The Shooting
| Victim Fatalities |
| 1. Rathanar Or, age 9 |
| 2. Ram Chun, age 8 |
| 3. Sokhim An, age 6 |
| 4. Oeun Lim, age 8 |
| 5. Thuy Tran, age 6 |
On the morning of January 17, 1989, an anonymous person phoned the Stockton Police Department regarding a death threat against Cleveland Elementary School. At noon that day, Patrick Purdy, a disturbed drifter and former Stockton resident, began his attack by setting his Chevrolet van alight with a Molotov Cocktail after parking it behind the school, later causing the car to explode. He then moved to the school playground and began firing with his Type 56 Assault Rifle from behind a portable building. Purdy fired 106 rounds in three minutes killing five children and wounding thirty others including one teacher.
All of the fatally shot victims and many of the wounded were Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants. Purdy then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a pistol. Purdy had carved the words "freedom", "victory", "Earthman", and "Hezbollah" on his rifle, and his flak jacket read "PLO", "Libya", and "death to the Great Satin" .
Read more about this topic: Cleveland School Massacre
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