Mark Junge: But all of these holes were above the level of the children. COKEVILLE, Wyo. The miraculous events that followed have changed many people foreverespecially survivor Amy Bagaso Williams. David's youngest daughter from his first marriage, Princess, entered the elementary school with David and Doris, but refused to carry out the plan, leaving to report the incident at the town hall. We figured that he had dropped down on his knee, took his pistol and shot her to put her out of her misery, because when we went out and looked at her, there was a hole up through the bottom of her chin, and it came out the top of her head. 25 years after school bombing, Wyoming town remembers story of survival And they had practiced how to get out of that building. They learned to trust in their God, the kids were healed for the most part, and they value life more now. I believe a presence was entering the room at about that time. Mark Junge: No? You can check out [CokevilleMiracle.com] (http://www.cokevillemiracle.com/movie.html). And my children. Students, teachers, visitors, staff who survived the ordeal and bystanders began recounting their memories of this event as it was still unfolding. Mark Junge: Today is the 23rd of September, 2010. I did see the lighting had changed in the room, and it was right in the same timeline as everyone else's witness. I guess I should say I am only speaking as a child, the adults were probably tense the entire time! Mark Junge: Do you think you were cut out to do this job? The basket, the shelves. [10][2][3] The injured were triaged to several area hospitals in Wyoming and Idaho.[2][3][11]. Rich Haskell: Oh my goodness! They're the ones that died from the whole thing. ", Mark Junge: So it took you three days, three and a half days. She tied the string around her wrist. And if I had been a little less of a jokester I may have seen something in that strange light. David emerged from the bathroom to find his wife in excruciating pain. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News. Doris accidently triggered the bomb by motioning to her hostages with her arms. May 16, 1986, will never be forgotten by the residents of Cokeville, Wyo. Others miracles were reported and some of those are recorded in this compilation.." Parentheses ( ) are used for incidental non-verbal sounds, like laughter. Carbon County School District No. And I think that these people actually thought that they could start another world. The Hartley story didn't come out publicly until my parents (who wrote the book in the year after the bombing) began asking questions about this kind of thing. This is actually the first time I have heard of this. Also, what do you want us to know about it that isn't covered in the film? The timelines of some events are fuzzy Its hard to nail down what stands out the most, there were a LOT of crazy things I'd never seen before then, or since really. Hi MadreDeUnMono! The windows had been knocked outhad been blown out. Cokeville Trying to Rebuild A Normal and Secure Life.. The story was also featured on Unsolved Mysteries, Unexplained Mysteries, and I Survived A movie about the incident, The Cokeville Miracle, was made by filmmaker T. C. Christensen and released on June 5, 2015. The town has worked to be as respectful as possible to the multitude of experiences that day. I wondered what that was, but then immediately noticed my friends over by the door talking to Doris. President Hinkley, President Monson, and President Faust. Mark Junge: And that's the lesson we learn. SHARE Cokeville recollects 'miracle' of 1986. Mark Junge: And the explosion went straight up? Following the explosion, 79 children were taken to area hospitals, most of which were located more than an hours drive from Cokeville, for treatment for burns and smoke inhalation. You have to think about what you're doing right at that particular time so you can stay focused on what you have to deal with. For more information about our sponsors and the people behind WyoHistory.org, visit our About Us page: Hostage crisis at the elementary school in Cokeville, Wyo. Contact us at editor@wyohistory.org for information on levels and types of available sponsorships. And he didn't even ask me if I wanted to do that. Yeah, we didn't get a lot of sleep. He was so open to their input, and feelings. Mark Junge: Well, you've been blessed in a lot of ways. All the kids were saved. The Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis occurred on May 16, 1986, in Cokeville, Wyoming, United States, when former town marshal David Young 44, and his wife Doris Young 47, took 136 children and 18 adults hostage at Cokeville Elementary School . 