Wayne Lo
Encyclopedia
Wayne Lo is a Taiwanese-American murderer who perpetrated the shooting at Simon's Rock College of Bard
on December 14, 1992 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
. He killed one student and a professor, and wounded four people before he surrendered to police. He is currently serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
to fighter pilot Chia Wei Lo and violin teacher Lin Lin Lu, both Chinese
immigrants to Taiwan. The Lo family first immigrated to the United States in spring 1981, living in a Rockville, Maryland
suburb, where Chia Wei Lo was a Taiwanese ambassador to the United Nations
. While living in Maryland, the 7-year-old Lo became a violinist for the Montgomery County Youth Orchestra.
His family returned to Taiwan in 1983, after Chia-Wei relinquished his position that year. The family later settled in northwest Billings, Montana
in summer 1987. His parents later managed the Great Wall Chinese restaurant at Grand Avenue in Billings. He attended Lewis & Clark Junior High School in Billings for seventh to eighth grade, before attending Billings Central Catholic High School
for his freshman and sophomore year. Lo was a violinist in the Billings Symphony Orchestra beginning at age fourteen. He attended the Aspen Music Festival in 1990 and studied under prominent violin teacher Dorothy DeLay
. Lo excelled academically with a 3.56 GPA in his sophomore year.
In April 1991, Lo was accepted by Simon's Rock College of Bard
in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
, and given the W.E.B. DuBois minority scholarship, beginning fall classes that September. He had wanted to attend a boarding school to estrange himself from his father. Lo soon tried to create his image as a hardened racist while attending Simon's Rock. Fellow students spoke of Lo having been outspoken and maintaining fascist beliefs. He had also written an essay stating that the solution to decrease AIDS
was to segregate homosexuals in the United States. Lo became outcast by fellow students because of his beliefs.
That night, an anonymous person had phoned school officials, claiming that Lo was armed with weapons and was going to kill members of the Robinson family. The caller just identified himself as another student with whom Lo had dinner with that night. The Robinsons contacted the college provost Ba Win, and went with their children to stay at Win's home in Lee, Massachusetts
. There they called the dean to locate Lo; however no precaution was taken, and police were never notified.
Lo was hiding the ammunition which he had ordered two days earlier. On December 14, at around 10:00 a.m. Lo travelled by taxi to Pittsfield, Massachusetts
, and purchased a Chinese-made SKS
semi-automatic rifle
at Dave's Sporting Goods store. The shooting began at approximately 10:20 p.m. in the school security area. He shot Teresa Beavers twice in the abdomen, and later fatally shot a Spanish language teacher while he was driving his Ford Festiva car. Lo then left the security area and entered the library. Inside he killed a poetry major and wounded another student. He left the library and was walking towards an adjacent dormitory where he wounded two freshmen students. Lo's rifle jammed and he dropped his weapon before walking to the student union building and phoned police of his actions. Lo surrendered to police without further incident.
Those killed in the shooting were student Galen Gibson, 18, and teacher Ñacuñán Sáez, 37. Gibson was a poetry major from Gloucester, Massachusetts
, while Sáez was an Argentine-born Spanish professor. Those wounded were receptionist Teresa Beavers, 40, student Thomas McElderry, 19, student Joshua A. Faber, 17, and student Matthew Lee David, 18.
, and the racism accusations were never substantiated. Instead the focus turned to his mental state at the time of the shooting, as Lo used the insanity plea. Lo's psychiatrists testified he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, while a court-appointed psychiatrist attributed Lo's actions merely from narcissistic personality disorder
.
The jury sided with the prosecution, and Lo was found guilty on all 17 charges against him, and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole. Lo spent nine months at a maximum security facility at Walpole, Massachusetts
from February to November 1994. He was later transferred to MCI-Norfolk
, a medium security prison in Norfolk, Massachusetts
.
, the father of victim Galen Gibson, wrote Gone Boy: A Walkabout, a detailed book recounting the shooting. The book spurred correspondence between Gibson and Lo, which was detailed in a New York Times article dated April 12, 2000, as well as a German TV documentary film, Running Amok, by George Stefan Troller.
Lo wore a t-shirt with the name of the New York City hardcore punk
band Sick of It All
during the shooting. This spurred the band to issue press releases denouncing Lo's crimes. Journalist Chuck Klosterman
wrote a passage in his book Killing Yourself to Live (pages 133-134) in which Wayne Lo writes Klosterman a letter from prison contemplating what questions may have been raised if Lo were arrested wearing a T-shirt with the hair-bands "Poison
" or "Warrant
" instead of "Sick of It All".
