WLM | people
Outside the school, the small
community was becoming aware
of the situation. T. Deb Wolfley of
Kemmerer, Wyoming, Lincoln County
Sheriff, had just finished playing a
game of racquetball over his lunch
hour. It was his birthday. He had
rushed back home to shower before
returning to work when he received
a call from dispatch requesting his
immediate response to an incident
at the school. Law enforcement
teams and officials from all over the
region descended upon the Cokeville
crisis quickly, joined by paramedics,
parents and family members of those
held hostage. Anxious
parents, grandparents and
community members stood
prepared to take whatever
action they could to help the
situation.
Inside the school, the smell
of gas was becoming strong
in the room, making the
children ill. Young allowed
the teachers to open
windows, and appeared
to become more agitated
as time went on. Young
transferred the wrist device
to his wife Doris and left
for the restroom. Shortly after,
around 4 PM, Doris moved her arm
and the bomb detonated, setting
her person ablaze. Mixed reports
guess why Doris moved her arm
attached to the bomb’s trigger; some
claim it was to wipe her forehead, to
motion to the hostages, in response
to a comment about a headache or
in response to a teacher’s statement.
After the detonation, thick black
smoke filled the room with flames
shooting from it, and chaos ensued
as the teachers sprang into action
to evacuate the children through
the open windows and nearby
doorways. Young returned to the
room to find Doris in flames and
hostages escaping; he shot and killed
her, with reports claiming he fired
into the room at hostages as well.
Music Teacher John Miller was
hit in the back. At a point in the
confusion, Young returned to the
restroom and shot himself.
Brenda Hartley doesn’t know
how she got on the floor, doesn’t
remember the force or anything
about that part. She just remembers
thinking, “I’m going to die.” She
recalls that it was so very noisy
with all the cartridges still going off
from the heat. When she tried to get
up she couldn’t breathe so she got
back down on the floor and started
grabbing children’s feet around
her, telling them to get on the floor
where they could find air.
In the midst of the evacuation chaos,
first responders began moving
rapidly in. Parents and teachers
began searching frantically for
their children outside the school;
paramedics on the scene worked to
respond to whomever they could;
neighboring houses began taking
in people. In the days before cell
phones, friends, family members and
first responders spread information
as rapidly as they could to help
locate, triage and transport those in
need of emergency care.
An incredible point was added to
the event as responders realized that
the only deaths from the crisis were
those of David and Doris Young;
all children and adults survived,
including Mr. Miller. While the
degree of injuries varied, not a single
hostage lost their life in the event.
Furthermore, the bomb did not
detonate the way that it was
designed to, a fact that some experts
still ponder. Ron Hartley and
other specialists studying
the scene afterward were
astounded by what they
saw. “I walked into the room
where it all took place,”
Hartley remembers. “All of
the lights were blown out. It
was apparent that there had
been extreme heat as the
plastic was melted. There
were pock marks all over
the walls from shrapnel.”
The bomb reportedly
contained the power to level
a sizeable portion (some say
all) of the building, however
all of the innocent people
contained in the same small room as
the bomb’s location survived.
The incredible facts did not stop
there. As time passed and the
community moved forward to heal
its wounds, stories from the children
began emerging of feelings of peace,
voices reassuring them, or even
figures of people who protected
them. Some children identified
pictures of deceased relatives in
family pictures, identifying them as
the mysterious people who helped.
For this deeply religious community,
the idea of angels and protection
from God was evident.
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