1988 Oakland Elementary School Shooting

On the morning of September 26, 1988, James William Wilson Jr., 19, drove to his maternal grandmother's house and stole her .22 caliber revolver, then purchased hollow-point ammunition at a discount store in Abbeville, South Carolina. He discarded the gun's original bullets, reloaded it with the more destructive rounds, and drove to Oakland Elementary School in Greenwood, South Carolina, where he parked his car and entered the building.

Wilson made his way to the school cafeteria around lunchtime, stood quietly for a moment, then began shooting at children and adults at random. Witnesses described a look of hatred and rage on his face. He wounded three students and a first-grade teacher in the cafeteria. Staff and teachers evacuated survivors toward a wooded area, while others hid in the cafeteria's freezer or sought shelter in a neighboring home. Wilson left the cafeteria and entered a girls' restroom to reload, where physical education teacher Kat Finkbeiner confronted him; he shot and wounded her twice. He then entered a third-grade classroom. Finkbeiner followed him in and again attempted to make him surrender, but he continued firing, missing the classroom teacher and striking the blackboard before turning his gun on the students. He killed Shequila Bradley, who died at the scene, and Tequila Thomas, who died three days later at Self Memorial Hospital; both victims were eight years old. Five additional students were wounded. After emptying the gun, Wilson dropped it and followed fleeing students out of the building.

When police arrived, school principal Eleanor Rice made contact with Wilson, who presented several forms of identification. Rice searched him for weapons and asked physical education teacher Phillip Browning to stay with him while she went to find police, who were then led to his location and arrested him.

Wilson had a documented history of mental illness, including multiple psychiatric hospitalizations beginning at age 14, and had been treated with Xanax for anxiety and depression. He was reported to be obsessed with the film Psycho and fascinated with mass murderers, having checked out crime books from the library shortly before the shooting.

Wilson was indicted on two counts of murder, nine counts of assault and battery with intent to kill, and one count of carrying a firearm. He was convicted of the murders and, on May 9, 1989, sentenced to death by electric chair; he received an additional 175 years' imprisonment on the remaining charges. He was admitted to South Carolina's prison system as a death row inmate on May 11, 1989, and remains confined at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, with his attorneys having sought an appeal of his sentence.

Following the shooting, school staff implemented safety measures, including muffling chair noise with felt and placing barricading furniture near classroom doors. A memorial garden and nature trail with benches, birdhouses, and plaques were later created in honor of the two students killed.