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the locals to be too isolated). During the meeting, someone entered and announced that the school was on fire. By 9 p.m., the school was almost entirely destroyed. A second
Waikino School was built in a different location in 1925. The identities of the people responsible were kept hidden by the community and no one was ever charged or arrested for the fire, though one of the men thought to be involved in the burning of the school later became the caretaker of the second Waikino School, built further down the hill. A report by
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235:'s North Island. It claimed the lives of two students – Kelvin McLean, aged 13, and Charles Stewart, aged 9 – and injured six others. The gunman, John Christopher Higgins, was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment on the grounds of insanity. It is the first and only mass school shooting in New Zealand history.
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He was ultimately found guilty on 15 February 1924 and sentenced to death. The Crown prosecutor argued that even though
Higgins was insane, his insanity did not prevent him from understanding the morality of his actions. He was noted to show no emotion his final day of court, and had no comment after
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His trial began two months later, and
Higgins pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Details of Higgins' past behavior were shared during the trial: he built trapdoors on his property so he could escape if approached, watched his neighbors through telescopes and holes he had cut in his walls, and
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Higgins fired at civilians through the window. Policemen and doctors soon arrived, and police told him to throw the gun out of the window, but instead he opened fire, shooting one of the police after the officer aimed his gun at him through a gap in the door. Higgins eventually did throw his gun out
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Onlookers noted he seemed to be looking for specific people. Some students jumped out the windows to escape, while others hid behind desks and cupboards. Teachers led students to safety. Higgins walked up to Kelvin McLean, aged 13, who pleaded for his life, having helped
Higgins before. Higgins shot
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The funeral procession for the two victims was one of the largest ever seen in the area. Classes resumed on 5 November, operated out of a local hall. After the shooting, a protest was held on 24 October against the reopening of the school (and the positioning of the school, as it was considered by
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After a series of personal problems - his chickens died, bees were stolen from his hives, and other people's cattle grazed on his land after his fences were cut - he blamed his neighbours. Two days before the shooting, he found his horse dead, and claimed someone had killed it. He again blamed his
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Reid tried to convince him to leave. Higgins told him he wanted revenge on the children of people who had wronged him, and when Reid suggested he go to the battery and target the men who had wronged him, he refused. After he realized
Higgins would not listen, he tried to warn the teachers and
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On 19 October 1923, at 10 a.m., Higgins arrived at the school with a .32 calibre Colt automatic revolver, saying he had "come for revenge" and rambling about being persecuted. Robert
Theodore Reid, the headmaster, noticed Higgins, and brought him into the study. Higgins then pulled out a gun.
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The head of the school, Robert
Theodore Reid, was wounded in the shooting and resigned, subsequently being involved in correspondence education. Reid was paralyzed in the right shoulder by his injuries and never taught again, later retiring to Auckland and dying at age
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He had previously had conflict with the
Waikino School, built 15 years earlier, after a truancy officer had visited him and fined him for keeping his children home and locking them in the house to watch over the property.
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stated that the arson was thought to be due to the shooting and the location of the school, with some residents stating the day of the shooting that "they would not be sorry if the building were burnt to the ground".
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him twice at close range. Charles
Stewart, aged 9, was also shot at close range, in the head. Six others were injured. Reid pretended to be dead while Higgins barricaded himself inside the study.
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in
Auckland. He claimed he "did not know why" he did it, saying that he "could not help doing it." Higgins was charged with two counts of murder and four of attempted murder on 14 December 1923.
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John Christopher Higgins, born in Canada, had arrived in New Zealand 15 years prior to the shooting. He was a firewood dealer and lived in Waitāwheta, across the river from Waikino.
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the jury gave its verdict. The court commuted his sentence to life imprisonment less than a month later, after it was decided that he suffered from "chronic delusional insanity".
