[113] Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, St. Louis, Missouri

We have an active shooter. We have an actor shoot. It's go ahead of me, Claire. That's a mass casualty Welcome to Active Shooter, a podcast that covers the whys, the hows, and the aftermath of active shooter and mass casualty events. I have an active shooter in the building. A checking call says they are big attacks. We got chush fire at four fifteen ASL broaching ninety one. So I'm like, oh, I'm at a fire on active shooter. It's of an active shooter, active shooter, active shooter

of mass casualty incidents. Thank you for listening. You are listening to Active Shooter, a podcast that may contain adult themes, explicit language, and graphic depictions of violence. Portions of this show may be traumatic for those under eighteen. Listener discretion is advised. We are continuing to follow breaking news for you. Saint Louis Police say two people are dead now as well as the suspect, and several more people have been injured after a shooting at Central Visual and

Performing Arts High School this morning. Police say officers responded and stopped the shooter quickly, who has not been identified. Police say they believe the suspect was about twenty years old and acted alone, and that there are no additional threats at this time. Still, the bomb squad is they are checking out the suspect's vehicle. The shooting at the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School was

as shocking to the community as it was vicious. However, the family of the shooter was concerned about behaviors he exhibited enough that they started to pay close attention and offered to help. When they couldn't handle it on their own, they sought professional assistants, and when the behavior escalated, they asked for police

intervention. Despite their obvious distress and attempts to help their child, they ended up powerless to halt the disturbing violence that would be inflicted upon so many unsuspecting students, teachers, and their families. The shooter wasn't silent about his plans, announcing in vague phrases in a private online community just what he meant to do. Unfortunately, despite all efforts to intercede, this highly troubled individual was

able to carry out his destructive plans, which devastated the entire community. Today's case is dedicated to the lives and memories of the seven injured survivors and the two deceased victims, Alexandria nevach Bel and Jean Kuska. Active Shooter the podcast is a High five Holly production, and I'm your host JT. If you've listened to our prior episodes, you know that the Active Shooter podcast team has taken the no notoriety pledge and we will not be sharing the real name of

the shooters that we cover. We will be giving the shooters a pseudonym and refer to them by that name throughout the episode. This will help in clearing up any confusion in the story while remaining true to our pledge and not naming the shooter by their actual name. We will refer to today's shooter as Carl. The Central Visual in Performing Arts High School, also known as CVPA, is located at thirty one to twenty five South King's Highway in Saint Louis,

Missouri. The school is a long established institution of learning, which, according to the school's website quote, fosters independent thinking in a creative and challenging environment, provides a diversified curriculum and environment, and prepares bright and talented artists for high education and opportunities in life. The school has a population of approximately three hundred and eighty six students across grades nine through twelve and belongs to the Saint

Louis Public Schools District. The CVPA is a magnet school, which is essentially a school of choice that focuses on distinct fields of study such as performing arts, languages and stem or science, technology, engineering, and math. There is another magnet school called the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, which shares the same building as the CVPA school. Monday, October twenty fourth, twenty twenty two, looked like any other fall day in Saint Louis. The weather

was warm, although the day was mostly overcast with extensive cloud cover. It was already seventy degrees by nine a m. When students were sitting in class, wholly unaware of the evil that lurked just outside the very building in which they sat. Despite the frequency of school shootings, most students still feel a small measure of safety tucked inside the classroom of their school, especially when there

are security measures taken such as metal detectors and security guards. Nineteen year old Carl wasn't deterred by things such as that he was ready to commit unspeakable acts and wasn't about to be stopped by a metal detector or a guard. He drove a blue twenty twelve Dodge of Enger to the school, parked close to the building, and made his way towards a side entrance that was unoccupied by

a security guard. The door was locked, but Carl just shot out the glass door and walked through the broken glass and headed up to the third floor, carrying a Palmeadow State Armory AR fifteen style semi automatic rifle, twelve thirty round magazines, and over six hundred rounds of ammunition. Carl was dressed in black from head to toe and wore a field bag and a self described quote

chest rig. He dumped magazines throughout the school as he stalked the hallways, shooting up and down the third floor with abandon Inside the third floor hallway, fifteen year old Alexandria Alex nave Bell was shot and killed. The tenth grader was born on November eighteenth, two thousand and six, and was a dancer to her corps, a member of the junior varsity dance team, the Saint Louis Dazzling diamonds. Alex was a mere weeks away from her sixteenth birthday,

a milestone that the funny young woman was so looking forward to. In fact, Alex was planning to spend her birthday in Los Angeles, a trip she should have been able to enjoy. Instead, she will be mourned by her friends and family as she dances in heaven. The first nine to one to one call was placed at nine to eleven am. The caller shouted that there was an active shooter at the CVPA school and police were needed. Me and my friend like we were like hiding in the corner and people were looking at

