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PRERECORDED
On the morning of January 29, 1979, children gathered outside Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, waiting for the gates to open. Across the street, a 16-year-old girl sat in her bedroom window with a rifle and began firing into the crowd.
Her name was Brenda Ann Spencer. When a reporter reached her by phone during the standoff and asked why she had done it, she gave a chilling answer that would echo around the world: I don't like Mondays.
In this episode of Triggered, we unravel the disturbing story behind one of the earliest modern school shootings in the United States, a case that shocked the world, inspired a famous song, and raised haunting questions about neglect, warning signs, and how a troubled teenager ended up turning a quiet Monday morning into tragedy.
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This is triggered.
And you will be.
Hello.
I...
Why?
I just...
That's the only thing I can say, why this week, why?
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
I know.
Ash is really going through it, guys.
You know how they say like, where is it?
Is it bad news comes in threes?
Threes?
We're at like...
I know.
I know.
I know.
But guys, you know what I was telling Ashly is a lot of times when we experience things
in our life where it's like back to back to back bullshit.
It generally means that the universe is preparing us for like exponential growth in
when we are another in our life.
So as much as like, I know you're in the trenches right now, it's probably for a higher purpose
than it's going to be okay.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm just riding the wave, but I'm like, how many more things I know, like I can't, my
little like brain might break.
It's so funny because growing up in the church, there is a Bible verse that says, the Lord
will never give you more than you can handle.
And I remember honestly, I was probably 17 or 18, and I was like, that's a fucking lie.
Lies, it's all lies, I am having a hard time.
I'll give a rundown here, okay, yeah, yeah, just so everyone knows, okay.
So took my dog to a grooming place that's very well known, I won't mention any names.
They caught my dog, both of his ears, he hasn't been the same since.
He actually started showing signs of aggression and irritation.
He has been aggressive and he accidentally beat me pretty badly, which caused me a lot
of distress because my dogs are my life.
Then we had to take into a vet.
So the grooming was $270, the vet was $600, okay.
We take pictures of my dog, we bring the vet bills to this groomer and we're like, listen,
my dog is now in steroids, he is not okay, very badly injured.
We want you to cover these vet bills.
This is crazy, we have to take him back in two weeks, it's just crazy.
And so then they came back and they're like, oh, it doesn't look like those are cuts.
We're like, he has two hematomas.
What are you talking about?
We have the vet, like, right up, is that what they said?
Yeah, yeah, they're like, oh, it looks like, um, burns.
I'm like, yeah, they're hematomas.
Like, um, then they're like, oh, well, it doesn't look like cuts.
So we had to take photos of the blood that he poured out of his ears.
And ironically enough, when it happened, I took photos right away.
And then I watched all the vetting.
So I'm glad that I saw it, yeah, sent those.
And now we're kind of in a back and forth battle about it.
Keep in mind yesterday, we spent the whole day like painting our new place, bringing
things back and forth.
My dog is having a fucking crisis.
And of course, that's stressful because our whole house is upside down with boxes.
And we're slowly kind of getting things ready for our big move on Saturday.
Now, bear has been potty trained since six weeks old.
This boy has never had an inter-accident.
Yeah, he's really good.
He's really good.
We walk in and there's literally pee from one end of my house to the next.
And we were like, what the fuck?
So he's like, not himself.
We go to bed last night.
Now we do sleep with our animals.
I know it might not be for everybody, but that's the way we have our family.
It's not for me.
No, she's, she's well aware.
There have been multiple times where I'm like, do you know the bacteria that dogs have
between their two beans?
Yeah, I can't.
So we go to bed.
Bear is in between my husband and I.
And all the sudden, my husband flies out of bed.
He peed in his sleep, okay?
Which is the dog not not Mike.
Yeah, not Mike, that's, that's a story for another name.
Anyways, thank God I have mattress covers.
I rip off the duvet.
I put a fresh duvet on fresh blankets and then like fuck.
So I wrap him up because at this point, I'm like, I'm not willing to kick him out of
my bed.
He's going through something.
Yeah, yeah, not mad.
I'm just concerned at this point.
Yeah, my wrap him up and made like a little towel diaper three o'clock.
Mike flies out of bed again.
He had started peeing in his sleep again.
