Go to school and learn how to do it." As I got closer to it I could tell it was a body, and of course, you just start thinking about what took place. As well as I can. Recording and transcription by Wyoming State Archives. A quarter of a century later, Williams can still vividly recall the chaotic scene following the explosion. She has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals on the history and heritage of Germans from Russia on the Northern Plains. Rich Haskell: Pretty sophisticated guy is what he was. Where's he running? She is a beautiful example of turning tragedy into triumph. I was frightened and felt that we needed to do something to try to calm down or to be careful, because he was so agitated. Once the wooden piece was removed, the two metal connectors completed the circuit, detonating the bomb. Because in the bus, everything was solid in the school bus. This can, the aluminum powder, never went off. There was no give in the school bus. And then he shot himself. I did open that briefcase remotely like I was taught in school to do. 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. This wasn't a pipe bomb. She was on fire! 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. A new movie is coming out on Friday called "The Cokeville Miracle" that depicts not just this terrible event, but the various miraculous stories that emerged afterward. Just like with a pair of pliers, pair of snips. Journal entries also indicate that he saw opportunity in the close-knit community; he wrote, "Threaten one and all are at your mercy." All the hostages escaped, though 79 were hospitalized with burns and injuries. No, not at all. 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. In the classroom, David held the gasoline bomb, with the triggering mechanism attached to a string tied around his wrist. The bomb did detonate and fire, thick black smoke and toxi fumes filled the room. 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? Rich Haskell: Uh, I can understand that. I was still trying to make sense of it all! But he knew the culture, he knew the type of people, and I'm not sayin' that Mormon people are better than anybody else, but their way of life is family is first. Were you portrayed in the movie at all? Carbon County School District No. You know their names but not their birthdays. Although many were burned, some severely, only the perpetrators of this horrible incident died. Rich Haskell: I don't know the birthdates but I know the names. But I walked up to the window and looked inside the window and didn't hardly see anything out of the ordinary except it was all black inside. Cokeville Children Held Hostage by Bomber., Cokeville Elementary School Bombing: 25-Years Later. Accessed May 17, 2013, at, Fagg, Ellen. [5][10][8], When the bomb detonated, the majority of the explosive force was channeled through loose ceiling tiles into the roof, and open windows acting as vents. Amy Bagaso Williams with her husband and four children. I just stayed right there and we processed the scene and did the scene. Of course, I can imagine the noise that it made. By Jamie Armstrong May 22, 2015 09:35 AM MDT. And it was a perfect trajectory up into the ceiling where that bullet was. One of the miracles that day was that not a single person was lost. But it didn't. May 12, 2011, 2:30am PDT. Mark Junge: How many actual bombs have you had experience with? AP file. And he had to defuse bombs. Seven people in the Chicago area died after ingesting Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide. Too many of 'em to try to remember their birthdays. Rich Haskell: Well, I didn't know a lot about 'em and I still don't know a lot about 'em. So if it can happen there it can happen anywhere in the United States. Rich Haskell: I am. Can you describe this? Rich Haskell: And fourteen and a half great-grandchildren. Hi, I am working on publicity for the film, and I will chime in if anyone needs it, or has other questions. Throughout both baskets were chain links, gunpowder, and boxes of ammunition acting as shrapnel. Have you had anything like this, anything close to this happen? David Young was the only police officer in Cokeville for six months in 1979. Amy Bagaso Williams was a fifth-grader when a couple used a bomb while taking hostages at her Wyoming school on May 16, 1986. Cokeville Elementary School is located at 205 N. Sage St. in Cokeville. In most cases I have deleted redundant ands, ers, uhs, buts, false starts, etc. On May 16, 1986, when former town marshal David Gary Young and his wife Doris Young took 154 children and 13 teachers hostage at Cokeville Elementary school in Wyoming, and kept them at bay with a shopping-cart sized bomb attached to five hairpin-trigger blast caps, it should have ended in great tragedy - one of the worst in American history. Rich Haskell: Yeah, I think I did. Then he went to the restroom, which was attached to the classroom. Rich Haskell: Because of the response and because of the emails and everything that took place. Rich Haskell: I sometimes do, but you can't let yourself think about it. On May 16, 1986, David and Doris Young entered Cokeville Elementary School with a gasoline bomb, a variety of rifles and handguns, David's philosophical writings and demands for $300 million And they had trouble keeping people away from the building. My name is Mark Junge and I'm here at the Hiltonis it the Hilton Hotel? No need to troll. And if I had been a little less of a jokester I may have seen something in that strange light. Sue Castaneda: Did you look at (unintelligible). Rich Haskell: Were above the level of the kids, yeah. Young was a former Cokeville town marshal who had been living in Arizona for several years. The gasoline bottle was leaking. And I think it's made me a stronger person. That's what David Young forgot to realize just how important families were. Of what you would picture an angel, with the wings and, Mark Junge: Well, if I'm a skeptic, I could say, "Well, that's just the way the flames shot up.". One hostage observed a birthday on that day and songs were sung in his honor. There are a select number of people that would do this, so thank you. This sub is dedicated to faithful discourse on church topics. Used with thanks. Windows were opened to rid the room of gasoline fumes, and prayers were offered in small groups among the children. I remember watching that when I was a younger kid, and when they were interviewing the witnesses, I remember several of them referencing "Heavenly Father " instead of "God," and I knew immediately they were LDS. He came out of the bathroom, is what we figured. It just embedded into the walls from the ammunition from the heat. Rich Haskell: Yes. Rich Haskell: Well, I got a lot of it while I was in the Marine Corps and in the Army National Guard. [2] Before leaving the room, David attached the bomb's detonation device to his wife's wrist. The Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis occurred on Friday, May 16, 1986 in Cokeville, Wyoming, United States, when former town marshal David Young, 43, and his wife Doris Young, 47,[1] took 136 children and 18 adults hostage at Cokeville Elementary School. 