The Simon's Rock College of Bard shooting is detailed in chapter two of the book Ceremonial Violence: A Psychological Explanation of School Shootings by Jonathan Fast
. The controversy surrounding Lo's chapter and the book arose after Gregory Gibson
published an article regarding allegations of plagiarized passages taken directly from Goneboy: A Walkabout(http://hubertsfreaksspeak.blogspot.com/2008/12/sr-porn.html).
Wayne Lo also has his own website: SkidLo.net (http://www.skidlo.net/). The website is co-owned by Lo and friend Zachary Godwin. The website was established to help the victims of Lo's rampage. On the site those interested may purchase drawings, paintings and embroidered art made by Lo. All the proceeds are donated to The Galen Gibson Fund. Currently Skid Lo is the largest contributor to the fund.
SkidLo.net received much public attention after the Virginia Tech massacre
(presumably because of the similarities between Lo and Seung-hui Cho
). Subsequently, Berkshire County District Attorney
David F. Capeless tried to pass legislation banning such items from being sold by inmates after he became aware of the website's existence. Others fought for the site's right to exist by citing the First Amendment right of free speech. Another controversy was raised when there were accusations that the money was not being donated to the scholarship fund. Several newspapers and television stations later confirmed that Gregory Gibson
was in fact receiving money from SkidLo.net.
Today the website is trying to establish itself in the world of art, rather than as a "murderabilia
" business. Wayne Lo's artwork is now well known and being displayed in gallery shows. Currently his art is on display at the Hyaena Gallery in California.
Wayne Lo is the creator of "Flushy the Toilet Monster" (http://www.flushy.us/) - a cartoon character which has appeared in "Mosquito and Spider" - a comic strip by renowned artist Nicolas Caesar.
Lo's photo-embroidery piece "Embroidered Son of Man" is being exhibited at MOBA - The Museum of Bad Art
- in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Simon's Rock College of Bard
Bard College at Simon's Rock, more commonly known as Simon's Rock , is a residential four-year liberal arts college located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA...
on December 14, 1992 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
. He killed one student and a professor, and wounded four people before he surrendered to police. He is currently serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Background
Lo was born in Tainan City, TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
to fighter pilot Chia Wei Lo and violin teacher Lin Lin Lu, both Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
immigrants to Taiwan. The Lo family first immigrated to the United States in spring 1981, living in a Rockville, Maryland
Rockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
suburb, where Chia Wei Lo was a Taiwanese ambassador to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. While living in Maryland, the 7-year-old Lo became a violinist for the Montgomery County Youth Orchestra.
His family returned to Taiwan in 1983, after Chia-Wei relinquished his position that year. The family later settled in northwest Billings, Montana
Billings, Montana
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, the largest metropolitan area in over...
in summer 1987. His parents later managed the Great Wall Chinese restaurant at Grand Avenue in Billings. He attended Lewis & Clark Junior High School in Billings for seventh to eighth grade, before attending Billings Central Catholic High School
Billings Central Catholic High School
Billings Central Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Billings, Montana. It is one of three Catholic high schools in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings.-Background:...
for his freshman and sophomore year. Lo was a violinist in the Billings Symphony Orchestra beginning at age fourteen. He attended the Aspen Music Festival in 1990 and studied under prominent violin teacher Dorothy DeLay
Dorothy DeLay
Dorothy DeLay was an American violin instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School.She was born in Medicine Lodge, Kansas.-Career and education:...
. Lo excelled academically with a 3.56 GPA in his sophomore year.
In April 1991, Lo was accepted by Simon's Rock College of Bard
Simon's Rock College of Bard
Bard College at Simon's Rock, more commonly known as Simon's Rock , is a residential four-year liberal arts college located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA...
in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
, and given the W.E.B. DuBois minority scholarship, beginning fall classes that September. He had wanted to attend a boarding school to estrange himself from his father. Lo soon tried to create his image as a hardened racist while attending Simon's Rock. Fellow students spoke of Lo having been outspoken and maintaining fascist beliefs. He had also written an essay stating that the solution to decrease AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
was to segregate homosexuals in the United States. Lo became outcast by fellow students because of his beliefs.
The shooting
On the morning of December 13, 1992, Simon's Rock receptionist Teresa Beavers searched a package addressed to Wayne Lo from the North Carolina company Classic Arms, and found 7.62 caliber ammunition inside the package. Beavers notified college residence directors, and called for an investigation of Lo's dormitory. Residence director Katherine Robinson went to Lo's dormitory and asked Lo if she could see the contents inside the package. Lo refused and Robinson told the associate dean of students. Robinson returned to Lo's dormitory with her husband and searched his room, but found no weapons or ammunition. Lo told them the ammunition was a Christmas gift for his father; however Lo was sent to the dean's office, and later the dean dismissed Lo, suspecting he was not possessing any weapons on the school campus.That night, an anonymous person had phoned school officials, claiming that Lo was armed with weapons and was going to kill members of the Robinson family. The caller just identified himself as another student with whom Lo had dinner with that night. The Robinsons contacted the college provost Ba Win, and went with their children to stay at Win's home in Lee, Massachusetts
Lee, Massachusetts
Lee is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 5,943 which was determined in the 2010 census. Lee, which includes the villages of South and East Lee, is part of the Berkshires resort...
