On the morning of February 2, 1996, 49-year-old algebra teacher Leona Caires was shot and killed in her fifth-period classroom at Frontier Junior High School in Moses Lake, Washington. The school day had been delayed two hours because of cold weather, and a 14-year-old student, Barry Loukaitis, arrived armed with a rifle and two handguns taken from his father’s collection. After he opened fire, classmate Manuel Vela Jr. was shot first; another 14-year-old student, Arnie Fritz, was also killed and a 13-year-old girl, Natalie Hintz, was wounded. Caires fell after being shot in the back, still holding a piece of chalk and an eraser.

After the shooting Loukaitis held classmates hostage until teacher Jon Lane entered, disarmed and subdued him and detained him until police arrived. Dozens of rifle casings were recovered on the classroom floor. Loukaitis was tried as an adult; a jury rejected an insanity defense and in 1997 convicted him of multiple counts including first- and second-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated kidnapping. His original sentence was two life terms plus 205 years without parole; that sentence was later revised to 189 years in 2017.

Are there readers who remember Leona Caires at Frontier Junior High or who can add details about that day?