On January 17, 1989, Patrick Edward Purdy went to the Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, CA and began to open fire at the students and faculty that were on the playground at the time. The attack lasted for three minutes from 11:59 am to 12:02 pm Pacific Time.
Patrick Edward Purdy, at the time of the shooting, was unemployed welder and was regularly referred to as “a drifter” after the fact. He was born in Tacoma, Washington but moved to Stockton, California with his mother after his father threatened to kill her with a pistol the family owned. Purdy attended Cleveland Elementary School from kindergarten to the second grade. He was described, by his stepfather, as a quiet child who cried often. After the family had moved to the Sacramento area of California, Child Protective Services were called to Purdy’s household twice due to allegations that his mother was abusing her children.
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The remainder of this article is part of the book "Active Killers and the Crimes They Perpetrated," available in print or ebook via Amazon.
Joshua Borelli
Joshua Borelli has been studying active shooter and mass attack events over the course of the past several years, commensurate with receiving training on response and recovery to natural disasters and civil disturbances. Joshua started to outline this series of articles in an attempt to identify commonalities and logistical needs patterns for response.