us like we were being overly dramatic. And then we heard the gunshots and we were all like piled up on top of each other, and the boy in front of me got shot. I am pretty sure he's still okay. But after the shooter left, like I made eye contact with him, and I thought at that moment, like this is it. My life flashed before my eyes. Meanwhile, teacher Jeane Kuska was desperately trying to protect her students when she was suddenly shot. She was later found inside of her classroom and

was rushed to the hospital, where she eventually succumbed to her injuries. Sixty one year old Jean was born on March seventh, nineteen sixty one. As a young woman, Jean taught swimming lessons at our local YMCA, and it was there that her passion for teaching blossomed. She attended Missouri State University and earned a degree in Health and Physical Education. An athlete herself, Jean played field hockey and was a proud member of the nineteen seventy nine Missouri State University

national championship team. She had the incredibly prestigious honor of being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in twenty ten. It was far from her only achievement, however, Jean earned several teaching accolades throughout her career, including a

national honor that recognized cvpa's achievements and wellness and health. In addition to her teaching career, Jane continued to coach various sports, including the women's cross country team at the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, which is the school that shares the campus with CVPA. Education, though was far from her only passion,

Jane was an active volunteer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The evening before the shooting, she hosted a trivia night in support of the foundation, and she was in the midst of assisting in the planning of the fifteenth annual Bike Ride to Cure Diabetes at Amelia Island in Florida. She regularly did those types of things, and one often wondered when this superwoman had the time to sleep. She was devoted to her career, her students, and was an

avid fan of Tom Petty, diet coke, and field hockey. But the most important thing to Jeanne was her beloved spouse, Stephen, whom she married in nineteen eighty three, and her five children, which included three daughters and two sons, her six grandchildren and siblings two sisters and a brother. Family was everything to Jeane, and those same people, plus countless students, athletes,

faculty, and friends, will deeply mourn the benevolent woman. A witness later reported that they heard Carl shouting quote, you're all going to fucking't die after he shot out the windows of their classroom. He tried to enter, but quickly moved on. When he was unable to do so, He entered a dance classroom at one point, and he aimed and started to shoot, but the gun either malfunctioned or jammed either way. This provided students the opportunity

to escape the room. Reports later indicated that Carl was heard muttering that he was quote sick of this sam school and quote tired of everybody. Students and teachers sought shelter in classroom corners, while others jumped from windows desperately trying to escape what felt like certain death. We just thought it was a regular in struder drill. But then when we started hearing sirens outside and the teachers started to even get scared, we knew that this wasn't just a regular drill and

it was real. So then the teacher, she crawled over and she was asking for help to move the lockers to the door so they can't get in, And we started hearing glass breaking from the outside and gunshots outside the door, and then we tried to move out the window, but jump out the window, but it was concrete at the bottom of one of the windows that

was open, so we couldn't go down there. So we had to wait a little longer before the assistant principal came up to one of the windows that was locked, and when we opened it, the teachers had to come out and we all had to jump out the window. Both faculty and pats. Trified students rushed from the school As police responded to the scene. Officers tried to stop whoever they could to ask if anyone could narrow down exactly where the

shooter was. By nine to fifteen am, police had penetrated the school and armed with enough bits of information to surmise where the shooter was. They headed towards the shooting, where they encountered Carl on the third floor. He was barricaded inside of a classroom. Police ordered him out, and Carl responded by shooting. Police fired back, and after a few minutes, Carl was hit

by police bullets and the threat was stopped. The shooting was over by nine twenty five am, as police extracted Karl from the classroom and sent him to the emergency room for life saving intervention. No officers were shot in the exchange, and the entire shootout lasted about two minutes. Carl later died at the

hospital. A reunification center was established at the nearby Stem School gate Way High School students reported hearing the code Miles Davis is in the building blasted over the intercom, and they immediately knew this was the signal for an active shooter. There were seven security guards present at the school, however, they were entirely unprepared for an active shooter. The Saint Louis Police atf and the FBI each

worked together to conduct the investigation into the CVPA shooting. The school, Carl's home and his car were all searched, and the FBI set up a digital evidence collection website which allowed anyone from the shooting who happened to capture photos, audio, or video to upload it directly to the FBI. Police did everything to understand Carl's motive, including analyzing several handwritten notes they located inside of his

car. The notes contained details about other shootings, along with a list of targets for his own attack. One note read quote, I don't have any friends, don't have family. I've never had a girlfriend, I've never had a social life. I've been an isolated loner my entire life. He also indicated in the writings that his folks knew nothing about his plans and claimed that they couldn't even find the notebook where he spewed so much hate and anger.