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! Mark Junge: Yeah, my brother-in-law worked in the Navy as a chief petty officer and he worked with what they called EOD. Several other survivors were there. "The sadness that comes with the death of an 8-year-old, you can . They forget about what happened in Cokeville with a lot more people and the potential of what was there. You'd had experience? They had to come and get my car and get me another one. Well, when I arrived at Cokeville, of course they had the roads all blocked off and there was not a lot of people around the school at the time. I don't know how many people under the age of 35 know about the Chicago Tylenol murders, but for a few weeks in 1982, it was a national news sensation. Flipboard. 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. TC, I think, saw it the same way. The only thing I bristle at is that TC has me suggesting that we say a prayer. [13], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}420457N 1105719W / 42.08250N 110.95528W / 42.08250; -110.95528. I actually hadn't thought of doing that, yet. Rich Haskell: Well, you know, that's a really good question. I'm not saying all of 'em were bombs, but why did God cut out Cokeville and say nobody's going to get hurt in this? Mark Junge: Do you know the names and birthdates of all your grandchildren? 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. All the kids were saved. The woman who died with her husband as they held an elementary school hostage with a gasoline bomb last week was not killed by the . Mark Junge: Had you seen anything like what took place in this classroom before? And that's what we in this country have that these other fanatics or whatever is the family is the import factor. Rich Haskell: Yep. The Hilton Garden Suites in Laramie, Wyo. I'm currently the Sheriff of Sweetwater County. I did not have to imagine how God would move that day when I said my little prayer just hours before, I simply knew he would. With fear that David might become unhinged, the teachers decided to make an ~8-foot square of masking tape for his own personal space. Whenever they would come to Wyoming I would be part of their security team. They believed in reincarnation, which probably led, in part, to the creation of Davids Brave New World idea. David and Doris Young took 167 hostages (150 children, 17 adults and one unlucky UPS driver) at the elementary school. Mark Junge: And what happened? David and Doris both returned to Cokeville on May 16, 1986. David set himself near the center of the room with the grocery cart bomb nearby, as Doris went from room to room rounding up people. Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, Repanshek, Kurt J. Mark Junge: So it would have gone upward, but would it have killed the kids? Hey, I am not the survivor, but I spent my summers in Cokeville, my family is from there, and I have been helping on publicity for the film. Rich Haskell: It's a combustible. Now you are a bomb technician. I do think the key is talking about it often and early. Throughout the standoff, David grew increasingly agitated and irritable. It was there for a long time, all that support. As long as that piece of wood was in there to keep those separated, it would not detonate. [7] Geography [ edit] Is that morbid thinking on my part? Cokeville Elementary School is located at 205 N. Sage St. in Cokeville. It brings back lots of memories but it doesn't hurt because actually it was a positive experience. Many children showed signs of distress with sobs, complaining of headaches from the smell of gasoline from the bomb, or simply wanting to go home. We know he built two of 'em. Jessica Clark, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of history and political science at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, Wyo. Rich Haskell: Absolutely! Well, after interviewing some of the people, what had happened, the bombDavid Young had set the bomb to have what they call a dead-man switch. May 24, 1986 12 AM PT. Rich Haskell: Well, after I arrived it took probably three to four hours to make sure everything was neutral and everything was not going to be a threat any longer. NOTE: Witness to Miracles was published in 2006 by Pronghorn Press, www.pronghornpress.org . On May 16, 1986, a man and his wife with a bomb took . Some of the children just sat right all around and just watched him. He had been aware of above-average achievement scores from Cokeville's education system. Press J to jump to the feed. Rich Haskell: I'm Rich Haskell. Many of the children who stated they saw angels were of various faiths. I mean, what it was supposed to do? David, Doris and Princess proceeded to the elementary school and entered the building shortly after 1 p.m. that Friday. Rich Haskell: Yes. No, this is something that people need to know about. Everything was blackened. This allowed gasoline to drip into the tuna fish cans, turning the aluminum-flour mixture into paste, unable to aerosolize. Anything? So you got that and you got the flour and the gasoline and that's what it was all designed to do in millisecond delays. So I went to Huntsville, Ala., to Redstone Arsenal. So if the state didn't pay him, he figured the Mormon church would pay him because the Mormon church has money also. Ronald DeFeo Jr., the convicted killer whose 1974 murders spawned the "Amityville Horror" franchise, died last week while serving a 25 years-to-life prison term, officials said Monday . 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. I'm portrayed as the little red haired kid with glasses that asks about the AK-47. In 1986 , 154 children and teachers survived the bombing of Cokeville Elementary School. This is not a Mormon film it is more of an inspirational film. 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 gathered up some of the equipment that I would need and a change of clothes and proceeded to Cokeville. Did you see anything? Others miracles were reported and some of those are recorded in this compilation.." David Young. The photo of Rich Haskell is by Wyoming State Archives. http://www.cokevillemiracle.com/movie.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cokeville_Elementary_School_hostage_crisis.

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