I know there's angels. Mark Junge: But all of these holes were above the level of the children. Mark Junge: They weren't big enough, in a way. I mean, Columbine, it wasn't that way. My name is Kamron Wixom, I was a 12 year old 6th grader in 1986 when a mad man took over my school (Cokeville Elementary) with a bomb and his guns. In a May 16, 1986 photo, the body of Doris Young is removed by officials after the Cokeville Elementary hostage situation in Cokeville, Wyo. So if it can happen there it can happen anywhere in the United States. Following the explosion, 79 children were taken to area hospitals, most of which were located more than an hours drive from Cokeville, for treatment for burns and smoke inhalation. There was nobody killed but the perpetrators. David Young had initially planned to involve longtime friends Gerald Deppe and Doyle Mendenhall, who had invested money with him in a get-rich-quick scheme that he had called "The Biggie. Cokeville had so little crime that many folks didn't bother to lock their doors. She is a trained rural historian who specializes in oral history, childhood history and memory studies. Chalkboards andwhat do they call those?whiteboards, I think they are, along the walls. Mark Junge: Yeah, my brother-in-law worked in the Navy as a chief petty officer and he worked with what they called EOD. Anything? He was asking large amounts of money. Rich Haskell: Yes, there was a briefcase in the hallway, and we were toldbefore I had gotten there they had gotten papers from his daughter. At 1:00 pm, they pulled up to the Cokeville Elementary School and unloaded a gasoline bomb, along with four rifles and nine handguns. He did deliver our salvation that day. I don't know ifI just felt an emptyactually I could just see a hundred-sixty people dead! How did it affect your family long-term? When did Cokeville miracle happen? Only the man and his wife, who accidentally detonated the bomb, died that day in 1986. Doris developed a headache from the gasoline fumes, and raised her hand to her forehead. I remember seeing the wide eyes on my band teacher as he collapsed with the EMTs afterward. Cokeville Elementary School is located at 205 N. Sage St. in Cokeville. The Cokeville Elementary School was the site of a horrific hostage situation on May 16, 1986 when David and Dorris Young took a homemade bomb inside the school. Mark Junge: What's been your experiences since then? There are several great resources out there. And afteryou look in there and you could see little pockmarks all through on the walls, and after we finished with our investigationit took us three days to totally do the whole entire sceneyou could tell where those pockmarks were bullets from the heat had gone off. The bomb was an improvised explosive device constructed in a small two-wheeled shopping cart with two baskets, one on top of the other. David set himself near the center of the room with the grocery cart bomb nearby, as Doris went from room to room rounding up people. Mark Junge: And that's the lesson we learn. Rich Haskell: I did not. Mark Junge: And your great-grandkids? Once all the hostages were contained in the first grade classroom, David Young informed them that they were leading a revolution and distributed copies of his philosophy Zero Equals Infinity to everyone present. The hostage takers took part in the singing. When I walked inside of the classroomit was a kindergarten classroom which meant that the desks were smaller, everything was smaller because of the smaller children. On May 16, 1986, an elementary school in Cokeville, Wyoming, was held hostage by a couple with a bomb. They do now - ever since the Youngs barged in on the Cokeville Elementary School with guns and a bomb to demand . You know this is going to sound morbid, but I always thought if the Muslims, the radical Muslims were smart, they would take their jihad to local communities because that would scare the hell out of 'em like it did in Cokeville. I didn't look at the speedometer, I was just kind of watchin' for animals and everything else. Rich Haskell: Well, after I arrived it took probably three to four hours to make sure everything was neutral and everything was not going to be a threat any longer. Rich Haskell: There was a reason I was there for some reason. Rich Haskell: Well, as we were talking before we started recording, because of my knowledge with the explosives and with the law enforcement and everything else, I've had many opportunitiesbecause of the explosivesI've been with Vice President Cheney when he was here in Wyoming up in Pinedale. Current students at Cokeville Elementary School aren't taught about the '86 bombing, but most know the general story. On May 16, 1986, David and Doris Young entered Cokeville Elementary School with a gasoline bomb, a variety of rifles and handguns, David's philosophical writings and demands for $300 million [5], "You could see that the roof tiles had been lifted out of their brackets. NOTE: Witness to Miracles was published in 2006 by Pronghorn Press, www.pronghornpress.org . I never did get to see that untilI think it was two days lateractually what they had taken as far as the paperwork was concerned. During my years here in Wyoming I have refereed both basketball and football on the high school and the junior high school level, and I was watching the ball game at that time. I called back to my dispatcher and they did inform me that the school in Cokeville was being held hostage by two individuals and there was bombs involved. This sub is dedicated to faithful discourse