But he had like jumped out of bed and ran into the like kitchen and Mike walked
out and my dog just stood there and like peeing.
Yeah.
And like looking at Mike like, oh, no, like a help.
I can't stop like that meme.
I'm in danger.
So we clean that up now.
Oh, God.
Three, change the bedding again.
My husband is beside himself at this point where like he can't come in the bed again.
Like, no, no, no.
So we had to lock our baby out of the bedroom.
Now, let me tell you something about this dog.
Since we've had him, he has slept on mummy.
Like he, I'm his comfort, right?
Yeah.
And I could hear him crying and crying.
Of course.
Oh, my God.
So Mike got up this morning and let me sleep a little bit because I was, I, I'm very
sensitive when it comes to my animals.
So I'm crying last night.
I'm stressed out.
I come out.
He had brought him out three times.
He peed all three times.
He hasn't had an accident since, but we have to take him out hourly.
Yeah, it gets the steroids.
Yeah, moral of the story here is make sure that you've got your groomer because some of
them are shit.
Yes.
And here's the thing we checked reviews.
This groomer is a, is a corporation, a word like, like, I don't, I think it's a Canadian
corporation.
And then my husband goes in with the vet bills and just a PSA, don't try and sell
hundreds of dollars worth of shit to somebody that just spent 800 fucking
double nine hundred dollars, were they really?
They're like, oh, why don't you get him this vest and this weighted blanket and this
and that for comfort, Mike's looking at it.
He's like, the fucking blanket was $200.
The vest was 90.
Oh my God, I can't hear some calm down treats.
You could buy for $20 and Mike's looking at her and he's like, do you think I'm going
to spend another dime on like, and if I do, it's not going to be from you.
Anyways, anyway, that's my rant.
It's our bonus.
So, oh, man, yeah, oh boy.
Well, that really sucks.
And to segue perfectly into our episode today, that sounds like a really like shitty
Monday, doesn't it?
It does.
Oh, wait, are you telling me like someone else have bad luck too?
Well, not bad luck, but days of the week.
Yeah.
What is the worst day of the week for you?
It's Wednesday.
Oh, interesting.
Mine's Tuesday.
Okay.
Wednesday for me is like, we're still going like, and so by Wednesday, I'm like, okay,
now I still have three more days of my other job to do.
Yeah.
So now Sunday is my day off and then Mondays I look forward to because I know that I'm off.
I have the house to myself.
I can get on my bedding, my housework, everything gets done on Mondays, Tuesdays.
No, I would say Tuesdays as well, but for obvious reasons.
And then because I have to drive so many hours and it's yeah, but no Wednesdays,
I always struggle on a Wednesday.
Yeah.
So for me, it's Tuesday because it's like Monday isn't too bad because I'm
getting back until swing of things.
There's a, I usually am pretty busy at work just catching up from the weekend.
Monday, we get to like record our our episode for Tuesday, Tuesday hits.
And everyone's already in a like for my real job.
Everyone's already in a cranky mood because now they're far away from the last
weekend and still far away from the next weekend.
Yeah.
Anyway, we all have days and it's, it's interesting like some, I've heard some people say that
like Sunday is the worst day of the week because they're like dreading.
Yeah, they're dreading going back to work.
But anyway, so we all have days that we don't like, but the story I'm telling you
today takes that to a whole nether level.
Today, we're going to talk about a young girl Brenda and Spencer.
She was born on April 3, 1962.
She was the youngest of three children in a deeply troubled household.
Her parents divorced when she was very young.
And and while divorce alone isn't necessarily like a red flag,
like we, we come from a don't lose families and we're fine.
I mean, it's fine.
What followed really set the tone for the rest of her life.
She stayed with her father, Wallace Spencer, who was by most accounts, not
fucking fit to raise a kid.
He was described, I know, we hear this over and over again.
He was described as reclusive, neglectful.
And in some cases, a right abusive.
Do we know why he had the kids?
I'm going to, well, I don't necessarily know why I can find out what happened,
why he would have the children.
But I'm assuming it had something to do with like the mother being more unfit.
Okay.
But listen, listen to this.
And I got the biggest egg from this.
And I'm just like, he was known to sleep on a mattress in the living room,
the side Brenda, what?
With beer bottles and garbage scattered throughout the house.
