Latina Williams- School Shooter

Latina Williams, a 23-year-old student at Louisiana Technical College, walked into a classroom at the vo-tech school on February 8, 2008. She briefly spoke to the professor before exiting the classroom. Nothing seemed unusual to anyone during the initial visit and conversation with the professor.

A few minutes later, Williams returned, this time armed with a .357 caliber handgun and box of ammunition. She fired six rounds from the weapon, shooting Karsheika Graves, a 21-year-old student, and 26-year-old student Taneisha-Deanna Butler as they sat at their desks. She then reloaded the weapon and shot herself in the head.

Chaos erupted as panicked students, still unsure what was happening, phoned their parents begging them to call the police, afraid they’d never see or speak to them again. The school immediately went on lockdown.

Pawn Shop Purchase

Williams purchased the gun and ammunition at a pawn shop on February 7, 2008, the day before the shooting. She did not leave a suicide note behind, although investigators suspected she spoke with a suicide counselor on the phone early that morning. Investigators also said she had no permanent address and had been living out of her car.

The Victims

Graves was a mother of two. The coroner told her family they found her deceased body holding a pencil in her hand. That did not surprise her family, who described her as kind-hearted, a hard worker, and an avid learner with whom everyone liked.

Butler was married, the mother of three children. She attended college studying nursing because she wanted to give her kids a better life. Her sister, ToniButler, also attended college and heard the fatal shot that killed her sister as she sat in her classroom nearby.

No Motive, No Connection to Victims

Family and friends stated Latina experienced “signs of paranoia” before the shooting. She did not provide a motive for the students and had no connection to either of them.

"Investigators have found no connections between the suspect and the victims that would help understand why they were killed," said Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman Sgt. Don Kelly in the statement. The motive behind the shootings "remains unknown and may never be known."

Latina’s Mother Released Statement

After the shooting, Latina’s mother released a statement through the Baton Rouge Police Department.

"We offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of Karsheika Graves and Tanieshia Butler. Our hearts go out to all of you.

In this tragedy, just like you, we have many questions but no answers. As Latina's mother, I will not try to rationalize or make excuses for her action. It was wrong.

I know nothing I can say will make this situation any better, but I am so very sorry for your pain and loss. I pray God will give you strength to come through this.

I will be haunted to the end of my days by what my child has done."

Mayor Issued Statement

"This is a situation where you have to analyze everything that goes on. There was nobody virtually that could have stopped, I believe, what happened today, absent checking everybody as they came into the building. But besides that, it's a sad commentary when you have young people who are here to be educated at a great institution. And yet, they are gunned down and become innocent victims of violence at school. So to those families, to parents, to other people in the community, relatives of these individuals on both sides, this is a tragic day for Baton Rouge, it's a tragic day for the nation," Mayor Kip Holden says.

School Shootings in The United States

Statistica reports 125 mass shootings occurred in the United States between 1982 and 2021, with 66 of them carried out by white shooters. (The five deadliest school shootings have occurred since 2007.) The perpetrator was African American in 21 shootings and Latino in 10 of the shootings. Of the school shootings, only three of them involved female shooters.

Resources & More Information:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/08/la.tech.shooting/index.html

https://www.statista.com/statistics/476445/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-gender/

https://www.foxnews.com/us/school-shootings-with-female-shooters