on church topics. Some of them believed the assembly was about weapons; others began realizing something was seriously wrong. This all happened about 8 months after the bombing. Two of the three blasting caps on the bomb failed to detonate; the wires to each tuna can had been reportedly cut. And it burned some children. Doris accidently triggered the bomb by motioning to her hostages with her arms. And, then, shortly after 4 p.m., the bomb exploded. By Deseret News. The man and woman who took an elementary school here hostage Friday, injuring 70 children when their homemade gasoline bomb exploded, had ties to the Posse Comitatus and other white supremacist. The bomb did detonate and fire, thick black smoke and toxi fumes filled the room. So we took the tiles off and went up into the ceiling and crawled up into the upper space up there and found a .45 slug up embedded into the iron girders up in the wall, and thought, okay, where did that come from? Im living proof.. Where's he running? Wyoming has a lot of money as far as the state is concerned. One of the miracles that day was that not a single person was lost. The mood did not lift with the singing and teachers quickly negotiated with the hostage takers to get items from the library to help the kids get their minds off the siege,[8] and help to pass the time. The Power of Faith: 25 Years After School Bombing, Town Remembers Story of Survival., Mitchell, Ruth Ann. When Deppe and Mendenhall finally got wind of his plans moments before the hostage crisis unfolded, they refused to participate. Of what you would picture an angel, with the wings and, Mark Junge: Well, if I'm a skeptic, I could say, "Well, that's just the way the flames shot up.". Doris had a migraine headache that day, in talking with the other folks, and she was complaining about that, and asked David if she could open the windows because the gas fumesevidently the gas was leaking from the incendiary and he finally consented to let 'em open the window. Some of the children just sat right all around and just watched him. Reporters from all the regional news outlets were on the scene by the time of the explosion or shortly thereafter. Well, he had put wooden shelves for layers. They believed in reincarnation, which probably led, in part, to the creation of Davids Brave New World idea. On that Friday afternoon in their quiet, rural town, a deranged couple entered the community's elementary school, took those inside hostage and detonated a bomb in a first grade classroom. "If you can see the bomb, the bomb can see you," an officer shouted. All the hostages escaped, though 79 were later hospitalized with burns and injuries, the majority of which were severe.[3][2]. I cannot explain it! I was still trying to make sense of it all! Cokeville Public Library. Contact us at editor@wyohistory.org for information on levels and types of available sponsorships. I said, "What on earth happened there?" He used to work in Cokeville. Everyone else survived, including the injured John Miller. over there. Rich Haskell: I don't know the birthdates but I know the names. Press J to jump to the feed. She acknowledges these students for assisting her in researching her contributions to the WyoHistory.org web site. That your life could change just at a blink of an eye. She is a trained rural historian who specializes in oral history, childhood history and memory studies. 154 of us were held hostage for almost 3 hours in a 30x32 room when the bomb actually detonated - all 154 hostages survived. Returning, David Young shot his wife, then himself. who wins student body president riverdale. What should people know going into the film? You HAVE to find the positives or the negatives can eat you up the rest of your life. Rich Haskell: If it would have went off like it was supposed to have gone off, it would have lifted the roof off of that school. This did, in fact, happen in Wyoming! Mark Junge: And what happened? On that Friday afternoon in their quiet, rural town, a deranged couple entered the communitys elementary school, took those inside hostage and detonated a bomb in a first grade classroom. The jug of gasoline had a pinhole-sized leak on its bottom. It just embedded into the walls from the ammunition from the heat. You should also know that TC basically just wove a storyline into and between the facts and witness testimonies. Cokeville Elementary School is located at 205 N. Sage St. in Cokeville. Yeah. He instructed Doris and Princess, by now a young adult, to handcuff them inside his van. And you could see that she had been burning by just looking at her out on the front lawn. He was the father of two, but was estranged from his elder daughter. Rich Haskell: Uh, I can understand that. Totally destroyed it! That's what it was designed to do was to go out and be particles and that gasoline was gonna ignite it and blow it up. Is there a news article that I could read to get a better idea of what happened? I actually created a website knowing that people would wonder what was real and what wasn't. I just stayed right there and we processed the scene and did the scene. Cokeville Children Held Hostage by Bomber., Cokeville Elementary School Bombing: 25-Years Later. Accessed May 17, 2013, at, Fagg, Ellen. I don't know how many people under the age of 35 know about the Chicago Tylenol murders, but for a few weeks in 1982, it was a national news sensation. David emerged from the bathroom to find his wife in excruciating pain. Mark Junge: Well, you've been blessed in a lot of ways. I got a chance to talk to