Massacre In Minnesota

The suspect in the worst U.S. school shooting since Columbine smiled and waved as he gunned down five students, a teacher and a guard, asking one of his victims whether he believed in God, witnesses said. The teen's grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend also were found dead, and the boy killed himself.

Some of the victims were shot at close range, medical officials said.

The death toll at Red Lake High School in far northern Minnesota made it the nation's worst school shooting since the rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in April 1999 that ended with the deaths of 12 students, a teacher and the two teen gunmen.

The victims included the gunman's grandfather, the grandfather's girlfriend, a school security guard, a teacher and five other students.

At least 14 others were wounded, and two of them remained in critical condition Tuesday at MeritCare in Fargo, N.D., officials said.

The gunman apparently shot and killed his grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend at their home, and then traveled to the school in his grandfather's squad car – his grandfather was a tribal police officer on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. The shotgun and handgun he used are believed to have been his grandfather's.

At least three of the victims were shot in the head at close range, said officials at North Country Regional Hospital in nearby Bemidji. One of those victims died and the other two were transferred to the Fargo hospital. Three victims remained at North Country Regional in noncritical condition.

"I think there was an intent to kill," Tim Hall, the hospital's emergency nursing director, said at a morning news conference.

Police said the gunman, identified as 17-year-old Jeff Wiese, killed himself after exchanging fire with officers.

Weise had been placed in Red Lake's Homebound program for some violation of policy, said school board member Kathryn Beaulieu. Students in that program stay at home and are tutored by a traveling teacher. Beaulieu said she didn't know what Weise's violation was, and wouldn't be allowed to reveal it if she did.

There was no immediate indication of Weise's motive. But several students said he held anti-social beliefs, and he may have posted messages on a neo-Nazi Web site expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler.

A writer who identified himself as Jeff Weise of the Red Lake Reservation posted the messages under the nickname "Todesengel" — German for "angel of death." An April 2004 posting by him referred to being accused of "a threat on the school I attend," though the writer later said he was cleared.

Relatives told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that Weise was a loner who usually wore black and was teased by other kids. Relatives told the newspaper his father committed suicide four years ago, and that his mother was living in a Minneapolis nursing home because she suffered brain injuries in a car accident.

Red Lake student Reggie Graves said he was watching a movie about Shakespeare in class Monday when he heard the gunman blast his way past the metal detector at the school's entrance, where an unarmed guard was killed.

Then, in a nearby classroom, he heard the gunman say something to his friend Ryan. "He asked Ryan if he believed in God," Graves said. "And then he shot him."

During the rampage, teachers herded students from one room to another, trying to move away from the sound of the shooting, said Graves, 14. He said some students crouched under desks.

Some pleaded with the gunman to stop. "You could hear a girl saying, 'No, Jeff, quit, quit. Leave me alone. What are you doing?'" Sondra Hegstrom told The Pioneer of Bemidji.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty said it appeared the school had "very rigorous security."

"It looks like you had a very disturbed individual who was able to overcome a lot of precautions to do a lot of damage," Pawlenty said.

The shooting rampage at the small Red Lake school not only stunned the nation, it devastated this tribal town, reports CBS News Correspondent Bob McNamara.

"Without a doubt this is the darkest day in the history of our tribe," said Floyd Jourdain Jr., chairman of the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe.

Even those who escaped injury were traumatized.

"She said that all she can hear is people screaming in her mind. She's really shaken up about that," said Leahna Barrett, the sister of a Red Lake student.

It was the second fatal school shooting in Minnesota in 18 months. Two students were killed at Rocori High School in Cold Spring in September 2003. Student John Jason McLaughlin, who was 15 at the time, awaits trial in the case.

Red Lake High School has about 300 students, according to its Web site. School was canceled Tuesday, but plans hadn't been made for the rest of the week.

The reservation is about 240 miles north of the Twin Cities. It is home to the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe, one of the poorest in the state. According to the 2000 census, 5,162 people lived on the reservation, and all but 91 were Indians.