The Bath (MI) School Attack Analysis

Remembering that this series of articles is about active shooter events, mass shooter events, and how each has affected law enforcement response protocols through the years, it’s important to understand each segment of a given attack.  At Columbine, sometimes referred to as “the Pearl Harbor” of active shooter incidents, the shooters used explosives as well as firearms.  Some commentators said that it was the first time explosives had been used in a school attack and others said it was the deadliest school attack to date (at that time).  Both were wrong.

The deadliest school attack AND the first (documented) to use explosives occurred in May of 1927 when ONLY explosives were used to attack the Bath Consolidated School in Bath Township, MI. The Bath School Attack was committed by Andrew Kehoe, age 55 at the time of the attack. As a child it was recounted that Kehoe had been troubled and regularly quarreled with his step-mother. When Kehoe was fourteen is was reported that the family’s oil stove had exploded and his stepmother had caught fire from the explosion. Kehoe then proceeded to try to put the oil-based flame out with a bucket of water causing it to spread faster. His stepmother would later die of her injuries and some of Kehoe neighbors believed that explosion had been orchestrated by Kehoe.

- - - - - - - - - -

The remainder of this article is part of the book "Active Killers and the Crimes They Perpetrated," available in print or ebook via Amazon.