Jennie Sorensen Johnson, who was seven when David Young rolled a bomb into her first grade classroom. I mean, okay, you lose the Twin Towers, you might get the Pentagon damaged, but if somebody's town hall or school is blown up in Star Valley [Wyo.] Seven people in the Chicago area died after ingesting Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide. It killed her instantly. She fled the building and drove the Youngs vanwith Deppe and Mendenhall still insideto the town hall, where she reported her fathers plan. David, Doris and Princess proceeded to the elementary school and entered the building shortly after 1 p.m. that Friday. Although many were burned, some severely, only the perpetrators of this horrible incident died. I've got to get back to work now! I don't know. Students, teachers, visitors, staff who survived the ordeal and bystanders began recounting their memories of this event as it was still unfolding. Eventually Doris lifted her arm sharply and the bomb went off prematurely, injuring Doris while David was out of the room. Number one, that's where he worked. ", All told, 79 of the hostages suffered injuries, mostly second-degree burns, smoke inhalation, and other injuries from the exploding bomb. You could see that the roof tiles had been lifted out of their brackets. It's just something that you just have to stay on top of. This can, the aluminum powder, never went off. On May 16, 1986, . So we decided to take some masking tape, and we tapedI think it was an eight-foot square in the middle of the room, right here, and he pushed the cart, the homemade bomb into this, and we told the children this was the magic square. He hadn't had anything to eat and she finally convinced him to get something to eat, and he let her be in charge of that bomb. Who died in the Cokeville bombing? The gasoline bottle was leaking. And then he shot himself. There are a select number of people that would do this, so thank you. The only thing I bristle at is that TC has me suggesting that we say a prayer. I actually have a pretty clear memory of the events that day, being 12 years old. Read more They feel that it was a positive experience for them. Details: At 1:20pm on Friday, May 16, 1986, forty-three-year-old David Young and his forty-seven-year-old wife, Doris, wheeled a shopping cart containing a homemade gasoline-filled bomb into Cokeville Elementary School in Cokeville, Wyoming, just after the lunch hour recess. Two Powell residents, Lenita Moore (a science teacher at Powell High School) and John Miller (a longtime choir director at Powell High School who retired in 2020), remember being in Cokeville during the bombing. Rich Haskell: Well, I got a lot of it while I was in the Marine Corps and in the Army National Guard. There was no give in the school bus. So he did try that device. Mark Junge: And you're sheriff in Sweetwater? You see the bag ladies pullin' them around behind them when they go to the store and they can put their groceries in or whatever else. I think it's because of the ages of the kids, to start with. I contacted the dispatch up in Kemmerer to get firsthand information as to having second- and third-hand information and they informed me that the school indeed had been taken hostage. With the explosionwhat occurred? He still needed to tell it to his parents though, and that's basically what you see in the movie. Although many were burned, some severely, only the perpetrators of this horrible incident died. Vengeance for having been fired did not seem to have been the motive, but rather a philosophy recorded in journal entries referring to a Brave New World where he wanted to reign over intelligent children. No, not at all. How much interaction did you have with the director/producers of the movie? The blasting cap in the gasoline jug functioned properly, initiating the explosion. I'm portrayed as the little red haired kid with glasses that asks about the AK-47. The town has worked to be as respectful as possible to the multitude of experiences that day. So I went to Huntsville, Ala., to Redstone Arsenal. Rich Haskell: There was also ayou look through the ceiling and there was a bigger hole up there. I don't think that they were planningor David was planning on the ceiling tiles in the school. The Wyoming History one may be the best. No, this is something that people need to know about. The timelines of some events are fuzzy Its hard to nail down what stands out the most, there were a LOT of crazy things I'd never seen before then, or since really. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Both men were handcuffed in a van outside the school.[1]. I had just cracked a little joke with a toy tank of legos as I drove it "across the death line" or the masking tape square on the floor. For more information about our sponsors and the people behind WyoHistory.org, visit our About Us page: Hostage crisis at the elementary school in Cokeville, Wyo. I do think the key is talking about it often and early. The device was set up on afor lack of a better word, I call it a shopping cart. They lived in a mobile home with Princess, Davids youngest daughter from his first marriage. Also, how long was it before the kids started talking about seeing angels? Of course, most children were elated by the prospects of an assembly. Lota, Louinn. I was later told that everybody had been taken to different hospitals, ambulance services from all over, from Utah, from Idaho, from Wyoming was transporting people all over the place and there was only two fatalities. He had been aware of above-average achievement scores from Cokeville's education system. Rich Haskell: Oh my goodness! On May 16, 1986, when former town marshal David Gary Young and his wife Doris Young took 154 children and thirteen teachers hostage at Cokeville Elementary school in Wyoming and kept them at bay with a shopping-cart sized bomb attached to five hairpin-trigger blast caps, it should have ended in great tragedy - one of the worst in American history. In the West? Interview by Mark Junge. Rich Haskell: I took pictures of it. Mark Junge: What do you want to do with the rest of your life? [7][5] The reason for the wire cuts are so far unexplained. In their minds they could start another world. http://www.cokevillemiracle.com/movie.