Gunman deranged, police say

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33869, 14 June 1975, Page 1

Gunman deranged, police say

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, June 13.

The police believe that a gunman who shot a schoolgirl at St Cuthbert’s College, Epsom, this morning, was mentally deranged.

The girl, Rosemary Smith, aged 13, was shot in the thigh by a man hidden in the basement of a school building, Elgin House.

The man, a 23-year-old English immigrant, then shot himself dead. Miss Smith was taken to Auckland Hospital, where her condition was described tonight as “fair” after surgery.

The police officer in charge of the inquiry into the shooting, Detective Inspector W. Shanks, of the Auckland C. 1.8., said there was no connection between the dead man and the girl. He described the shooting as “purely random. I think he just went off his head.” History of illness The dead man has a history of mental illness, he said. Inspector Shanks said he knew who the dead man was, but would not name him because his relatives in England had not been informed. He refused to confirm a re-

port that the dead man had a number of previous convictions for unusual offences, such as unlawfully converting a horse. The gunman fired the first shot from his basement hideaway under Elgin House as the girls streamed through a rear door into a narrow courtyard on their way to assembly about 8.30 a.m. Four shots

The bullet apparently richocheted off the tarmacadam in front of the crack in the weatherboard through which the gun was fired. Three more gunshots were heard. Bewildered by the noise, the girls milled around the courtyard. Some screamed.

The wounded girl was found lying by a clothes line in the courtyard, about 15 yards from where the shots were fired. Detectives believe that the gunman fired three shots at the place where Miss Smith was standing with three or four other girls. He then reversed the .303 Lee Enfield rifle he was firing, stuck the barrel in his mouth, and pulled the trigger. ’ • '~V . . /

The body of the gunman, huddled under the building, was found about an hour later by a police tracker dog.

The man wore khaki clothing, a wool balaclava helmet. and sun-glasses. There was a full magazine in the rifle, and his pockets contained eight clips of ammunition.

Inspector Shanks said the dead man drove from Otahuhu on his motor-cycle the previous night, and booked in at a motel near the college. Mesh cut About 6.50 a.m. today he entered the school grounds and hid himself in the basement of Elgin House, after climbing over stacks of old desks stored under the building and cutting through a wire mesh.

Once in position he broke off a piece of weatherboard to give himself a view of the courtyard. Inspector Shanks said the dead man had bought the rifle from a man in Henderson. It was registered, but had not been reregistered under the new owner’s name.