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Josh GILCHRIST
Classification:
Homicide
Characteristics:
Parricide
- Juvenile (16)
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
January 26,
2007
Date of birth: 1990
Victim profile: Betty
Gilchrist, 49(his mother)
Method of murder: Stabbing
with
a long sword
Location: Huron,
South Dakota, USA
Status:
Shot and killed by the police the same day
Josh Gilchrist
(16) South Dakota boy who used a sword to kill his
mother, Betty Gilchrist (49), and injured three other
people including his sister, a foreign exchange student,
and a police officer. Josh Gilchrist was shot and killed
by the police after he struck one of the officers
several times, in Huron, South Dakota on January 26,
2007.
S.D. police slay teen who likely killed mom with sword
Associated Press
Jan. 27, 2007
HURON,
S.D. — Police killed a teenager who they said used a sword to kill his
mother and injure three other people, including an officer.
Investigators had not determined the motive for the attacks, Chief Doug
Schmitt said Friday.
"We don't
have any background or any events leading up to the assault this morning
that would give any indication of a motive," he said.
Officers
called to the family's home Friday found 14-year-old Rebekah Gilchrist
with several cuts on her lower arms and hands. The officers then spotted
her brother, 16-year-old Josh Gilchrist, swinging a long sword, Schmitt
said.
Schmitt
said the boy struck one of the officers several times before the others
fired several shots, killing him.
Police
then found the body of the boy's mother, 49-year-old mom Betty
Gilchrist, and an injured foreign exchange student.
Police
said the boy's father, Jon Gilchrist, was not home during the attacks in
the east-central South Dakota town.
Schmitt
said he believes Josh Gilchrist collected swords.
Rebekah
Gilchrist was taken to a hospital in Sioux Falls. The exchange student,
whose name was not released, and the officer were treated at Huron
Regional Medical Center and released, authorities said.
Four
officers were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation,
standard procedure when police fire a gun.
Josh Gilchrist (16)
slashed his mom to death with a medieval sword before
being shot dead by police
MyDeathSpace.com
January 27, 2007
Police are trying to figure out why a
sword wielding teenager killed his mother and injured
three others Friday before being gunned down by officers.
"We don't have any background or any
events leading up to the assault this morning that would
give any indication of a motive," Huron Police Chief
Doug Schmitt said Friday.
When officers arrived at the home
just before 6 a.m., they found the attacker's 14-year-old
sister, Rebekah Gilchrist, with several cuts to her
lower arms and hands.
The officers then spotted 16-year-old
Josh Gilchrist wielding a long sword that Schmitt
described as "something you'd probably see in an ancient
knight type movie."
Schmitt said the boy started swinging
the sword and struck one of the officers several times
before the others fired multiple shots and killed the
attacker.
Police in the home then found the
dead body of the boy's mom, 49-year-old mom Betty
Gilchrist, and an injured foreign exchange student, who
was treated and released from Huron Regional Medical
Center.
Rebekah Gilchrist was taken to a
hospital in Sioux Falls.
"To all those concerned and praying
for Bekah, she is stable and improving with non life-threatening
injuries," the father, Jon Gilchrist, said in a
statement.
Police said Jon Gilchrist was not
home during the incident.
The injured officer, Dan Kight, 34,
was treated at Huron Regional Medical Center and
released. Schmitt said Kight's uniform was cut by the
sword.
Four officers were placed on
administrative leave pending an investigation by the
Division of Criminal Investigation, which is standard
procedure when police fire a gun.
Betty Gilchrist, a former teacher at
Minneota High School in southwest Minnesota, was the
children's librarian at the Huron Public Library.
Both parents have been active in the
Huron Municipal Band, and Josh and Rebekah are members
of the Huron High School band and orchestra.
Schmitt said he
believes Josh Gilchrist was a collector of swords.
Terry Nebelsick, principal of Huron
High School, said counselors and administrators met with
the faculty before the start of school Friday. Many kids
had already heard about the incident by the time the
school made a formal announcement around 8:15 a.m.
Nebelsick said a number of students
talked to counselors and pastors at the school.