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cokeville_Elementary_School_hostage_crisis. Trent Toone, Mormon Times. The Cokeville hostage crisis began the afternoon of May 16, 1986, when David and Doris Young took 154 children and adults hostage at the Cokeville Elementary School in tiny Cokeville, Wyo. Interesting stuff to me! . Rich Haskell: Well, I didn't know a lot about 'em and I still don't know a lot about 'em. Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, Repanshek, Kurt J. Lenita's father Rocky was a fifth grade teacher at Cokeville Elementary School at the time of the bombing, Lenita was a seventh grader. When you say what cut the wire? Teachers were confused and baffled by Young's nonsensical, strange writing. results in the deaths of perpetrators David and Doris Young; 154 hostages survive. TC is one of my heroes. [7] Geography [ edit] She lifted her hand up to rub her forehead and when she did that pulled the pin out and detonated the bomb. Mark Junge: That's a record of all the people we've talked to! Go to their hands and knees and crawl out. He came out of the bathroom, is what we figured. When were you satisfied that there were no more bombs? Mark Junge: Where at? Associated Press. Mark Junge: Well, and it burned some of the kids. SHARE Cokeville miracle marking 25 years. Rich Haskell: I was cookin' right along, yes I was! Yeah, we didn't get a lot of sleep. We're in a conference room here on the main floor. I did open that briefcase remotely like I was taught in school to do. And I didn't know about the angel thing comin' to the kids until many days later. Story: Witness who ran toward marathon bomb 'saw bodies flying' "The death of any child shatters us all,'' Barnicle said. The Youngs both died that day. David saw John Miller, the music teacher, trying to escape and shot him in the back. Rich Haskell: No, it's not. What did you find out about them? But he knew the culture, he knew the type of people, and I'm not sayin' that Mormon people are better than anybody else, but their way of life is family is first. . Mark Junge: Why do you think that God chose Cokeville to save? COKEVILLE, Wyo. I was a little bit nervous, of course. As I come to the junctionI'm sorry, I don't know what the road is that goes over to Bear Lakebut as I was passing that intersection, they did inform me that the bomb had exploded. Mark Junge: So it would have gone upward, but would it have killed the kids? Davids friends did not know that the Biggie was a plan to take over Cokeville Elementary School, hold each of the children hostage for $2 million dollars apiece and then detonate the bomb, transporting the money and children to his Brave New World, where he would be God. Mark Junge: Do you still think about this? Mark Junge: Do you think David or Doris would have cut it? And we allthere was three of us there. You could walk across the street and get run over as far as that's concerned, but I don't know if my wife has any more gray hairs because I've chosen this profession. Sue Castaneda: Which is the son who is also running for sheriff? "[6] The two men eventually refused to participate in the event. Young met his second wife, Doris Waters, while in Cokeville. I immediately went into rendering safehe had brought in several devices with him to place in different places in the room, and there was a lot of ammunition, a lot of guns out in the hallway, and I immediately started rendering all those safe, making sure that those were safe and they could move them out of the building. One of the unique things that I noticed when I went into that room and I don't know if any of the other people have told you about it or whatever else, but when I walked into that room you could see the outline on the whiteboard of an angel. Rich Haskell: I don't think that they were planningor David was planning on the ceiling tiles in the school. David Young was the only police officer in Cokeville for six months in 1979. The windows had been knocked outhad been blown out. Whether or not you believe in God or miracles, show some respect. In addition, national reporters began arriving within hours of the explosion. Mark Junge: And you know, in Sue and I's conversation with these dozen people we've talked to now, seems like they also feel the same way you do. WyoHistory.org welcomes the support of the following sponsors. Returning, David Young shot his wife, then himself. Healing will come Slowly From Within a Wounded Cokeville. Mark Junge: EOD. But it didn't. It was there for a long time, all that support. After a stand-off lasting two and a half hours, the gasoline bomb the couple had brought into the school went off prematurely, badly burning Doris Young while David Young was out of the room. On one hand people didn't want money to be made off of suffering, but on the other hand it felt ungrateful