Despite so much evidence being collected, there are no reports on exactly how the nineteen year old was able to purchase the high capacity magazines that he used in the shooting. Seven students, four males, and three females were injured in the shooting, four of which were from gunfire. One student suffered a broken ankle trying to escape, while two others suffered from severe bruising. It should

be noted that Missouri does not have any red flag laws. A red flag law allows a court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person if it is believed that they may be a danger to themselves or others. As we will see, it's possible that a red flag law may have been the difference maker in this case. Nineteen year old Carl was born in Carondeala, Missouri, which is a suburb of Saint Louis. He graduated from CVPA in

twenty twenty one. The young man was known to suffer from mental health issues, and his family made several attempts to get him treatment. He previously spent a period of time at a mental health treatment facility, but Carl continued to struggle even after he was released. His family tried their best to keep tabs

on him, including a routinely checking his bedroom and mail. His family even went so far as to implement a tracking system so they knew what types of things Carl had delivered in the mail and attentively watched his interactions with others in an effort to monitor his behavior. Karl went to their and it was reported that he took medication, and his family took stock of the medications, ensuring

that he stayed consistent with taking them on time. Most who knew him reported that Carl was lonely and kept to himself, rarely speaking even when spoken to. On the other hand, Carl attended the drama program at CVPA, and his classmates there spoke of a young man who was friendly and engaging. Carl

didn't have a criminal record and no known police contacts. However, on October eighth, twenty twenty two, he tried to buy a gun from a firearms dealer in Saint Charles, Missouri, but the purchase was denied because he couldn't pass the FBI background check, which is likely due to his mental health history. Undeterred Carl went and purchased a gun from a private citizen who really wasn't

prevented by law from selling a gun to another individual. The seller legally bought the gun from a licensed dealer in twenty twenty and just as legally sold it to Carl, thereby providing a loophole that allowed Carl to easily obtain the murder wer weapon. Carl's mother found the gun, and she immediately did the right

thing. On October fifteenth, twenty twenty two, she contacted the police and reported that her son had a firearm in his possession, and being an individual who suffered from serious mental health issues, she didn't think it was safe. She wanted police to come and retrieve the firearm so it was safely secured. She didn't want the gun in her home, and frankly, she wasn't comfortable enough with guns to handle the weapon herself. Police responded by indicating that because

he was over eighteen, Carl was lawfully allowed to have a gun. This seems entirely counterproductive if he was denied the legal sale from a registered gun dealer. However, the police still came and collected the gun and passed it along to another adult who was lawfully permitted to possess it. How precisely the gun ended back into Carl's possession is completely unknown. It must be reiterated that Carl's family took every step, every precaution to prevent their son from harming himself for

others. While it feels like this tragedy absolutely could have or should have been prevented, it's equally uncertain how much more could have been done, aside from a red flag law or perhaps committing Karl to an institution where he wasn't free to leave, which is a scenario that raises its own moral questions and issues. For their part, law enforcement officials took great care to credit the shooter's family with doing what they could in order to get their child the mental health

treatment he so desperately needed. The family had constant contact with medical providers and were much more involved with their team than most parents. The school reported on January seventeenth, twenty twenty three, to a red carpet welcome back for their students. The bullet riddled walls were patched up and repainted and presented the image of a pristine institute of learning. Therapists and counselors were on hand to provide

any type of support services needed. However, despite the appearance of a warm return to the school that months earlier held so much fear and panic, armed security guards stood at entrances to give the impression of safety. The truth is their presence truly depicts the harsh reality that there was no safety here and that this was the place that shattered their world and robbed them of their youth. The juxtaposition between the two is the stark reminder that the threat of a school

shooter is a daily reality for all of our children. We all have the unique ability to help prevent such a catastrophic event from happening if we keep our eyes and ears open and never hesitate to report when something or someone just doesn't seem right. With the delicate balance of mental health reform, education, active shooter training, and common sense gun laws, we may one day realize the dream, the dream that there will be no more active shootings. We pray

that love will prevail over hate. Too many have died, we should say to ourselves, not one more. In the meantime, we urge our listeners to stay aware of your surroundings and keep in touch with your loved ones. If you see something, say something, you never know how many lives you'll be saving. Thank you for listening to today's episode of Active Shooter the Podcast. Remember, if you see something, say something, there's no telling how

many lives you may be saving. A big thank you to Darren Curtis, who composed some of the songs on our show. You can find him online at www dot Darren Curtis music dot com. Make sure to check us out on social media. You can find us on Facebook at Active Shooter the Podcast and on Twitter at podcast Active. Thank you and be safe.