Kip Kinkel and the Thurston High School Shooting | Part Two

(Continued from Part One


After much persuading, Bill and Faith gave in and bought Kip a Glock pistol. Bill thought it would be ok as long as he laid down some ground rules to Kip, such as: he can only use the gun whilst Bill is present, the gun would also be locked up and Bill would have the key. Faith wasn't so sure about the gun but Bill said it would be ok as he would keep an eye on Kip and he would enrol him in gun safety courses. 

Before giving in and buying Kip the gun, Bill asked a few friends for advice and they told him that Kip would end up either stealing a gun or finding a way to buy one at some point so it was best to do it this way. Bill thought that Kip would calm down with his obsession with guns if he had the Glock. 

[Later on when the Psychiatrist was questioned about his discussion with Kip about guns he said that he would never recommend a gun to a patient such as Kip]

After 9 sessions with the Psychiatrist, Kip seemed to be so much better and Faith spoke excitedly on the phone to Kip's sister Kristen about all of the progress that he had made. The decision was made to end Kip's therapy and after being on Prozac for three months, Kip wanted to stop taking the tablets, he said that he felt so much better and his parents agreed that he was doing really well so they said that he could stop the medication. 

Kip started attending 'Thurston High School' where his father had retired as a popular Spanish teacher. Kip really wanted to excel in sports and put himself forward for the football team, he was a lot smaller and skinnier than the other guys and struggled. It soon became apparent that Kip wasn't cut out to be a footballer. He saw this as another failure and constantly compared himself to other people.

He would write random notes in his bedroom such as ''I want to be something I can never be'', ''I'm always alone'' and ''I hate what I've become''. 

Bill decided to buy Kip another gun. It's not clear whether Kip had begged him for another gun or that Bill wanted to show Kip that he trusted him after he saw the improvement in Kip after he bought him the Glock pistol. 

It was during this time that Kip was having problems with a girl that he'd been dating. According to friends, the girl been playing mind games with him and he never really knew where he stood. He often felt frustrated with the situation. The relationship came to an end and this plunged Kip into depression. 

One day in English class, Kip's teacher put on the movie 'Romeo and Juliet' which was a remake of the famous love story and starred Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes. Kip became obsessed with the film (especially as guns were heavily featured in the movie) and the soundtrack.

By the end of freshman year, Kip became interested in school shootings. There had been a few shootings that had happened the year before and he would make comments to friends about what he would have done and where he thought the shooters had gone wrong. He mentioned to friends that he thought his father was going to take away the guns he had bought him and he was fed up of Bill having so much control, he wanted a gun of his own that he could keep on him whenever he wanted to use it.
Kip arranged to buy a stolen gun from a friend and he hid it in his school locker. Someone tipped off the police (it's unknown whether Kip bragged about having the gun in his locker and was overheard or a friend had spoken up) and they came to the school. When the police searched the locker they found the gun was fully loaded. Kip was arrested and Bill was contacted.

The police took Kip straight to the police department and Bill had to pick him up from there. It's unknown what was going through Bill's mind at this moment but from friends who knew him, they said that he would've been furious, he was already at his wits end and had run out of options with Kip. Being the proud man that he was, he would've felt embarrassed having to constantly sort out the mess that Kip had created and now having to collect him from the police station. It must have been a very tense car ride home.

Kip's mother was out of the house and was unaware of what was going on. Bill's friends say that he would have laid down the law and confiscated the guns, they also said that Bill had opened up to a few friends previously saying that he was 'terrified' and was running out of options on how to help his son. According to the police, there was an argument between Kip and Bill. Kip claims that Bill said some hurtful things to him, including that he would be sent to military school if he didn't improve his behaviour.

After the argument, Kip went upstairs (the length of time is unknown) but soon returned downstairs and went into the kitchen where his father was sat at the kitchen counter with his back to him drinking a cup of coffee, without a word, Kip pointed a gun at his father's head and fired.

Around 6:30pm, Faith returned home. Kip told the police that as she was walking up the stairs, Kip said to her ''I love you mom'' then fired two shots which struck her head, a third above her left eye, another into her left cheek, another into the centre of his mother's forehead and one into her heart. 

Kip then moved his father's body into a bathroom which he covered with a bed sheet. He also covered his mother's body with a bed sheet. 

Kip had 'Liebestod' on continuous play (the final dramatic aria from Wagner's opera. The recording was also featured in Baz Luhrmann's 1996 movie version of Romeo and Juliet). 

Continued in part three....



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