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Solved case · 1992
Eric Houston CDCRCredit: San Quentin State Prison, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation·Public domain·Source
The short answer
On May 1, 1992, a former student armed with a shotgun and a sawed-off rifle killed four people and wounded ten others at Lindhurst High School in Olivehurst, California, before holding dozens of students hostage in an eight-hour standoff.
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Suggest coverage for 1992 Lindhurst High School shootingThe case file
On May 1, 1992, at approximately 2:40 p.m., 20-year-old Eric Houston, a former student of Lindhurst High School in Olivehurst, California, entered the campus armed with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a sawed-off .22 caliber rifle. Houston first fatally shot Robert Brens, who had been his civics teacher during his senior year. In the same classroom, he shot and killed 17-year-old student Judy Davis. Houston then moved into the hallway outside the classroom and fatally shot student Jason Edward White in the chest.
Continuing through the school, Houston pointed his shotgun at student Angela Welch, but before he could fire, 16-year-old student Beamon Aton Hill pushed her out of the way, and Hill was struck fatally by a bullet to the side of his head. In total, the gunfire wounded ten other people, including nine students and a teacher.
Houston subsequently entered a classroom containing approximately 25 to 30 students. He reportedly sent student Andrew Parks to retrieve additional hostages, threatening to kill another student if Parks did not return. Houston ultimately held over 80 students hostage during an eight-hour standoff with police before surrendering to authorities.
While in police custody, Houston stated he was despondent over losing his job and angry that he had not graduated from high school or obtained a GED. He described himself as feeling "out of touch with reality" at the time of the shooting and acknowledged holding a grudge against Brens, who had failed him in his civics class. Houston also stated that he had not given the school advance warning of his plans, contrary to some allegations; this statement was introduced as evidence in both his criminal and a related civil trial.
On September 21, 1993, Houston was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to death. In 2012, the California Supreme Court upheld his death sentence. He was held on death row at San Quentin State Prison and was moved to Pelican Bay State Prison in March 2024.
A memorial park was later erected on McGowan Parkway in Olivehurst, California, in remembrance of the four people who died. The shooting, along with the 1998 Thurston High School shooting, was considered the deadliest high school shooting in modern U.S. history until both were surpassed by the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The incident also inspired a 1997 television film, Detention: The Siege at Johnson High, and was recreated in a 2011 episode of the series Hostage Do or Die.
5 dated entries · 1971–2024
Eric Houston, the gunman, is born.
Houston enters Lindhurst High School armed with a shotgun and a sawed-off rifle, killing teacher Robert Brens and students Judy Davis, Jason Edward White, and Beamon Aton Hill, and wounding nine other students and a teacher; an eight-hour hostage standoff follows before his surrender.
Houston is found guilty on all charges and sentenced to death.
The California Supreme Court upholds Houston's death sentence.
Houston is moved from San Quentin State Prison to Pelican Bay State Prison.
5 named in this file
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
16-year-old student fatally shot in the head after pushing another student, Angela Welch, to safety.[3]
Student fatally shot in the chest in a hallway.[3]
17-year-old student fatally shot in Brens' classroom.[3]
Teacher fatally shot; had been Houston's civics teacher during his senior year.[3]
Former Lindhurst High School student convicted on all charges and sentenced to death on September 21, 1993, for the shooting; sentence upheld by the California Supreme Court in 2012.[3]
From the record
3 cited
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Presscolumbine-angels.comAccessed Jul 7, 2026
Pressco.yuba.ca.usAccessed Jul 7, 2026
EncyclopedicWikipediaAccessed Jul 7, 2026
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