I don't know know him. Chief of AISD Police Ashley Gonzalez said officers went to Murchison Middle School in west Austin and Northeast Early College High School in east Austin. He drew war pictures, soldiers, etc. We presume he hasn't killed anybody since this shooting. John Daniel Christian came from a prominent family. City: Austin. This area holds more sordid secrets than you may know and Im going to tell you about all of them, one day at a time. March 20, 2020 in Daily Texan. The story was well reported on TV and in the paper for those of us adults in Austin at the time. Instead of going to trial and serving time, John Christian was sent to a private mental health facility in Dallas, TX. juvenile, no matter what the crime, is commitment to the Texas Youth Council facility in Gaesville, where he would be eligible for release on his 18th birthday. All we want all of us is for our kids to be safe. Cities in Texas. 4ba. Please email karenkk1024@yahoo.com. those kids were EXPECTED to handle it. Someone mentioned he had lost a lot of weight but they didnt seem to know what day it was half the time tbph. The gifted and talented teacher, Rod Grayson, was fatally shot by one of his most prized students. Everything stopped that day as we tried to process it. I dont think its just the Statesman Ive heard for years that the Dallas Morning News is always up for a hard hitting story that may upset a lot of people, as long as the story happened at least three rivers away, in some other town a safe distance away, where the political fallout is sure to be fairly muted. At John Christians 1978 hearing, a pair of psychiatrists testified that the 8th grade honors student suffered from latent schizophrenia and that putting him in a juvenile detention center would only increase the severity of his mental illness. The juvenile justice system assumes that juveniles are not wholly responsible for their crimes because they are not fully developed. It could have been on the same scale as these more recent tragedies. Check out as a guest by selecting Donate with a Debit or Credit Card (no PayPal account is required). I am easily found on the internet. Murchison Middle School. Typically, rational people don't commit murder. He got the .22 caliber hunting rifle that was given to him by his parents for Christmas, reportedly thought about killing himself with it, but then headed out, with gun in hand, down the street and toward his school. Come celebrate with the Murchison Middle School Fine Arts Class as we open the doors to the public to share the talents of our students. How are Rod Graysons wife & child now? They lived in a beautiful home on Rockledge Cove, not far from the Murchison campus, with a great big Magnolia tree in the front yard that was given to them as a sapling by Lady Bird Johnsonyeah name dropping all day kids. Seems that if he wanted to start a new life he'd want to get about as far away from the place where someone would surely know him and his past. The one thing everyone seemed to agree on is that the shooter walked in with a hunting rifle, said the jokes on you, and opened fire. The kids all responded that John was acting weird but the teacher told the students, You just dont understand him the way I do and then asked Where is John anyway? It was right about that time that John could be seen outside the classroom window heading down the grassy hill beside the football field, There he is, said one student and then another hes got a gun! Being the drama enthusiasts they both were, the students may have all be ready to watch a skit planned by a gifted student and his equally gifted teacher. Thank you Michael Corcoran for posting this. Maybe, a trip back will help put closure on this for me, although I know we will never forget that time. Bet a Dollar to a donut one of our Surly lawyersknows the guy. It also assumes or provides that records of juvenile proceedings are sealed so that they don't follow a kid around the rest of his life, recognizing that collateral effects are often worse than any actual punishment. ), but the impact is massive. FILE Austin ISD Police Department patrol car (KXAN photo/Erin Cargile). Start date. This is a developing story and will be updated as more details become available. THE AUSTIN SCHOOL SHOOTING tells the story of the teacher Rod Grayson who was shot to death on the morning of May 18, 1978 at Murchison Junior High School in Austin, Texas. He was in a church youth group (and high school) a couple of years ahead of me. Murchison Matadors - Murchison Middle School. It is a school in Austin Independent School District district. Guns dont kill people. Murchison Middle School is a Public school that serves grade levels 6-8. Fuck it, I'm gonna waste him.". austingirl In the 2016 election, the NRA spent $11,438,118 to support Donald Trumpand another $19,756,346 to oppose Hillary Clinton. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5g7wZiI5m4jAi6jiCvj7C0?si=_OCsVyWmTOK60ScjXc5_SA&dl_branch=1. Thursday, February 7th 2019. Cute kid, like baby pictures of Richard Speck, another Texan. They are nuts! The donate button below will take you to PayPal, but a PayPal account is not required to make a donation. I found you in the yearbook, the mighty El Matador 1978! This was in 7th grade and no one thought anything of it he was a quiet, studious type. See all 36 photos taken at Murchison Middle School by 1,023 visitors. Murchison MS. Sign up for one of our Northwest/North/Central Austin Area youth soccer programs at Murchison MS today! It probably closed because it was a dump. Witnesses said Grayson, 29, a first-year English teacher, was sitting on a stool when Christian entered the classroom, raised his father's rifle and shot . I go to Murchison now and nobody talks or knows about this, only when we had a lockdown. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. All Austin Schools. After the shooting John was taken and questioned by the Austin Police along with his fellow students as witnesses. If he had been an ordinary kid, or black, it would have been very different. Nowadays we can watch interviews with parents of victims and even the very kids who witnessed first-hand, and somehow survived, the senseless melee of a school shooting. I was at Pearce, 7th grade, when Mr. Grayson was killed. The young killer was the son of George Christian, former White House press secretary under Lyndon Johnson. He was said to have the most potential out of all the kids he went to school with and he happen to be somewhat of a favorite of Mr. Grayson. What class was Mr. Grayson shot in? This tragedy happened at the end of the school year, and the yearbooks were already printed and ready to be distributed. John tossed the gun at a bike rack outside the football field and headed up the slope. 