. There they called the dean to locate Lo; however no precaution was taken, and police were never notified.
Lo was hiding the ammunition which he had ordered two days earlier. On December 14, at around 10:00 a.m. Lo travelled by taxi to Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...
, and purchased a Chinese-made SKS
SKS
The SKS is a Soviet semi-automatic rifle chambered for the 7.62x39mm round, designed in 1943 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. SKS-45 is an acronym for Samozaryadnyj Karabin sistemy Simonova, 1945 Simonov system, 1945), or SKS 45. The Sks is a scaled down version of the PTRS-41 anti-tank rifle also...
semi-automatic rifle
Semi-automatic rifle
A semi-automatic rifle is a type of rifle that fires a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled, automatically ejects the spent cartridge, chambers a fresh cartridge from its magazine, and is immediately ready to fire another shot...
at Dave's Sporting Goods store. The shooting began at approximately 10:20 p.m. in the school security area. He shot Teresa Beavers twice in the abdomen, and later fatally shot a Spanish language teacher while he was driving his Ford Festiva car. Lo then left the security area and entered the library. Inside he killed a poetry major and wounded another student. He left the library and was walking towards an adjacent dormitory where he wounded two freshmen students. Lo's rifle jammed and he dropped his weapon before walking to the student union building and phoned police of his actions. Lo surrendered to police without further incident.
Those killed in the shooting were student Galen Gibson, 18, and teacher Ñacuñán Sáez, 37. Gibson was a poetry major from Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...
, while Sáez was an Argentine-born Spanish professor. Those wounded were receptionist Teresa Beavers, 40, student Thomas McElderry, 19, student Joshua A. Faber, 17, and student Matthew Lee David, 18.
Imprisonment
Lo's month-long trial had taken place at the Berkshire County House of Corrections in Pittsfield. Although claims were made by the media prior to the trial regarding Lo's supposed racist theories, he was never charged with a hate crimeHate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
, and the racism accusations were never substantiated. Instead the focus turned to his mental state at the time of the shooting, as Lo used the insanity plea. Lo's psychiatrists testified he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, while a court-appointed psychiatrist attributed Lo's actions merely from narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder is a personality disorder in which the individual is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity...
.
The jury sided with the prosecution, and Lo was found guilty on all 17 charges against him, and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole. Lo spent nine months at a maximum security facility at Walpole, Massachusetts
Walpole, Massachusetts
Walpole is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located about south of Boston and north of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 24,070 at the 2010 census. Walpole was first settled in 1659 and was considered a part of Dedham until officially incorporated in 1724...
from February to November 1994. He was later transferred to MCI-Norfolk
Massachusetts Correctional Institution - Norfolk
Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk, or MCI-Norfolk, is a medium security prison in Norfolk, Massachusetts with an average daily population of 1500 inmates. Though it is rated medium security, it also houses up to 98 maximum security inmates. Opened in the early 1930s, MCI-Norfolk is...
, a medium security prison in Norfolk, Massachusetts
Norfolk, Massachusetts
Norfolk is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States with a population of 10,460 people in 2,818 households at the 2000 census. Formerly known as North Wrentham, Norfolk broke away to become an independent town in 1870.-History:...
.
Popular culture
In 1999, Gregory GibsonGregory Gibson
Gregory Gibson is an American author.Gibson is the author of Gone Boy , Demon of the Waters , and Hubert's Freaks .-Biography:...
, the father of victim Galen Gibson, wrote Gone Boy: A Walkabout, a detailed book recounting the shooting. The book spurred correspondence between Gibson and Lo, which was detailed in a New York Times article dated April 12, 2000, as well as a German TV documentary film, Running Amok, by George Stefan Troller.
Lo wore a t-shirt with the name of the New York City hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band Sick of It All
Sick of It All
Sick of It All is an American hardcore punk band from Queens, New York. Formed in 1986, the band consisted of brothers Lou Koller on vocals and Pete Koller on lead guitar, Rich Cipriano on bass, and Armand Majidi on drums. There have been only two member changes since their inception, with Max...
during the shooting. This spurred the band to issue press releases denouncing Lo's crimes. Journalist Chuck Klosterman
Chuck Klosterman
Charles John "Chuck" Klosterman is an American author and essayist who has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, and The Washington Post, and has written books focusing on American popular culture....
wrote a passage in his book Killing Yourself to Live (pages 133-134) in which Wayne Lo writes Klosterman a letter from prison contemplating what questions may have been raised if Lo were arrested wearing a T-shirt with the hair-bands "Poison
Poison (band)
Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. To date, Poison has sold over 30 million records worldwide and have sold 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100,...