Oh, no, this was one of those houses that like didn't really have furniture.
So like picture like a journey mattress on the floor in the living room with like no couch,
no, nothing like it was not.
It was basically a place to keep them out of the elements, but it was not a home.
It was like a roof.
Yeah.
And Brenda was, she was super small, like undernourished, really, really skinny,
not healthy, very pale.
She was described as withdrawn, quiet.
She never made eye contact with anyone.
Those are so many red flags.
I know.
And teachers would say like she's really, really smart, but she's just troubled.
Like she hasn't had a leg up in any way she performed her life.
Uh, I know it's, it's actually really sad.
She didn't smile, didn't make friends.
She, she showed severe signs of depression from a very early age, but again,
it's 1960s.
Yeah.
And they don't have these.
No, and they just slipped through the cracks because it was like, well,
you're, you are being fed occasionally and you have a roof over your head.
So you must be fine.
I hate this.
By the time Brenda reached junior high, things were really spiraling.
Her teacher has noted her growing hostility towards authority.
Oh, she didn't just rebel.
She's simmered and they could see it.
They were watching it unfold.
I was actually thinking about my kid when I was looking at this, not that my
child has, listen, my child comes from the most privileged life.
But you know, she's learned how to deal with anger over the years,
something that I learned as I was reading like book on book on book is when
you really have to worry about these kids is when they stop reacting.
Yeah.
So, you know, if you have a kid who's like flying off the handle, screaming and
yelling, I know it's uncomfortable.
I know it sucks.
But when you have to be really worried is when they stop reacting.
So like something happens that should anger them and they just are like,
all right, that's when you have to worry.
Yeah.
Also, if you hear thunder, I am sitting in a pretty bad thunder storm right now.
So apologies.
Very set mood setting.
I know right, very, very trigger ask.
For whatever reason Brenda had a specific hatred for police and school
officials, we did not like authority at all.
And I now I couldn't find anything to support this thought.
So this is just from what I've read.
I feel like dad must have been abusing her in some way physically.
There must have been it's weird.
Yeah, it's weird.
And that is a common side effect of being abused at home is you have this anger
towards authority because the authority in your own home that is supposed to
protect you is hurting you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I kind of haven't a feeling that's what was going on here.
Upsetting Lee, she began expressing a disturbing fascination with violence and
guns.
Oh, yeah.
So she's not doing great.
If you have a kid who's who's angry all the time, hates authority and all the
sun is like watching shit of a guns and violence, not, not terrible, terrible
recipe.
Yeah.
In 1978, she was referred for psychiatric evaluation after repeatedly
talking about shooting police officers.
A teacher had reported her for drawing violent images and making dark,
threatening comments about wanting to quote unquote do something big.
That's really weird.
Yeah.
And very upsetting.
Now I hats off to the authorities in her life because she did go through a
psychiatric evaluation.
But the, but the evaluation confirmed what everyone feared.
Brenda was suicidal.
She spoke openly about harming herself and others like was not hiding it at all.
And the doctor actually recommended immediate hospitalization in a mental
health facility.
Like he was that concerned.
He's like, no, she's not good.
But her father refused.
Of course he did.
He didn't believe in mental health treatment at all.
He didn't want Brenda.
Yeah, or he's hiding something.
I know there's that too, right?
And this kind of goes with my theory that maybe he was abusing her in one way or
another.
Yeah.
He didn't want Brenda institutionalized at all.
He dismissed the psychiatrist's report as an exaggeration.
He was like, oh, my God, stop being so dramatic.
Yeah.
So get this Christmas rolls around.
Okay.
Brenda asks dad for a radio.
She wants a radio to listen to some tunes, listen to the radio.
You know, like a teenage girl.
That's a great gift.
He did not get her a radio.
What did he get her?
He gave her a Ruger 1022 semi automatic caliber rifle.
No, complete with a scope and 500 rounds of ammunition.
Merry Christmas.
This is crazy.
So a suicidal 16 year old girl, you've been told by doctors.
She probably needs to be in the hospital for quite a while.
You buy her again.
Not just a gun, a 22 caliber rifle like this is with a scope.
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This is like a high powered.
We're not fucking with this.
This is crazy.
Now, of course, Brenda is 16.
She's been through all this psychiatric evaluation that year.