2 were here. I live in this neighborhood, and my husband is a native. Every time a school shooting happens, a bit of the memory of the Murchison shooting comes back. It has 1,392 students through grade 6 to 8. The Texas musicians profiled here, ranging from 1920s gospel performers to the first psychedelic band, are generally not well known, but the impact of their early contributions on popular music is unmistakable. Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders -- The Constellation. According to multiple sources, the 13-year-old and 15-year-old were eighth graders at Murchison Middle School at some point this year. End date. Did you get this? He shot his teacher three times, in the head, chest and arm. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. And to think about it now and realize that there was absolutely nothing to stop the student from walking into a classroom with a rifle is chilling. pretend it never happened. The only difference is that we didnt have around the clock coverage and live video feeds. Murchison Middle School. That was a well-written article. in austin? Ms. Arce, Randy Schurr, the choir teacher (forgot her name) provided remarkable solace. The gifted and talented teacher, Rod Grayson, was fatally shot by one of his most prized students. He recalled that his friend was a little miffed by a report that the media had reported that John said The jokes on you before shooting Grayson. Terrible. Presidential candidates arent the only ones who benefit from the NRAs largess, though. In trouble, yes. Students who attend Murchison Middle usually attend: Pasted as rich text. as Michael Corcoran stated, ..the Statesman wouldnt touch it incidentally, Christian and Heflin had EXTREMELY high-powered, connected lawyers representing them. He was my dads cousin. Murchison Matadors! One of my nephews was in the classroom next to that one. I was also in the journalism class and worked on the yearbook. All Over the Map: True Heroes of Texas Music (North Texas Lives of Musician Series) available in paperback and Kindle editions. Map District: Austin Independent School District (ISD) SchoolDigger Rank: 473rd of 2,254 Texas Middle Schools. actually, not much more TO say. A child has died following a shooting at Tanglewood Middle School in Greenville Thursday. Weve even seen a video from Parkland with the sound of gunshots. It does not go away. He played an odd game in the eighth grade with a female classmate where he told her to pretend she was on the phone with a man who wanted to jump from the top of a skyscraper. Now? After the shooting John was taken and questioned by the Austin Police along with his fellow students as witnesses. Murchison Middle School is a public school located in Austin, Texas. Thank you for your thoughtful comments, and the efforts to honor him (overlooked by me). The baby, Ian, was running a fever and it was Rodneys turn to stay home with him. none of seems right to me. Murchison Middle School This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Currently, at least, Timberlawn is kind of a dump and more resembles the asylums that we shut down than a state-of-the-art mental health facility. That assumes rational people. 2. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado 6.4 miles away from the Murchison city center injured 4 people.. On 11/4/1959, a category F3 tornado 10.6 miles away from the city center injured 3 people and caused between $50,000 and . this shooting should be notorious. Although normally a quite kid, when John began making his presentation he shocked the class with his absolute absence of reserve. For a few moments after the classroom was still filled with thoughts of this being an amazingly well done performance but as he saw the blood pouring from one of Mr. Graysons and the look of fear on his frozen face, Smith knew this was not a skit. To be honest I just started reading about this particular incident in Texas history, so I dont know why it was handled the way it was. On June 2nd, 1978, just a few weeks after the shooting, the psychiatrists would testify in court that John was acutely depressed and suffered from latent schizophrenia. I have resisted speaking on this for years. Contact info . It has been called Dr. Seuss Day because of this. We appreciate the vigilance of our campus communities who heard claims of a gun on campus and quickly told police, who then investigated the incidents. High Schools in Austin. As required by Senate Bill 1365 (87th Texas Legislature), academic accountability ratings for 2022 were limited to A, B, C, and Not Rated. . Fuck that guy. I understand that Christian graduated from UT Law School and now practices law in Austin. I was the Sr Paramedic for the City of Austin EMS that made the call to Murchison Jr High School that morning. Dude stole someones life, skipped the rest of high school, then went to college and law school like it never happened. Under the Texas juvenile code, that charge is the stronrest that can be filed in the case. She reported that a regular stream of us come back, a few every year, to confirm, reflect and attempt to recover. Murchison is proud to be a member of the global network of IB World Schools. As part of the 2017 Bond Program, AISD modernized spaces for the Matadors, including creating a three-story addition with classroom studios, three learning neighborhoods, makerspaces, science rooms and an open collaboration area. I never forgot about it and a few years ago I was thinking about one day. $0.00. Both campuses were deemed safe and released from secure status before 2:40 p.m. There have been minor improvements over the years, however in January 2021, Murchison opened up the new 3-story 6th grade center as well as new admin offices and Library. What a shock it must have been. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. But thats all I could manage, emotionally. Its especially disturbing now that my daughter is in 8th grade, at about the same stage in her life as I was when it happened. John had already turned and left, now the room was full of screams as Smith ran to the principals office to beg for help. 0:00. APD officer Ralph Alblanedo was gunned down by a drug dealer over by Travis High school that same day. Our students drive inquiry, strive for multilingualism, participate in interdisciplinary study, and are committed to giving back through community service that is lead by students to improve our school and community. not trying to be a dick, but simply because he did well in school and hasn't killed anyone else since he was in middle school doesn't really seem like a "triumph" to me. They lived in a beautiful home on Rockledge Cove, not far from the Murchison campus, with a great big Magnolia tree in the front yard that was given to them as a sapling by Lady Bird Johnson. Thats over $31 million spent on one presidential race. Updated: 10:45 AM CST February 7, 2019. 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