On January 19, 2010, 16-year-old Ronald Bo Scruggs was among eight people killed in a mass shooting in rural Appomattox, Virginia. Scruggs, a junior at Appomattox County High School, was at a friend’s home when the violence began at the residence shared by 39-year-old Christopher Bryan Speight and his sister.

Speight systematically shot several members of his sister’s household and others who had come to the home, including Scruggs and 15-year-old Emily Quarles. A man was also found fatally wounded in the road outside. Speight fled into nearby woods, fired at a police helicopter during the search, and surrendered after an 18-hour standoff; multiple explosive devices were later found inside his home. Reports say Speight claimed an Egyptian goddess instructed him to commit the killings.