The Attack
At about 7:00 a.m. (SAST), Harmse arrived at school in his school uniform, wearing a brown mask and with black paint on his face. The mask was reported to be an imitation of the one Slipknot lead vocalist Corey Taylor wears, which Harmse had referred to as the "maggot mask" but the media claimed that it resembled Joey Jordison's own mask and not Taylor's. Two other masks were found in Harmse's bag; one clown mask from a Hollywood costume store similar to Shawn Crahan's, and the other, a handmade papier-mâché with holes drilled in and painted with tribal marks. Three samurai swords were also found in his bag, which included a Sekizo Ninja sword and a small Katana.
| Victims |
| 1. Jacques Pretorius, pupil, killed by slash to the neck |
| 2. Stefan Bouwer, pupil, injured by slash to the head |
| 3. Joseph Kodiseng, groundskeeper, critically injured |
| 4. Simon Manamela, groundskeeper, critically injured |
At about 7:20 a.m., during an assembly for a congregation, Harmse took out his 60-cm samurai sword, and slashed 16-year-old pupil Jacques Pretorius' neck, causing him to die immediately. Harmse then walked down a passage and slashed 17-year-old Stefan Bouwer on the head, and was then immediately confronted by two school groundskeepers, Joseph Kodiseng and Simon Manamela, who were both slashed and injured. All three were taken to hospital.
Harmse's attack was concluded when he sat down on a brick wall and stuck the sword in the ground, which was grabbed by his younger brother, Corné, who was standing nearby. At about 7:45 a.m., Harmse was escorted to the principal's office, and fifteen minutes later, was arrested by police without incident. He was temporarily held in the custody of the Krugersdorp Police Station.
Read more about this topic: Nic Diederichs Technical High School Slashing
Famous quotes containing the word attack:
“The small perplexities of small minds eddy and boil about you. Confident from the experience that has led you out of these same dangers, you attack each problem as it appears, unafraid.”
—Alice Foote MacDougall (1867–1945)
“Adolescents swing from euphoric self-confidence and a kind of narcissistic strength in which they feel invulnerable and even immortal, to despair, self-emptiness, self-deprecation. At the same time they seem to see an emerging self that is unique and wonderful, they suffer an intense envy which tears narcissism into shreds, and makes other people’s qualities hit them like an attack of lasers.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)