In the spring of 1982, a senseless act of violence cut short the life of 13-year-old Scott Darwin Michael, a male student at Deer Creek Junior High School in Littleton, Colorado. On April 7th, during the lunch break, Scott was outside on the school grounds with a friend. The school operated on a year-round schedule, which meant students were often in different places than their usual classrooms. This ordinary school day took a tragic turn due to the actions of a 14-year-old fellow student.
Earlier that day, the 14-year-old, along with two other boys, had been in a field near the school shooting at prairie dogs. When they thought a sheriff's patrol car had spotted them, they hid a rifle, but the 14-year-old kept a. 38 revolver he had taken from his grandfather. He then went into the school and showed the weapon to several other students, none of whom reported him. He eventually made his way outside to where Scott and his friend were. He first approached Scott's friend, pointing the gun at his head. The friend warned him that the gun was loaded.
Ignoring the warning, the young assailant then walked over to Scott, who was lying on a grassy knoll. He leaned over him and fired a single shot into his chest, the bullet striking the lower part of his heart. Scott managed to get to his feet and stagger toward a bike rack before collapsing. Despite the arrival of Flight-for-Life paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:10 PM.
The 14-year-old shooter was quickly identified as the suspect and taken into custody. He was subsequently tried as an adult for the murder of Scott Michael. In a plea bargain, he pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. However, this sentence was automatically reduced to six years, and he ultimately served five and a half years in a Closed Adolescent Treatment Center. During his parole hearing in August of 1987, when asked why he shot Scott, he reportedly stated that he 'just wanted to look bad.'
