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Here is a local story from the 20 year anniversary (we are at the 29th year now), What's your side of the story? Rich Haskell: Yes, absolutely. Dr. Clark is the faculty advisor of the Sweet Memories: Research Group at Western. Rich Haskell: No, it's not. He demanded a ransom of two million dollars per hostage ($308 million, $720 million adjusted for inflation), and an audience with President Ronald Reagan. Rich Haskell: Well, I like to think I'm a better person because of it. Mark Junge: And that's the lesson we learn. In 2006, the Cokeville Miracle Foundation compiled a book of recollections about the day from parents, emergency workers and former hostages. I really did not even want to walk inside that building because I was just afraid that I'd see kids all over the place. You HAVE to find the positives or the negatives can eat you up the rest of your life. Both hostage takers died, while 79 hostages were wounded. 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. All the hostages escaped, though 79 were hospitalized with burns and injuries. Rich Haskell: Well, I didn't know a lot about 'em and I still don't know a lot about 'em. Weredo you think it had something to do with angels? The explosion engulfed her in flames and burned many nearby children. What is your assessment of these two people who did this? Davids writings reveal that he hoped life would be better for him and Cokevilles children in this imaginary place. You have to think about what you're doing right at that particular time so you can stay focused on what you have to deal with. Mark Junge: You think when we talk to you to bring this up againI know you're emotional about itbut does it hurt you to talk about this? I can understand that. Mark Junge: Well, I want you to know that we think you're courageous for doing this with us. He shot and killed her. The tuna fish cans with the two floury would be spread out in the air likehave you ever seen a grain elevator explosion? The jug of gasoline had a pinhole-sized leak on its bottom. Rich Haskell: There was also ayou look through the ceiling and there was a bigger hole up there. I mean, what it was supposed to do? Witnesses later testified that just before the explosion David Young had connected the explosive to his wife. We know for a fact that he had tried that device because he did it in Arizona and totally destroyed a school bus. David and Doris Young took 167 hostages (150 children, 17 adults and one unlucky UPS driver) at the elementary school. Cokeville Elementary School is located at 205 N. Sage St. in Cokeville. Rich Haskell: That's my oldest boy, Steven. You know their names but not their birthdays. Mark Junge: With bombs? He knew it was a predominantly Mormon [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] community. who wins student body president riverdale. There are a select number of people that would do this, so thank you. I did open that briefcase remotely like I was taught in school to do. In 1986, 154 children and teachers survived the bombing of Cokeville Elementary School. over there. These are designed to just spread out the particles all over the air. Mark Junge: And the explosion went straight up? Rich Haskell: I did not. What is the LDS population of the town and how big was your school? ", About 2 1/2 hours into the standoff, David transferred the triggering mechanism of the bomb to Doris' wrist, and went to a small bathroom that connected the first and second grade rooms. I'm proud of all my children. Mark Junge: This was a life-changing event. In what many have since labeled a miracle, all of the 154 children and educators held hostage for three hours at their Cokeville, Wyoming, school lived, though many were injured. You can ask me anything about this today between 1-2pm. After a two-and-a-half hour standoff, the children were becoming restless, so the teachers preoccupied the kids in the form of movies, games, prayer, and books. This is not a Mormon film it is more of an inspirational film. it is VERY LDS, and yet there are at least 3 other churches in town: Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist (and sometimes a non-denominational church). Mark Junge: Okay. When the thing went off, when the bomb exploded, they just started chuckin' people out the windows. 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. Because of the experience and the different classes that I've attended, I know what bombs do to people, to buildings and to all kinds of structures. Whenever they would come to Wyoming I would be part of their security team. Mark Junge: Do you think you were cut out to do this job? Contact us at editor@wyohistory.org for information on levels and types of available sponsorships. Rich Haskell: I am. WyoHistory.org welcomes the support of the following sponsors. Mark Junge: Well, and it burned some of the kids. Seven people in the Chicago area died after ingesting Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide. First grade teacher Janel Dayton on the 1986 bombing of Cokeville Elementary School Published: November 8, 2014 Janel Dayton, Wyoming State Archives photo. 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. In the classroom, David held the gasoline bomb, with the triggering mechanism attached to a string tied around his wrist. Retro Report took a look back at this episode, with a focus on how Johnson & Johnson and . So many of 'em thatI don't know. (before I see Hollywood's version). Then, several years later, Jennie Sorensen identified what she thought was a teacher who led her out of the building after the blast. Mark Junge: You also mention in your written article in Witness to Miracles [See Note] , the book, that you found a briefcase and you had to open it remotely? Rich Haskell: Absolutely. 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. [5] The leaking gasoline's fumes prompted teachers to open the classroom windows, unknowingly creating vents for the impending explosion. 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. 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. Mark Junge: Had you seen anything like what took place in this classroom before? And my children. And it was a perfect trajectory up into the ceiling where that bullet was. There was no give in the school bus. Thank you for doing this! "If you can see the bomb, the bomb can see you," an officer shouted. According to survivor accounts, Doris enticed many into the first grade room by announcing that their presence was required for a school assembly. Virginia Tech, it wasn't that way. What should people know going into the film? I mean, Columbine, it wasn't that way. 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. Associated Press. I got a chance to talk to Jennie Sorensen Johnson, who was seven when David Young rolled a bomb into her first grade classroom. One teacher was shot when he tried to flee,. A quarter of a century later, Williams can still vividly recall the chaotic scene following the explosion. Even though the majority of the townspeople are LDS, there are lots of people of a variety of faiths in the room that day. 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. 