The Stockton schoolyard shooting occurred on January 17, 1989, at Cleveland Elementary School at 20 East Fulton Street in Stockton, California, United States. The gunman, Patrick Purdy, who had a long criminal history, shot and killed five schoolchildren and wounded 32 others before committing suicide. His victims were predominantly Southeast Asian refugees.The shootingOn the morning of January 17, 1989, an anonymous person phoned the Stockton Police Department regarding a death threat against Cleveland Elementary School. At noon that day, Patrick Purdy, a disturbed drifter and former Stockton resident, began his attack by setting his fireworks-laden Chevrolet Van on fire with a Molotov cocktail after parking it behind the school, later causing the van to explode. He went to the school playground, where he began firing with a semi-automatic rifle from behind a portable building. Purdy fired 106 rounds in three minutes, killing five children and wounding thirty others, including one teacher.All of those who died and many of the wounded were Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants, who had come with families to the United States as refugees. Purdy committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a pistol. Purdy had carved the words "freedom", "victory", "Earthman", and "Hezbollah" on his rifle, and his flak jacket was inscribed with "PLO", "Libya", and "death to the Great Satin".
