RED LAKE — Around 60 classmates, colleagues and community members gathered Friday, March 21, in ceremony during the 20th annual Day of Remembrance of the Red Lake High School shooting.
Two decades later, it remains the deadliest school shooting in Minnesota history. In total, 10 people died that day, including the shooter. The annual walk and program, along with ongoing fundraising efforts for a permanent memorial, seek to ensure the memory of the victims is always honored.
Thomas Barrett, Little Rock district representative in the Red Lake Nation tribal government, was a 2007 graduate from Red Lake High School and a sophomore at the time of the shooting. He spoke to the community’s closeness during the ceremony at the Red Lake High School gymnasium.
“I was good friends with Chanelle [Rosebear] and Alicia [White],” Barrett said, naming two of the victims. “I knew everybody that we lost. That's how we are in a small, tight-knit community here in Red Lake.”
Just before class let out on March 21, 2005, a former 16-year-old student at Red Lake High School shot and killed a school security guard, Derrick Brun, 28; a teacher, Neva Wynkoop-Rogers, 63; and five fellow students: Alicia White, 14; Dewayne Lewis, 15; Chase Lussier, 15; Chanelle Rosebear, 15; and Thurlene Stillday, 15.
Prior to his arrival to the school, the shooter also shot and killed his grandfather, Daryl Lussier, 58, and his grandfather’s girlfriend, Michelle Sigana, 31.
At the time, the horrific events that unfolded within minutes at Red Lake that day were part of the deadliest school shooting since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.
Space and ceremony
Creating a space for healing is a core mission of a small group of the shooting’s survivors, a few former students who have spearheaded fundraising and organizing for a permanent memorial on the shores of Lower Red Lake.
Starr Jourdain is an organizer for the 3-21-05 Project. She graduated from Red Lake High School in 2008 and was a freshman at the time of the shooting. She has also worked at the school as a paraprofessional for the last eight years.
“It was a heavy day, man, and even, you know, being a kid and transitioning 20 years into adult ... it got pretty heavy today,” Jourdain said after the ceremony. “But my kids at school, my students kept my spirits high. And they kept me going today.”
The 3-21-05 Project was a recent recipient of one of 10 Midwest Memory Grants from the St. Paul-based Forecast Public Arts. According to its webpage, the three-pronged grant will release $75,000 for the memorial, $25,000 for capacity building and $10,000 to pay cultural advisors, plus 80 hours of technical assistance from Forecast Public Arts.
With the grant, the 3-21-05 project is about a quarter of the way to its goal for a permanent memorial on land donated by the Red Lake Tribal Council. Project organizer Raven Roberts says the space is much needed for those impacted.
“I just think it's going to be a great place to go heal,” Roberts said. “To bring us all together, like every Remembrance Day we have for them.”
Missy Dodds was a teacher at Red Lake High School and first-hand witness to the shooting. She works currently as an advocate for Safe and Sound Schools. The news of the grant brought her some mixed emotions.
“When Starr called me and told me that they had the grant, I was so excited, like, ‘Oh yeah, this is also awesome!’” Dodds said. “The next day, I couldn’t get out of bed.
“ ... The memorial will represent that we have not forgotten the ones that we lost that day,” Dodds explained as her voice faded. “That we're not forgotten because sometimes it feels that way.”
Red Lake School District Superintendent Tim Lutz was a principal in another district at the time of the shooting, but remembers it being a sobering time for educators across the state.
The FBI investigation into the shooting revealed that dozens of people, including a few students, had some prior knowledge of the tragic events that transpired. Lutz said a "positive school climate” is the most important aspect of school safety.
“[It’s] a place where students feel welcomed, cared for, and connected to each other and to the staff,” Lutz described. “If students feel connected, then they want to be here and they will learn to care for each other, and they will learn to reach out when they see something, go to an adult and say something.”
Lutz said Red Lake is a resilient community and gave credit to the school’s staff.
"I was talking with a couple of teachers earlier before the ceremony today and they said that they love working here,” Lutz said. “This is a wonderful community and the fact that they are still here 20 years later after experiencing the tragedy says something about the climate and the culture.”
Jourdain feels there is a lot more work to be done to support the youths of the Red Lake Nation, but she has faith they’ll still go on to do great things.
"I'm all for the kids, I'm always pushing for them to go [to school], but the other people gotta push them,” Jourdain said, referring to other adults in kids’ lives. “They got to encourage them more and have them in the school.”
The 3-21-05 project joined the Northwest Minnesota Foundation’s family of funds in late 2024 toward the construction of a permanent memorial. Visit their website for more information or to make a donation.