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 had been aware of above-average achievement scores from Cokeville's education system. Have you had anything like this, anything close to this happen? You start messing with the kids, now you're going to have yourself a war. Rich Haskell: Yes, I did. Many recalled praying silently, forming prayer circles and seeing angels during the crisis. 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. They did a good job telling this story. The tuna fish cans, if you can imagine, here's two tuna fish cans sittin' here like this, and a gallon jug of gasoline sittin' above it. Accessed May 28, 2013 at. Over the course of time he did various things to get our input from script readings early on, to being there on set, etc. I actually hadn't thought of doing that, yet. No, this is something that people need to know about. He had tried this deviceand they were designed tothat it would be a delayed explosion. The Hartley story didn't come out publicly until my parents (who wrote the book in the year after the bombing) began asking questions about this kind of thing. Cokeville Elementary School is located at 205 N. Sage St. in Cokeville. Mark Junge: We were worried, Sue and I, that people would take offence, right? Others miracles were reported and some of those are recorded in this compilation.." The device was set up on afor lack of a better word, I call it a shopping cart. 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. Returning, David Young shot his wife, then himself. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. It was a great movie, very well directed and acted. Although many were burned, some severely, only the perpetrators of this horrible incident died. 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. For instance, The Cokeville Miracle Foundations 2005 book Witness to Miracles: Remembering the Cokeville Elementary School Bombing and the Wyoming State Archives oral history project called Survivor is My Name both focused on the reconstructing of this narrative as a miracle instead of a tragedy. Mark Junge: Which means you had to be doing over a hundred miles an hour! Do you think this is a historical event? Kind of a synopsis of what they were going to do and what their plans were and the whole thing. 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. Mark Junge: What's been your experiences since then? 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. Amy Bagaso Williams was a fifth-grader when a couple used a bomb while taking hostages at her Wyoming school on May 16, 1986. She was a divorce who earned money working as a waitress and singer in a local bar. http://www.cokevillemiracle.com/movie.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cokeville_Elementary_School_hostage_crisis. Both David and Doris had ties to white supremacist groups, including the Posse Comitatus and the Aryan Nations. The kids couldn't have cut it. 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. David, who dared not risk their reporting him to the authorities, responded by holding them at gunpoint. The Cokeville hostage crisis began the afternoon of May 16, 1986, David and Doris Young took 154 children and adults hostage at the Cokeville Elementary School in tiny Cokeville, Wyo. Throughout both baskets were chain links, gunpowder, and boxes of ammunition acting as shrapnel. And screaming, I can't imagine the screams that she was making. Dozens. But everything was black, like you had gone in there with a flamethrower and just torched everything inside there. I mean, not everybody would do this. Maybe writing that up 2 years ago when this came along was more healing for me than for him, but I gave it all to him! Returning to the scene, David shot his wife, a teacher, then himself. Some of them believed the assembly was about weapons; others began realizing something was seriously wrong. I was still trying to make sense of it all! Rich Haskell: Okay, I'll buy that! Mark Junge: This bomb was designed to do what? Mark Junge: What do you want to do with the rest of your life? You just do whatever you have to do and get up there." Rich Haskell: Approximately three and a half days. Rich Haskell: Well, run fordo another term as sheriff and then retire, and my wife and I are going to doshe loves genealogy. David saw John Miller, the music teacher, trying to escape and shot him in the back. AP file. Mark Junge: How many actual bombs have you had experience with? The Wyoming History one may be the best. Rich Haskell: The bullet in him was in the bathroom. . In a May 16, 1986 photo, the body of Doris Young is removed by officials after the Cokeville Elementary hostage situation in Cokeville, Wyo. I think it was still in his body. Rich Haskell: Sure. Also, what do you want us to know about it that isn't covered in the film? Personally I gave him 17 pages of journal notes! It is a touchy topic for us, and could come across the wrong way. 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. Rich Haskell: Not really that often, but every time I think about it I get very emotional. When did Cokeville miracle happen? 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 was, and I still am, a certified bomb technician at the time, and I was, as far as I know, the only bomb technician in the southern half of the state of Wyoming. Mark Junge: Are you one of the most experienced people in the area? And I didn't know about the angel thing comin' to the kids until many days later. 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 didn't look at the speedometer, I was just kind of watchin' for animals and everything else. While he was writing his philosophy, Zero Equals Infinity, Doris took part-time jobs including housekeeping and waitressing to support their meager lifestyle. Rich Haskell: I don't think that they were planningor David was planning on the ceiling tiles in the school. Rich Haskell: No, I don't think it exited. Mark Junge: They don't want it brought up again. That's why I have a computer. Reporters from all the regional news outlets were on the scene by the time of the explosion or shortly thereafter. Doris accidently triggered the bomb by motioning to her hostages with her arms. 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. Now this is just for my own information and it doesn't have anything to do with this case, but whenever I read about a bomb threat in the paper, I think to myself, "Oh, no! 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. How has that experience shaped your life? 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. Sue Castaneda: Which is the son who is also running for sheriff? Rich Haskell: And fourteen and a half great-grandchildren. The bomb was an improvised explosive device constructed in a small two-wheeled shopping cart with two baskets, one on top of the other. Mark Junge: What were they designed to do? 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. 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. Shortly after their wedding, David and Doris left Cokeville and headed to Tucson, Ariz. During their time in Tucson, according to Doris daughter Bernie Petersen, David became increasingly reclusive, focusing on his philosophical readings and writings. Now you are a bomb technician.