St Louis gunman Orlando Harris left ‘manifesto’ with list of school shooters and their death tolls
‘I’ve been an isolated loner my whole life. This was a perfect storm for a mass shooting,’ suspect wrote in left behind note
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
The suspect in the St Louis school shooting left a note in his car with a list of other school shootings in the US, with the names of the gunmen and the number of killed people, and expressed his desire to be the next name on it.
Suspected gunman Orlando Harris, 19, also had a map of the school in his car and laid out his attack in detail ahead of time, authorities announced at a Tuesday press conference.
The note included details concerning how Harris obtained the weapon used in the attack – an AR-15-style rifle - revealing that he bought it from a private dealer after being rejected at a gun show in St Charles County.
The interim chief of the St Louis police department Michael Sack read from the note during the press conference a day after Harris allegedly shot eight people - killing two - at the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in south St Louis, Missouri, on Monday morning.
“I don’t have any friends, I don’t have any family. I’ve been an isolated loner my whole life. This was a perfect storm for a mass shooting,” Harris wrote.
Mr Sack previously told reporters that “there are suspicions that there may have been some mental illness that he was experiencing. We’re working on developing that information right now”.
Police have said Harris didn’t have a previous criminal history.
Investigators found the gunman’s car and searched it for evidence.
“I know there is some evidence that was taken out,” Mr Sack said earlier.
David Williams, a math teacher at the school, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that the school principal came over the loudspeaker around 9am and said the code word for an active shooter being in the building.
Mr Williams told the outlet he heard multiple shots outside his classroom, and one of the windows on the classroom door was shot out. He then heard a man say, “you are all going to f***ing die”.
Taniya Gholston, 16, a student at CVPA, told The St Louis Post-Dispatch that she did not recognise the gunman and escaped when his gun jammed. She told the newspaper that she heard him say something about being “sick of this damn school”.
Dance teacher Raymond Parks told The Post-Dispatch Harris was dressed in all-black clothing and that he pointed his firearm at him but didn’t shoot.
Harris reportedly had enough ammunition to kill hundreds of people.
“The individual had almost a dozen 30-round … high-capacity magazines on him. That’s a whole lot of victims there,” Mr Sack said.