She receives a gun for Christmas and she said later that that was a clear
indication her father wanted her to kill herself.
Because, of course, it was of course, of course, that's what you put together in
her head, but also it does seem like he's almost taunting her.
It's very weird.
Like, that is a very much like do it.
Like dare you, you know, like fuck.
Anyway, it was a Monday, January 29th, 1979.
Brenda didn't go to school that day.
She was in her pajamas, chilling around the house, the dirty house.
Like, this was not when I was first reading it.
I was like, Oh, yeah, I remember doing that.
And then I was like, Oh, that we did not have the same experience.
We didn't have the same experience.
She looked out the window of our house at 635O Lake Atlin Avenue,
which was a single story home directly across the street from Cleveland elementary
school. Now, Oh, no.
Cleveland Elementary School.
This confused me so much while I was researching this is not in Cleveland.
It's in San Diego, California.
Huh?
So it's called Cleveland elementary school, but it's actually in California.
Okay.
So we're vibing with it.
We're going to the bell rang.
Kids began gathering in the school yard to go inside, laughing, playing,
and then shots rang out.
No shit.
Brenda aimed the rifle through the window and began just firing into the crowd
of children and staff from her living room,
which gave her a clear view of the school entrance and playground.
This is crazy.
I know.
She hit the school's principal first, Burton Ragh, who had rushed outside to help
students.
Oh, known as I know known as Bert, those who loved him.
Ragh was not just a school administrator.
He was a former Marine like this was a badass.
Yeah, a man with a commanding presence, but a gentle heart.
He had dedicated most of his life to education and public service.
And those who worked with him, described him as calm, patient, and deeply
committed to the safety and well-being of the students under his care.
And he just has the sweetest face.
Like maybe when I release this episode, I will, I'll, I'll share pictures of him.
Yeah, because you know, when you just look in someone's eyes and you're like,
you just feel the kind, yeah, yeah, like the perfect principal, exactly the
type of principal you want at school.
Yeah.
So when the shooting began that morning, Burton didn't hesitate.
He ran out into the crowd of kids, trying to save them.
Oh,
children were screaming and scattering for cover and Ragh, seeing the unfolding
horror just ran outside.
Like he, he wanted to bring as many kids in as possible.
He was trying to post students to safety when he was shot.
Oh my gosh.
Witnesses said that he had already helped several kids off the playground
before being fatally struck by Brenda's rifle.
This is crazy.
I know.
He died on the pavement in front of his school, doing everything in his
power to shield the children.
His actions were nothing short of heroic, but he died at the scene.
Now, when custodian Mike, Mike Sucker saw his friend and colleague take the
fatal shot, he ran out to help him.
Oh God.
Mike had worked at Cleveland Elementary for many years.
He was originally from Pennsylvania and it made his way to California and
search for a better life for his family.
He had a wife and kids who adored him.
He was the kind of man who remembered kids' names and would ask them like,
how was your weekend?
He'd slip quarters to students who'd forgotten their lunch money.
Like he was just an all around good person.
Oh,
so Mike made it to Bert's side.
Brenda aimed and shot him and killed him instantly.
His body fell on top of Bert's.
This is crazy.
Like crazy.
I know.
Okay.
She shot eight children and wounded a police officer.
Holy fuck.
For 20 whole minutes, she calmly fired round after round after round into the
school yard for 20 minutes.
I think 20 minutes and I think, oh, that's nothing, right?
Like it's passes really quickly.
It is so long.
It's so long if you can, if you can picture this person just firing nonstop for 20
minutes because remember, Daddy got her 500 rounds of ammunition.
Like she's not running out of ammo.
I'm like not remorseful.
Just, oh, no, she, she was just in her glory.
Just doing her thing.
This is crazy.
When the police arrived, she barricaded herself in her home.
So right away, they knew where the shots were coming from, obviously.
Oh, yeah.
Like it was such close range that her house was directly across from the school.
It was such close range.
She barricaded herself in her home and the standoff lasted over six hours.
Like because it was terrifying.
Like she and she was shooting at police officers.
Like she wounded one of them.
This is wild.
She is 16 years old.
No.
Like a child.
Yeah.
So later, there was a reporter.
So like once she was brought in and everything, there was a reporter who asked her like,
Brenda, why did you do it?
