Carl Robert Brown - Biography

Biography

Brown was born on November 26, 1930. He joined the Navy and was honorably discharged in 1954. People later stated that Brown always kept a military bearing about himself and was quite militaristic. In 1955 he moved from Chicago to Florida, where he graduated from the University of Miami in 1957 and in 1964 from East Carolina College in Greenville, North Carolina, earning a Master's degree in education. After working briefly for Keyes Realty he got a full-time job as history teacher at Hialeah Junior High School in 1962 and moonlighted at Miami-Dade Community College as an accounting instructor from 1964 to 1970.

Brown was married twice and had three children. His first wife died and his second marriage failed, according to his second wife, Sylvia, because he refused to seek psychological help. As a consequence his condition began to deteriorate, resulting in an increasingly disheveled and gaunt appearance, and, though once being a rather gregarious person, he began isolating himself more and more. A neighbor later described him looking "as if he were 80 years old". Reportedly one of his daughters once tried to have him hospitalized, though as his admission had to be voluntary her request was declined. Additionally his career began to suffer. Due to problems at Hialeah Junior High, Brown, who was well-known as a bigot and blatant racist who hated everyone, was transferred to Drew Middle School, a school with a black majority, in 1981. There he taught American history until March 3, 1982 when he was relieved of his teaching duties for medical leave to treat his psychiatric problems.

Though neighbors described Brown as a quiet, kind and helpful man, who was working hard to keep his duplex neat and clean, and praising him overall as a landlord, it was also said that he made a habit of walking into other peoples yards early in the morning, waking them by yelling "United States!" and that during the night shots were heard from his house. It was also reported that he once broke a window when firing a pellet gun, and picked grapefruits from a neighbor's tree wearing only his underwear. Apparently he also collected aluminum cans.

After a trip abroad, which he had taken shortly before the shooting, he came back in worse shape than before and stated that nothing in the United States stood for anything.