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.] The two died after the bomb. "Move!" At about 9:30 a.m., the bomb disposal squad used a robotic device to shoot out the end caps of the device, remove the . In their minds they could start another world. ", Mark Junge: So it took you three days, three and a half days. [10][2][3] The injured were triaged to several area hospitals in Wyoming and Idaho.[2][3][11]. And they had practiced how to get out of that building. 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. How has that experience shaped your life? It'sI'm still doing that kind of thing because whenever they hold General Conference in Salt Lake City I go to Salt Lake City to be part of the bomb team for the church while they have General Conference. After being fired for misconduct, he moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he married Doris Young. Everyone else survived, and many who did recalled the tragedy with memories of the presence of angels. [6] With permission, the teachers brought in books, art supplies and a television to help keep the children occupied. 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. Mark Junge: In fact, didn't you say you burned up your engine? One of 'em was in Cokeville and one was in the bus that he did the experiment with. One hostage observed a birthday on that day and songs were sung in his honor. 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. Well, with the window being open, with the ceiling tiles being able to lift up and down, I think that absorbed a lot of the explosion of the gasoline bottle. Survivors began to tell their stories through a spiritual lens. Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis - Wikipedia Two of the three blasting caps on the bomb failed to detonate; the wires to each tuna can had been reportedly cut. David returned to the restroom and killed himself, ending the hostage crisis. The Hilton Garden Suites in Laramie, Wyo. Then he went to the restroom, which was attached to the classroom. [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. Well, after interviewing some of the people, what had happened, the bombDavid Young had set the bomb to have what they call a dead-man switch. On May 16, 1986, David Young, Cokeville's former town marshal, and his wife, Doris, carried five rifles, five handguns and a "dead man's bomb" into the elementary school. Seven people in the Chicago area died after ingesting Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide. In the West? 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. That's why I have a computer. 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. With the explosionwhat occurred? The bomb was an improvised explosive device constructed in a small two-wheeled shopping cart with two baskets, one on top of the other. 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. You know, the kids have forgot about it, let's let 'em move on. Rich Haskell: Yeah, there was some people ready to just shoot him right where he was sitting. Also, what do you want us to know about it that isn't covered in the film? Rich Haskell: There was also ayou look through the ceiling and there was a bigger hole up there. I contacted my sheriff, and that was Jim Stark at the time, and he said, "Definitely! Too many of 'em to try to remember their birthdays. I think I made it there in record timeI'm not sure. Many of the children who stated they saw angels were of various faiths. Cokeville Bombing: Two Powell residents reflect on 1986 tragic event Associated Press. AN EXPLOSION of vapors, resultLing from a combination of circumstances at the Kearney, N. J., plant of the Koppers Coke Company, on May 17, 1948, resulted in the death of ten men and started a . 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. In Cokeville, Nowhere, Wyo. Contact us at editor@wyohistory.org for information on levels and types of available sponsorships. Press J to jump to the feed. He listened so well, so patiently. The hostage takers took part in the singing. There are some survivors that couldn't believe how accurate much of it was. 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. This narrative was perpetuated in many publications and productions. The couple corralled a large group of students and teachers into a single classroom. The gasoline bottle was leaking. Mark Junge: Well, yes. Cokeville seems like a pretty small town. I had the chance to watch the pre-screening of the film and it was very emotional. She is a trained rural historian who specializes in oral history, childhood history and memory studies. The Wyoming History one may be the best. During the chaos, Doris' burnt body was expelled through a window, and left lying on the front lawn. 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. No, this is something that people need to know about. Mark Junge: But all of these holes were above the level of the children. She was a total torch! She was a divorce who earned money working as a waitress and singer in a local bar. Cokeville Children Held Hostage by Bomber., Cokeville Elementary School Bombing: 25-Years Later. Accessed May 17, 2013, at, Fagg, Ellen. cokeville bombing | WyoHistory.org The windows had been knocked outhad been blown out. The kids could just go to the bathroom right from their classroom. who wins student body president riverdale. It was suggested we say a group prayer and I thought it was a great idea, so I helped gather a group of us together. Ahntastic Adventures in Silicon Valley 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. It would have killed them. What should people know going into the film? They have a lot of first-person histories of the actual event, teachers, investigators and students. At 1:00 pm, they pulled up to the Cokeville Elementary School and unloaded a gasoline bomb, along with four rifles and nine handguns. No, we can't do this. SHARE Cokeville miracle marking 25 years. Returning to the scene, David shot his wife, a teacher, then himself. Also, how long was it before the kids started talking about seeing angels? They learned to trust in their God, the kids were healed for the most part, and they value life more now. He came out of the bathroom, is what we figured. It was a great movie, very well directed and acted. One of the miracles that day was that not a single person was lost. He had tried this deviceand they were designed tothat it would be a delayed explosion. Had a gallon milk jug full of gasoline on one level, had aluminum powder, flour and those two components was in tuna fish cans directly under the gasoline bomb. It was perfect! I absolutely have. And that's where the bomb sat and that's where they sat. 