On this day 14 years ago, Michael Carneal walked into Heath High School and fired on a student prayer group. Equipped with two .22 caliber weapons and a 12 gauge shotgun, he killed three and wounded five before expending his ammunition. According to witnesses, he dropped all of his weapons and surrendered to the principal before police arrived. Carneal was ruled mentally ill, but sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole after 25 years.
Heath High School was the first widely publicized incident of the 90s, and set off a wave of similar incidents. Each time, the body count got higher, but no one suggested training the students to protect themselves. Author Stephen King was horrified to discover that Carneal had a copy of his novel Rage in his locker, which was a blueprint on how to commit a successful school shooting in a fictitious scenario. He immediately requested that the book be taken out of print, for fear that it would inspire similar incidents.