And she calmly said, I don't like Mondays.
Oh, shut up.
Yeah.
Okay.
Now, she actually said, I don't like Mondays.
This live ends up the day.
What the fuck shenthal?
Right.
Live ends up the day.
Like cold emotionless, master's flippant people and children, children, children.
Obviously the phrase I don't like Mondays caught fire in the media and was like printed all over the world
because people were just in shock that the 16 year old was like, I hate Mondays.
And so I thought, you know, why not make it exciting?
Oh, I thought.
In fact, in 1979, school shootings were so rare that the term school shooter didn't even exist in our public vocabulary.
Like it wasn't a thing.
Say like, we hear about it more now, like nowadays, but like, this is well before it's time.
This was like one of the first, like people weren't shooting up schools in the 70s.
No.
So the boomtown rats and Irish rock band, front of by Bob Geldoff,
wrote a song inspired by Brenda's chilling quote because of course he did.
Of course.
So it's called, I don't like Mondays.
Oh, and the song top charts in the UK and became an anthem of dark irony for ever linking Brenda's words with one of the most
senseless acts of violence in California's history.
Now I'm all about creative freedom.
Yeah.
And the song is catchy.
I don't hate it.
I like it.
Yeah.
Obviously the song was banned on many US radio stations because can you imagine?
Your baby was murdered.
Well, none of the none of the children died only bird and my side, but, but can you imagine being bird's wife?
You're driving around with your kids a year after he's been brutally murdered by a 16 year old at school.
No, no.
And this fucking song comes on.
And this song comes on about like, what are you fucking?
No, no.
How awful.
I'd have like, I'd have a lawsuit.
I don't know.
Absolutely.
Like, I cannot even imagine.
And at top the UK now, the UK was just like, oh, yeah, cool.
I mean, the UK also produced like songs like, what's that you two song about Bloody Sunday?
You know, like they're, this is their, this is their vibe.
That's how they deal with shit.
And we support that.
And I like, I like a shock rock.
I do.
I like, and not only that, but, and I
find a lot of UK bands, it's a way of commemorating what happened in history.
Like, Bloody Sunday needs to be remembered.
Like, there's a reason that there was a song written about it.
But also there are other, like, there are so many songs, you know, that talk about
school and Manson had one.
And then there's that song.
Absolutely.
All the other kids with the pumped up kids, you better run, better run.
Yeah, run my gun.
And that, my kids would be singing that in the back seat, because it's like, it's an
upbeat rock.
And you're like, what did he just say?
You start hearing the lyrics and you're like, wait, what?
I know, I know the stats coming out of the US on school shootings is staggering.
It really is.
But at this time, we have to remember like, this was so rare.
Like, this was, it was not what it is today.
Like, not that we, you know, every time I hear about a school shooting, it breaks me.
Because I just, I cannot imagine.
Well, you're sending your kids somewhere, thinking that they're safe, everything is great.
And let me tell you, come at my fucking kids.
I know, I know.
And I feel like every parent that's ever had to experience that horrific call feels the
same way.
I don't know that I would send my kids back.
Like if they were like, no, well, how do you, like, how do you, I know, it's awful,
awful, awful, awful.
So Brenda was obviously arrested.
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During her trial, she was charged as an adult, which no shit.
She pled guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
She was sentenced to 25 years to life.
May I ask a question?
Yeah.
Was her dad held accountable?
Your kid was deemed unstable.
You don't have a healthy at home.
You bought her a gun after she's talking about wanting to fucking kill people.
Like, hello, it doesn't sound like he was held accountable at all.
Like, I mean, so during the court proceedings, they, the jury did hear about her
life, about the neglect, the mental illness, the warning signs, all that.
But it was at a time, you know, again, I know time where it was, you know,
you shouldn't have done that.
You knew better.
Yeah, I, this, this one kind of fucks with me a little and I'll tell you why.
Yeah, tell me because, okay, she was deemed not sane.
She was, was to be hospitalized.
She was given no support and then gone.
Okay.
So, you know, if let's just hypothetically say you start showing signs of man,
like being manic or whatever and you're like, yeah, I have fantasies about killing
my family with a knife and I drive to your house and hand you a knife.
And I'm like, well, toodaloo, have a great day.
Like, hello.