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of the window, and was arrested. After his arrest, he was punched in face by one of the locals. After he was arrested, he was found with a knife and three sticks of explosive
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shortly after his sentence was commuted, with money donated by the public. Higgin's family was not ostracized by the community. Higgins later died in the
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Higgins appeared in court the next day after spending the night in jail. After his court appearance he was sent on a train to
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Those injured recovered, though one of the injured victims, Katie McGarry, walked with a limp for the remainder of her life.
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485:"Waikino School: The story of New Zealand's first and only mass school shooting – and a family secret laid bare"
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often locked his son in the house or kept him in the stable with the horse overnight to keep watch.
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children and tried to physically stop him, before Higgins shot him through the jaw.
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761:"John Christopher Higgins: Death Sentence Commuted, Imprisonment For Life"
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It is the first and only mass school shooting in New Zealand history.
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414:"Revisiting a dark day: A mass school shooting – in New Zealand"
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292:, which would have been enough to destroy the school entirely.
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667:"Higgins And Waikino Tragedy: Remarkable Delusions Alleged"
675:. Vol. CVII, no. 37. 13 February 1924. p. 3
611:. Vol. 98, no. 16065. 15 August 1924. p. 2
801:. Vol. XXII, no. 7185. 5 March 1925. p. 2
769:. Vol. XXXXII, no. 7. 4 March 1924. p. 6
643:. Vol. 55, no. 18. 22 January 1924. p. 4
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The telegraph announcing the destruction of the school.
897:. Vol. L, no. 16466. 27 June 1924. p. 7
223:took place on 19 October 1923 at Waikino School in
982:Attacks on buildings and structures in New Zealand
731:"Murder and Insanity: Why Higgins Was Not Hanged"
341:Higgins' wife and their two children returned to
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571:"Massacre Of The Innocents: Shot Dead In School"
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635:"Auckland Cases For Trial: Higgins To Appear"
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865:. No. 981. 13 September 1924. p. 7
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412:Cagney, Jake McKee (28 December 2018).
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937:1920s mass shootings in New Zealand
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952:October 1923 events in New Zealand
247:Higgins, shortly after his arrest.
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483:Yeoman, Scott (19 October 2018).
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544:"Murder in a small Kiwi school"
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972:1923 murders in New Zealand
793:"Waikino's new schoolhouse"
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239:Background and perpetrator
889:"Advertisements Column 6"
857:"Mrs. Higgin's New Start"
833:. 23 July 1930. p. 6
735:Patea & Waverly Press
279:The layout of the school.
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347:Avondale Mental Hospital
213:Delusions of persecution
205:John Christopher Higgins
53:The Waikino schoolhouse.
221:Waikino school shooting
181:Colt automatic revolver
149:; 100 years ago
42:Waikino school shooting
28:Infobox civilian attack
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33:considered for merging
967:Two-room schoolhouses
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84:Waikino (New Zealand)
349:in Auckland in 1938.
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128:37.4091°S 175.7708°E
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133:-37.4091; 175.7708
862:New Zealand Truth
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907:Papers Past
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811:Papers Past
779:Papers Past
747:Papers Past
717:Papers Past
685:Papers Past
653:Papers Past
621:Papers Past
589:Papers Past
233:New Zealand
202:Perpetrator
163:Attack type
131: /
119:175°46′15″E
106:Coordinates
22:‹ The
921:Categories
773:29 January
711:29 January
679:29 January
647:29 January
356:References
154:1923-10-19
116:37°24′33″S
296:Aftermath
290:gelignite
31:is being
263:Shooting
93:Location
35:. ›
24:template
901:2 March
869:2 March
837:2 March
805:2 March
741:2 March
615:2 March
583:2 March
555:2 March
496:2 March
425:2 March
227:, near
225:Waikino
194:Injured
152: (
98:Waikino
78:Waikino
343:Canada
210:Motive
186:Deaths
178:Weapon
549:Stuff
419:Stuff
229:Waihi
903:2020
871:2020
839:2020
807:2020
775:2024
743:2020
713:2024
681:2024
649:2024
617:2020
585:2020
557:2020
498:2020
427:2020
219:The
144:Date
335:92.
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