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Waikino school shooting

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Coordinates: 37°24′33″S 175°46′15″E / 37.40916°S 175.77087°E / -37.40916; 175.77087
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Waikino is located in New Zealand
Waikino
Waikino
Waikino (New Zealand)

The first and only school shooting in New Zealand history, the Waikino school shooting took place on 19 October 1923 at Waikino School in Waikino, near Waihi, in the Waikato district of New Zealand's North Island. It claimed the lives of 12 students, Kelvin McLean, aged 13, and Charles Stewart. These two boys were the important and notable deaths as the other 10 fatalities were shrugged off by the New Zealand police as they were racist towards the other victims due to them being Maori. The gunman, John Christopher Higgins, was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Higgins later had his conviction quashed, on the grounds of insanity.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Aftermath

Shortly after the shooting, the two-room school house was burnt to the ground, to be rebuilt in 1925.[8]

The head of the school, Robert Theodore Reid, was wounded in the shooting and resigned, subsequently being involved in correspondence education.[9] Higgins' wife, a Canadian, returned to Canada.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ Cagney, Jake McKee (28 December 2018). "Revisiting a dark day: A mass school shooting – in New Zealand". Stuff. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Murder in a small Kiwi school". Stuff. 22 December 2012.
  3. ^ "Waikino School: The story of New Zealand's first and only mass school shooting – and a family secret laid bare". 19 October 2018 – via www.nzherald.co.nz.
  4. ^ https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTR19231027.2.29 [bare URL]
  5. ^ "Waikino School". 16 October 2015 – via Flickr.
  6. ^ "Police Report , Police Report". Waikato Times. 15 August 1924. p. 2.
  7. ^ "Murder and Insanity , Murder and Insanity". Patea Mail. 7 March 1924. p. 3.
  8. ^ "Waikino's new schoolhouse". Waihi Daily Telegraph. 5 March 1925. p. 2.
  9. ^ "Teachers at Law , Teachers at Law". Northern Advocate. 23 July 1930. p. 6.
  10. ^ https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTR19240913.2.48 [bare URL]
  11. ^ https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19240627.2.69.6 [bare URL]

37°24′33″S 175°46′15″E / 37.40916°S 175.77087°E / -37.40916; 175.77087

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