Yeah, yeah, right exactly.
It's so insane.
And I sitting back here in 2025, absolutely put so much blame on her father.
Yeah.
So much blame now, do I think she deserved to be incarcerated?
100% this is not a person.
This person took lives.
This person had intent.
This person was not remorseful.
And so this person needs to be never, I would you get.
Yeah, I agree.
Had they followed through and admitted her to a psych ward and God or the support she
needed, was this an avoidable situation altogether?
Absolutely.
This was, that was a full on choice.
Now, now, it was so interesting researching this because I went back and
for a thumb where I stood with Brenda so much.
Because during a psychiatric evaluation of prison, Brenda was diagnosed with
epilepsy, depression and brain damage from an earlier bike accident.
Okay.
Okay.
And at one point, we're going to go through a whole bunch of like I'm going to do
series of episodes on how brain damage and accidents or like in sports is
linked to murder and went to violent tendencies.
We've seen it.
We've seen it with absolutely with the football player who killed.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
There's so many.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that I was like, oh, fuck, like, why is she able to stop this?
But then at the same time, she's never expressed remorse about this at all.
Okay.
And that to me, I'm like, no, because she's obviously in prison, God, and
help for her epilepsy, gotten help for her brain damage, gotten help for all
this shit.
And if you are still standing there being like, whatever, I did it because I
wanted to do it.
Fuck you.
Yeah.
Fuck you.
Fuck you.
But also like, you have to think too.
Obviously, okay.
And I'm just like, I don't know her diagnosis.
I'm not a doctor.
Just putting that out there.
But obviously there is some psychopathy there.
Yes.
Big time.
Like after you are in a prison isn't a walk in the park, but it was
probably safer than dads, you know, so after you're in a safe environment
and you're getting the treatment you need and you're getting the psychiatric help
you need.
If you are still standing your ground and saying, well, no, it's, you know,
I don't give a fuck that I did that.
Fuck you.
Yeah.
Right.
I don't care.
No.
100%.
Now is she still incarcerated as of right now?
Yes.
Yeah.
She remains incarcerated at the California institution for women in
Chino.
Oh, she must have old as fuck.
She's 63 years old.
So I mean, at this point, one of the things that I do believe is that at 63
years old, just fucking lever there.
Like, oh, she has to stay in there.
Yeah, yeah.
She's not good.
No, like, and they, and she knows if you're 63 years old and you're still
saying whatever.
Yeah.
Fuck you.
Right.
I don't care.
Goodbye.
She actually, yeah, yeah, she did, you know, she did say during one of her parole
hearings, she said, I don't deserve her role.
She said, I knew if I said I was sorry, people who think I was trying to get
out.
And honestly, like we were just saying, she's been there since she's 16.
She doesn't want to get out.
What a scary world to be released into.
She was absolutely, she was lost out in the 70s.
All she knew was abuse and no love.
Imagine how scary the world would be.
No, no.
So I think it kind of sounds like she doesn't want to get out.
She wants to stay in which, please, please do, please stay.
It's fine.
So after the shooting Cleveland Elementary School installed a high chain link
fence, but the scars remained, obviously.
Children who witnessed the shooting reported years and years of trauma,
nightmares, PTSD, some never returned to public school.
And there was actually quite a bit of students that grew up and never spoke
about it.
Like you'll ask them about it.
Like, oh, my God, you were a Cleveland Elementary.
And they're just like, I don't want to talk about it.
Yeah, well, yeah, because because how do you process that?
You don't, you don't as a child.
And really these, these kids were babies when all this happened, you know, they're
little, yeah, you're bringing camp, you can't process it.
It's fucking crazy.
I can't process it.
I know.
Now, okay, you know, you and I always talk about like the woo, woo in the weird.
Yeah.
In 1989, 10 years later, another Cleveland Elementary School, this one in
Stockton, California, what is with this name?
I know.
Okay, became the site of yet another school shooting.
And five children were killed and 30 wounded by a gunman within a salt rifle.
Huh?
Same name.
Weird.
I know.
So the name Cleveland Elementary became like synonymous school violence.
It's crazy.
Like a curse on the name.
Like, let's change the name.
It doesn't make sense.
Anyways, we're on Cleveland.
Yeah.
Right?
