground; one was moving a little, the other was still” (138).
The sheriff asks Cameron why he didn’t agree to an interview with Sheriff department’s investigators right after the incident. Cameron says he was too upset.
The sheriff noted that Len’s body was found under one of his “Stop the Violence” signs.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Madison High School Incident Analysis Final Report and Dissent Submitted by Dr. Jonathan Margolies, Superintendent, Harrison County Board of Education. Dissent: Special Agent Victoria Lash”
The final report on the fatal shooting incident concludes that “[…] the incident did not constitute a clearly avoidable episode. Indeed, it is the majority opinion that, using the highest level of security acceptable in a school context, the events of April 22 were neither predictable nor preventable” (145).
The report points out that entry into the building was “a breach of security” (145) but also notes that students were often allowed into the building before the opening bell. The investigators conclude that “the events relied not upon easy access to the building but on the intent of those making entry” (145).
The report clears Cameron and Carla of any criminal wrongdoing: “In previous police inquiries the Harrison County Criminal Bureau has determined that the intent of the shooter was his alone and that the other students found in the building had not intended to do bodily harm to any other student” (146).
In her dissent, FBI Special Agent Lash criticizes the lack of “ongoing threat assessment prior to this incident” (147). She points out “previous errant activities by Mr. Gray, known threats made to a teacher by Mr. Gray, known abuse of drugs by Mr. Gray, known incidents of bullying directed toward Mr. Gray, and the availability of weapons to the students” (147).
Lash refers to Len Gray as a “ticking bomb” (147). She writes that “any chances of prevention were lost in the morass of shifting responsibilities and legal considerations” (147).
Appendix 1 Summary: “Newspaper Reports”
The five newspaper clippings in this section present some idea of the case’s evolution. The early clips identify Cameron as a suspect and a “cult member” (154). However, the last clip is about the grand jury declining to indict Cameron. One clip reveals that Brad Williams, who died in the shooting, received scholarship offers from four colleges. In a news report, the Rev. Arthur Bright describes Williams as “an example of what America should be about” (155).
Appendix 2 Summary: “Police Report”
The police report says the shooter fired from a third-floor window of the school, killing 17-year-old Brad Williams. Several other students had minor gunshot injuries. According to the report, Williams was shot “multiple times as he lay on the ground, apparently even after he was deceased” (160).
Cameron Porter was found on the second floor, and there was a loaded AR-18 in the room with him. Len Gray’s body was found on the third floor with a Ruger pistol and a Kalashnikov by his side.
The report says that “while no charges involving the actual homicide were filed against Cameron Porter, the investigation is deemed to be open in respect to his participation” (161).
Appendix 3 Summary: “Miranda”
This two-page section contains the “Statement of Privilege and Miranda Warning” document, signed by Cameron Porter and Carla Evans. They acknowledge that their interviews are not privileged or protected by a doctor-patient relationship, and anything they say can be used against them in criminal or civil proceedings. The document also says that they can exercise their right to remain silent at any time during the interviews.
Chapters 4-5 and Appendixes 1-3 Analysis
The official accounts of the shooting provide the most detailed versions of what happened. For example, Sheriff Mosley’s interview with Cameron is the first time the reader learns that Len actually shot at Cameron and Carla. The reader also learns just how vicious the attack was. Though Brad Williams was a bully, he is defenseless and lifeless as the shooter continues to pummel him with bullets.
The newspaper clippings of the shooting (Appendix 1) show how the story evolved. They also illustrate that the media often do not paint an accurate picture of individuals or incidents. For example, one newspaper report describes a eulogy for Brad Williams. The Rev. Arthur Bright is quoted as saying that Williams was “an example of what America should be about” (155). The news report includes no mention of Williams bullying other students.
Myers suggests that responsibility for the shooting does not lie with the shooter alone. Lash points out that there was awareness of Len’s drug abuse and threats to a teacher, as well as the fact that he was bullied and that students had access to weapons. Though Len shot the bullets, Myers doesn’t blame him entirely. Instead, Myers shows how the school and other authorities turned a blind eye. The responsibility for the shooting was multifold: Adults should have gotten involved before it was too late.
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By Walter Dean Myers