" or "Warrant
Warrant (American band)
Warrant is an American heavy metal band from Hollywood, California, that experienced success from 1989-1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. The band first came into the national spotlight with their debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, and one of its...
" instead of "Sick of It All".
The Simon's Rock College of Bard shooting is detailed in chapter two of the book Ceremonial Violence: A Psychological Explanation of School Shootings by Jonathan Fast
Jonathan Fast
Jonathan Fast is an American author and social work teacher.Fast was born in New York City. He attended Princeton University, and earned graduate degrees at Columbia University and Yeshiva University...
. The controversy surrounding Lo's chapter and the book arose after Gregory Gibson
Gregory Gibson
Gregory Gibson is an American author.Gibson is the author of Gone Boy , Demon of the Waters , and Hubert's Freaks .-Biography:...
published an article regarding allegations of plagiarized passages taken directly from Goneboy: A Walkabout(http://hubertsfreaksspeak.blogspot.com/2008/12/sr-porn.html).
Wayne Lo also has his own website: SkidLo.net (http://www.skidlo.net/). The website is co-owned by Lo and friend Zachary Godwin. The website was established to help the victims of Lo's rampage. On the site those interested may purchase drawings, paintings and embroidered art made by Lo. All the proceeds are donated to The Galen Gibson Fund. Currently Skid Lo is the largest contributor to the fund.
SkidLo.net received much public attention after the Virginia Tech massacre
Virginia Tech massacre
The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people...
(presumably because of the similarities between Lo and Seung-hui Cho
Seung-Hui Cho
Seung-Hui Cho was a senior-level undergraduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University who killed 32 people and wounded 17 others on April 16, 2007, in the shooting rampage which came to be known as the "Virginia Tech massacre." Cho later committed suicide after law...
). Subsequently, Berkshire County District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
David F. Capeless tried to pass legislation banning such items from being sold by inmates after he became aware of the website's existence. Others fought for the site's right to exist by citing the First Amendment right of free speech. Another controversy was raised when there were accusations that the money was not being donated to the scholarship fund. Several newspapers and television stations later confirmed that Gregory Gibson
Gregory Gibson
Gregory Gibson is an American author.Gibson is the author of Gone Boy , Demon of the Waters , and Hubert's Freaks .-Biography:...
was in fact receiving money from SkidLo.net.
Today the website is trying to establish itself in the world of art, rather than as a "murderabilia
Murderabilia
Murderabilia, also known as murderbilia, is a term identifying collectibles related to murders, murderers or other violent crimes, coined by Andy Kahan, director of the Houston Police Department's Crime Victims Office.-Serial killer art:...
" business. Wayne Lo's artwork is now well known and being displayed in gallery shows. Currently his art is on display at the Hyaena Gallery in California.
Wayne Lo is the creator of "Flushy the Toilet Monster" (http://www.flushy.us/) - a cartoon character which has appeared in "Mosquito and Spider" - a comic strip by renowned artist Nicolas Caesar.
Lo's photo-embroidery piece "Embroidered Son of Man" is being exhibited at MOBA - The Museum of Bad Art
Museum of Bad Art
The Museum of Bad Art is a privately owned museum whose stated aim is "to celebrate the labor of artists whose work would be displayed and appreciated in no other forum". It has two branches, one in Dedham, Massachusetts, and the other in nearby Somerville...
- in Somerville, Massachusetts.
External links
- Gone Boy - A Walkabout (1999) Gregory GibsonGregory GibsonGregory Gibson is an American author.Gibson is the author of Gone Boy , Demon of the Waters , and Hubert's Freaks .-Biography:...
, Kodansha America (ISBN 978-0385720045). - Running Amok (aka Amok), 2001, Georg Stefan Troller, German TV ZDFZDFZweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
(documentary film). - Gone Boy official site
- SkidLo.net Wayne Lo's official website
- Amok official site
- Interview with Lo about the VT massacre
- RLI Insurance Company vs. Simon's Rock Early College and others, Massachusetts Superior Court opinion Insurance litigation judgment includes details of the incident's circumstances (via FindLawFindLawFindLaw is a business of Thomson Reuters that provides online legal information and online marketing services for law firms. FindLaw was created by Stacy Stern, Martin Roscheisen and Tim Stanley in 1995, and was acquired by Thomson West in 2001....
) - Wayne Lo at Hyaena Gallery.com