Brunei and Spencer's act was wasn't just shocking.
It was kind of prophetic in the worst way possible.
It was a blueprint, whether she meant it to be or not, a female shooter, a team,
a child targeting children, like it was bad.
Yeah.
And that's probably what's most here for it,
fighting about this story is just how preventable it was.
Like 100% all the red flags were flagging and nobody did anything.
Her father excused them, didn't give a fuck.
That's the story of Cleveland, the Cleveland.
I, why can't I say Cleveland?
Come on, Cleveland.
Elementary school shooting in California in San Diego.
Crazy.
It's crazy.
Okay, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Not just texted me and said Cleveland was a president.
That's why these schools are named.
We're sitting here going, what the fuck?
That's so stupid.
It would be like John A. McDonald.
And we'd be like, that makes sense.
Okay, Cleveland was a president.
Thank you, Matthew.
Remaking us look less stupid on a daily basis.
He's probably sitting down there laughing at us.
So Matt spent his summers in the US.
He's got siblings and parents in the United States in Ohio.
And I have only been out of Canada into the US once in my entire life.
And it was last summer where I went to Cleveland.
And so I know literally nothing about US history or anything other than
other than the story that shall not be named because I don't want to piss off
any of our US listeners when, when Canada burnt down the White House.
Oops.
But yeah, sorry, other than that, other than that, I don't, I don't know
US history.
I didn't even know Canada burnt down the fucking White House.
You didn't know that.
Oh, you gotta look into that story.
Yeah, I will.
You gotta look into that story.
Yeah, so I'm sorry, United States.
We love you so flip in much.
I just don't know anything.
So, oh, and some of you have been commenting on our episodes and helping
you with things that I don't know about your country.
Keep doing that.
I love it.
I love it.
Like, and remember, we are in Canada.
We are censored up being it.
We don't find things out.
We're not allowed.
Guys, we're not allowed.
Literally, sometimes I Google things, especially for some of these cases.
I Google things and at the bottom of the page, it will literally say,
actually, I'm going to bring it up.
Sorry, I really want people to know this.
We're like, Gilead over here at this point.
If you know, you know.
So guys, sometimes when I'm looking for information in Canada,
with my Canada VPN, looking for information about some of these cases,
I will only got like half a page.
And then at the bottom, it literally says,
some results may have been delisted, consistent with local laws.
Yeah.
Like that's what we're dealing with here.
So please, sure.
Tell me about the world.
Yeah.
I want to know help us.
No, honestly, like, there's been a couple, there's a couple Facebook groups
that I follow and for some of our episodes.
I will post in there and be like, hi, everyone.
I'm in Canada and can't look anything up.
Can someone see if you can find a photo of whatever and send it to me?
Mike has a US VPN.
Nice.
And so sometimes I use his phone because I have no way.
There's no, I'm just like, how are we going to run a true crime podcast
when I can't look anything up?
Anyway, here we are.
Here we are.
Well, that's the story.
And I feel so deeply for Mike's family and for Bert Rags family.
And I hope that you were able to heal and find peace over the years.
And know that your beautiful family members, these two great men died for a reason.
I'm saying it was senseless, but they saved babies.
They did.
Like, honestly, Bert, it sounds like Bert helped quite a few kids to like,
at least get in the door before he was shot.
And I love that.
Yeah, absolutely 100% American heroes.
Yeah.
So that is that good luck with your day.
I hope that the universe stops shitting on you just for a bit.
Just, just, I just need like a good solid week.
Like, can we do that?
That would be really cool.
Yeah, no kidding.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you so much for subscribing.
We love you.
Thank you.
And we'll see you on Tuesday.
Bye.
Bye.
Thanks for joining us on Triggered, where we dive deep into the dark,
the twisted and the cosmic mysteries of the universe.
Until next time, stay curious, stay cautious.
Always watch the stars and your back.
As the news has been getting you down, I'm Megan McCartle, and I'm here to help.
I'm the host of a news show from Washington Post Opinion called reasonably optimistic,
and it's an antidote to the pessimism that's riddling America right now.
Every Wednesday, I'm going to talk to people who see a path forward.
It does seem to me that there is some awakening of a desire to act together to solve problems
where they are.
I am a believer in America, and it's worth fighting for.
Join me Wednesdays on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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