2 Recreation Board, Indigenous People in Wyoming and the West, Emergency Management Coordinator Kathy Davison on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, EMT Glenna Walker, Mother of Three Young Children, on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Lead Investigator Ron Hartley, Father of Four Student Survivors, on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Public Works Director and Fireman Kevin Walker, Father of Three Young Children, on the 1986 bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Secretary Tina Cook on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, First grade teacher Janel Dayton on the 1986 bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Second grade teacher Carol Petersen on the 1986 bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Third grade student Rachel Walker Hollibaugh on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Third grade student Jamie Buckley King on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Fourth grade teacher Kliss Sparks on the 1986 bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Fourth grade student LeaKae Roberts on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School, Green River Historic Preservation Commission, Natrona County Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Natrona County Recreation Joint Powers Board, Sublette County Historical Preservation Board, University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources, Casper Chapter, Wyoming Archaeological Society, June Frison chapter, Wyoming Archeological Society. There's a piece of wood in there that separates the jaws of a clothespin and in that clothespin there are two metal connections that the wires were hooked to which made the electrical connection with the bomb. The Cokeville Miracle - The American Tragedy That Never Happened Young was a former Cokeville town marshal who had been living in Arizona for several years. Cokeville survivors relive school bombing for film He did deliver our salvation that day. SHARE Cokeville miracle marking 25 years. Reporters from all the regional news outlets were on the scene by the time of the explosion or shortly thereafter. The Power of Faith: 25 Years After School Bombing, Town Remembers Story of Survival., Mitchell, Ruth Ann. We know for a fact that he had tried that device because he did it in Arizona and totally destroyed a school bus. Rich Haskell: I don't know. It'sI'm still doing that kind of thing because whenever they hold General Conference in Salt Lake City I go to Salt Lake City to be part of the bomb team for the church while they have General Conference. I remember watching that when I was a younger kid, and when they were interviewing the witnesses, I remember several of them referencing "Heavenly Father " instead of "God," and I knew immediately they were LDS. I was still trying to make sense of it all! Accessed May 17, 2013, at, Wyoming Horror: A Fiery Schoolhouse Bomb., A 1986 Hostage Event at a Cokeville, Wyoming Elementary School., Jarvik, Elaine. Sue Castaneda: Did you look at (unintelligible). Sue Castaneda: Carla said that some people were mad that we were there. Read more Immediately following the detonation, the teachers started to shove children into the hallway, and through two open windows onto the grass outside the school, causing chaos as panicked parents tried to break through police lines. When I walked inside of the classroomit was a kindergarten classroom which meant that the desks were smaller, everything was smaller because of the smaller children. Family is the most important thing in a Mormon family. Recording and transcription by Wyoming State Archives. Journal entries also indicate that he saw opportunity in the close-knit community; he wrote, "Threaten one and all are at your mercy." The Cokeville Elementary School was the site of a horrific hostage situation on May 16, 1986 when David and Dorris Young took a homemade bomb inside the school. Unexplained Mysteries: Angel Files. Season 1, Episode 20. For instance, The Cokeville Miracle Foundations 2005 book Witness to Miracles: Remembering the Cokeville Elementary School Bombing and the Wyoming State Archives oral history project called Survivor is My Name both focused on the reconstructing of this narrative as a miracle instead of a tragedy. Whenever they would come to Wyoming I would be part of their security team. No, not at all. Mark Junge: Did you help bring the body out? David set himself near the center of the room with the grocery cart bomb nearby, as Doris went from room to room rounding up people. Well, he had put wooden shelves for layers. Wyoming Town Still Healing a Year After School Bombing., Schoolhouse Blast Still Felt a Year Later., Survivor is My Name: Cokeville Elementary School Bombing1986 News Report Audio. Audio Recording. The subsequent police report states that David opened the door from the connecting bathroom, shot his injured wife in the head and killed her,[9] shot and wounded John Miller, a music teacher who was trying to flee, then closed the bathroom door and killed himself with a shot from a .45 pistol to the head. I had just cracked a little joke with a toy tank of legos as I drove it "across the death line" or the masking tape square on the floor. Witnesses later testified that just before the explosion David Young had connected the explosive to his wife. Rich Haskell: Not really that often, but every time I think about it I get very emotional. I mean, Columbine, it wasn't that way. Kind of a synopsis of what they were going to do and what their plans were and the whole thing. They forget about what happened in Cokeville with a lot more people and the potential of what was there. Personally I gave him 17 pages of journal notes! According to survivor accounts, Doris enticed many into the first grade room by announcing that their presence was required for a school assembly. Then he went to the restroom, which was attached to the classroom. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Oral histories, memoirs and drawings began to reveal a narrative of fortune rather than misfortune. David returned to the restroom and killed himself, ending the hostage crisis. Of what you would picture an angel, with the wings and, Mark Junge: Well, if I'm a skeptic, I could say, "Well, that's just the way the flames shot up.". People who had guns! In a May 16, 1986 photo, the body of Doris Young is removed by officials after the Cokeville Elementary hostage situation in Cokeville, Wyo. Had a small pin-hole leak in it and it dripped into both containers and they both became paste. I said, "What on earth happened there?" Cokeville Recollects Miracle of 1986: Hostage Survivors, Town Residents Compile Book, ________. You can also read about it on [Wikipedia] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cokeville_Elementary_School_hostage_crisis). Cokeville Public Library. I cannot explain it! Amy Bagaso Williams with her husband and four children. The bomb did detonate and fire, thick black smoke and toxi fumes filled the room. I mean, we're talking about from kindergarten kids up to 10-, 11-, 12-years old. Dr. Clark is the faculty advisor of the Sweet Memories: Research Group at Western. Details: At 1:20pm on Friday, May 16, 1986, forty-three-year-old David Young and his forty-seven-year-old wife, Doris, wheeled a shopping cart containing a homemade gasoline-filled bomb into Cokeville Elementary School in Cokeville, Wyoming, just after the lunch hour recess. What is the LDS population of the town and how big was your school? Two Powell residents, Lenita Moore (a science teacher at Powell High School) and John Miller (a longtime choir director at Powell High School who retired in 2020), remember being in Cokeville during the bombing. You can't think, well, maybe something could happen, because yes it could. Couple in School Blast Linked to Extremist Group The jug of gasoline had a pinhole-sized leak on its bottom. Accessed May 28, 2013 at. In the meantime, David and Doris Young gathered children, teachers, staff and visitors in the elementary school into one central location. I went from within two feet of the bomb to right near the door within ten minutes before the bomb went off. [2] Before leaving the room, David attached the bomb's detonation device to his wife's wrist. And screaming, I can't imagine the screams that she was making. As I sat there and watched him, I could feel he was becoming agitated. She was a total torch! His fever broke within minutes of getting it off his chest. You know their names but not their birthdays. You could walk across the street and get run over as far as that's concerned, but I don't know if my wife has any more gray hairs because I've chosen this profession. Cokeville Children Held Hostage by Bomber., Cokeville Elementary School Bombing: 25-Years Later. Accessed May 17, 2013, at, Fagg, Ellen. How did it affect your family long-term? Rich Haskell: Yeah, I think I did. The Youngs both died that day. So I went to Huntsville, Ala., to Redstone Arsenal. Just before implementing the Biggie, David Young had also sent a copy of the document to President Ronald Reagan, the president of Chadron State College and numerous media outlets. Only the man and his wife, who accidentally detonated the bomb, died that day in 1986. Mark Junge: Okay. Well, when I arrived and saw that body layin' on the front lawn, I was told that was Doris. But shortly after entering the school, Princess decided to rebel. But we knew what our story was, and that it could help offer hope. I've got a couple of questions. And you could see that she had been burning by just looking at her out on the front lawn. 'Amityville Horror' killer dies in prison at 69 - NBC News Both hostage takers died, while 79 hostages were wounded. Because in the bus, everything was solid in the school bus. In what many have since labeled a miracle, all of the 154 children and educators held hostage for three hours at their Cokeville, Wyoming, school lived, though many were injured. Rich Haskell: Were above the level of the kids, yeah. So timelines and characters may be switched up, but the overall spirit of it and the facts are laid out true to witness testimonies. Upon entering the classroom, children saw an arsenal of weapons, a grocery cart and an unfamiliar manDavid Young. But it didn't. He knew it was a predominantly Mormon [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] community. By Jamie Armstrong May 22, 2015 09:35 AM MDT. Rich Haskell: Yep. Seven people in the Chicago area died after ingesting Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide. On May 16, 1986, David and Doris Young entered Cokeville Elementary School with a gasoline bomb, a variety of rifles and handguns, David's philosophical writings and demands for $300 million in ransom. (before I see Hollywood's version). And I'm sure that that made him very nervous. Now this is just for my own information and it doesn't have anything to do with this case, but whenever I read about a bomb threat in the paper, I think to myself, "Oh, no! There was no give in the school bus. Some of the children just sat right all around and just watched him. I can't explain it. For me, what has impressed me about the film is not necessarily the story of Angels (which are remarkable), but that the majority of the 154 hostages chose to see God's hand in their lives that day. The two brought in a bomb attached to themselves with a lanyard.
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