to not share it in the way that TC would or could. Mark Junge: Oh, really! Box 37, Cokeville, Wyoming 83114. Below the jug in the bottom basket were two tuna fish cans filled with a mixture of aluminum powder and flour meant to aerosolize and deflagrate following detonation, each with its own blasting cap. Even though the majority of the townspeople are LDS, there are lots of people of a variety of faiths in the room that day. Educated at Chadron State College in Nebraska, he had earned a degree in criminal justice, and was hired as Cokevilles town marshal in the 1970s. He just said just go do it. I saw an early screening of the film and absolutely loved it. Mark Junge: How many actual bombs have you had experience with? [13], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}420457N 1105719W / 42.08250N 110.95528W / 42.08250; -110.95528. [10][2][3] The injured were triaged to several area hospitals in Wyoming and Idaho.[2][3][11]. Did this shake the faith of some people, or would you say it strengthened it in most? Because in the bus, everything was solid in the school bus. Rich Haskell: I don't know. A quarter of a century later, Williams can still vividly recall the chaotic scene following the explosion. And I'm sure that that made him very nervous. Mark Junge: One of the things that Sue and I found out is that people don't regret doing this because they think it's important for history. On May 16, 1986, David and Doris Young took 154 people hostage at the Cokeville Elementary School in tiny Cokeville www.wyohistory.org 25 years after school bombing, Wyoming town remembers the . I absolutely have. Amy Bagaso Williams was a fifth-grader when a couple used a bomb while taking hostages at her Wyoming school on May 16, 1986. Survivor is my Name: Voices of the Cokeville Elementary School Bombing. Produced by Wyoming State Archives for Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, the package includes interviews with 14 people about the events of May 16, 1986. It was within the first few weeks that the Hartley boy was explaining his witness. But David refused to reveal his plans entirely until moments before they unfolded. AP file. Recording and transcription by Wyoming State Archives. What had happenedI can't explain it. With fear that David might become unhinged, the teachers decided to make an ~8-foot square of masking tape for his own personal space. Accessed May 28, 2013 at. This is not a Mormon film it is more of an inspirational film. For me, what has impressed me about the film is not necessarily the story of Angels (which are remarkable), but that the majority of the 154 hostages chose to see God's hand in their lives that day. Audio/Video Recording. In Cokeville, Nowhere, Wyo. They just didn't let it die out. Mark Junge: What were they designed to do? Personally I gave him 17 pages of journal notes! I didn't touch the body at all. Mark Junge: Well, yes. Cokeville Trying to Rebuild A Normal and Secure Life.. If I deleted an entire phrase, I have inserted ellipses . Do you ever think about that? (Laughs) Yeah, I understand what you're saying, but it was. She lured them by telling them there was either an emergency, a surprise, or an assembly there. So there's doubt in your mind that there was divine intervention? Well, he had went into the bathroom and she was out with the bomb, and they said she was complaining of a migraine headache. Rich Haskell: Absolutely. On May 16, 1986, a man and his wife with a bomb took . The story was also featured on Unsolved Mysteries, Unexplained Mysteries, and I Survived A movie about the incident, The Cokeville Miracle, was made by filmmaker T. C. Christensen and released on June 5, 2015. He shot and killed her. Rich Haskell: Not really that often, but every time I think about it I get very emotional. You went back home? Rich Haskell: Well, by none of the kids bein' hurt that was supposed to be hurt. I did not have to imagine how God would move that day when I said my little prayer just hours before, I simply knew he would. Contact us at editor@wyohistory.org for information on levels and types of available sponsorships. Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis, "Radical Right Link Suggested in Hostage Case", "Cokeville Elementary School Bombing | WyoHistory.org", "Couple take over school but die after bomb blast", "Couple in School Blast Linked to Extremist Group", "Certified Bomb Technician Rich Haskell on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School | WyoHistory.org", "Lead Investigator Ron Hartley, Father of Four Student Survivors, on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School | WyoHistory.org", "Secretary Tina Cook on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School | WyoHistory.org", "A projectile killed Dorris Young, not bomb blast, police in Cokeville say", "In 1986, 154 children and teachers survived the bombing of Cokeville Elementary School", "Emergency Management Coordinator Kathy Davison on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School | WyoHistory.org", University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Liberty Point International Middle School, Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, "'No Way to Prevent This', Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens", List of school shootings in the United States by death toll, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cokeville_Elementary_School_hostage_crisis&oldid=1139490391, Improvised explosive device bombings in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 11:55.