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. She fled the building and drove the Youngs vanwith Deppe and Mendenhall still insideto the town hall, where she reported her fathers plan. Well, he had put wooden shelves for layers. Rich Haskell: Well, by none of the kids bein' hurt that was supposed to be hurt. The jug of gasoline had a pinhole-sized leak on its bottom. Rich Haskell: Yeah, I think I did. They messed with the kids and that brought a whole communityin fact, it brought the whole western half of the state all together. And he had to defuse bombs. Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, Repanshek, Kurt J. The explosion engulfed her in flames and burned many nearby children. And the bathroom was off to the side of it because it was the kindergarten class. Rich Haskell: Well, you know, that's a really good question. I was a little bit nervous, of course. Hi MadreDeUnMono! They had written the manuscript, ready for publication, when the Walkers contacted them as family friends and said you may want to come ask our daughters some questions. There are several great resources out there. It is a touchy topic for us, and could come across the wrong way. May 24, 1986 12 AM PT. 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. We know for a fact that he had tried that device because he did it in Arizona and totally destroyed a school bus. I'm portrayed as the little red haired kid with glasses that asks about the AK-47. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News. The subsequent police report states that David opened the door from the connecting bathroom, shot his injured wife in the head and killed her,[9] shot and wounded John Miller, a music teacher who was trying to flee, then closed the bathroom door and killed himself with a shot from a .45 pistol to the head. He was dismissed, however, from this position shortly after his six-month probationary period. Jessica Clark, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of history and political science at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, Wyo. 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. My name is Mark Junge and I'm here at the Hiltonis it the Hilton Hotel? 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: Do you still think about this? He did it right. Rich Haskell: No. Boston columnist: 'This was an attack on family' - Today You know their names but not their birthdays. Unexplained Mysteries: Angel Files. Season 1, Episode 20. 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. 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. Others miracles were reported and some of those are recorded in this compilation.." Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Mark Junge: Do you think he took up thatwanted to take that up because of you? I walked into the bathroom and there was the suspect that had started this whole mess, layin' there on the floor with ahe had a pistol in his hand and you could tell he had shot himself in the head. Rich Haskell: I'm Rich Haskell. I've got a couple of questions. You should also know that TC basically just wove a storyline into and between the facts and witness testimonies. Parentheses ( ) are used for incidental non-verbal sounds, like laughter. So timelines and characters may be switched up, but the overall spirit of it and the facts are laid out true to witness testimonies. Rich Haskell: You walk into the door, and I don't know if you got to go into the classroom, but you walk into that door and it opens up into the whole thing. #TodayInHistory: Today in 1986, The Cokeville Elementary School crises happened. I cannot explain it! On May 16, 1986, . Mark Junge: Yeah, my brother-in-law worked in the Navy as a chief petty officer and he worked with what they called EOD. I gathered up some of the equipment that I would need and a change of clothes and proceeded to Cokeville. Returning, David Young shot his wife, then himself. As long as that piece of wood was in there to keep those separated, it would not detonate. David Young entered the school with his wife transporting a large gasoline-filled device that appeared to be a bomb. His fever broke within minutes of getting it off his chest. WyoHistory.org welcomes the support of the following sponsors. David Youngs journals and writings reveal that he was a troubled man who spent many years grappling with deep philosophical questionsabout mans existence, the afterlife and spirituality. Just like with a pair of pliers, pair of snips. David was a diabetic. So many of 'em thatI don't know. Rich Haskell: Uh, I can understand that. Did you see anything? As I got closer to it I could tell it was a body, and of course, you just start thinking about what took place. This wasn't a simple bomb. Rich Haskell: The bullet in him was in the bathroom. I remember seeing the wide eyes on my band teacher as he collapsed with the EMTs afterward. 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. No, not at all. They attempted to crowd 154 people into one of the two first grade classrooms, a room with a total capacity of 30 students and a teacher. In the days and weeks immediately after this event, most accounts focused on the horrors of the day. The two brought in a bomb attached to themselves with a lanyard. and detonated a bomb inside. Cokeville Bombing. Undated scrapbook. Rich Haskell: No, it's not. Contact us at editor@wyohistory.org for information on levels and types of available sponsorships. I do think the key is talking about it often and early. In most cases I have deleted redundant ands, ers, uhs, buts, false starts, etc. . Sue Castaneda: Did you look at (unintelligible). Story: Witness who ran toward marathon bomb 'saw bodies flying' "The death of any child shatters us all,'' Barnicle said. How did you determine how everything looked when this went up in smoke itself. The Cokeville Town Hall is located at 110 Pine St. For more information, visit the website of the Cokeville Chamber of Commerce at http://www.cokevillewy.com or call (307) 459-4195. I didn't look at the speedometer, I was just kind of watchin' for animals and everything else. Thus, when David and Doris Young entered the towns only elementary school with an arsenal of weapons and a gasoline bomb in a grocery cart, no one saw it coming. And my children. (Laughs) Yeah, I understand what you're saying, but it was. On May 16, 1986, when former town marshal David Gary Young and his wife Doris Young took 154 children and 13 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. Used with thanks. "The sadness that comes with the death of an 8-year-old, you can . Bomber's body removed - Billings Gazette He was so open to their input, and feelings. Cokeville Bombing - Wyoming Only the man and his wife, who accidentally detonated the bomb, died that day in 1986. That's my lucky miracle. 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. One of the miracles that day was that not a single person was lost. The kids couldn't have done it.