Kip Kinkel

Kipland (Kip) Philip Kinkel was the second child born to Faith Zuranski and Bill Kinkel. His sister, Kristen, was nearly six years old when Kip was born in 1982. Both Bill and Faith were educators and took their children camping, hiking, and skiing almost every weekend. The Kinkel family moved to Spain for a year in 1986 and Kip entered his first year of formal schooling. His teacher did not speak English and it proved a difficult year for Kip.

Upon returning to Oregon Kip was enrolled at Walterville Elementary School in Springfield. He repeated the first grade due to his slow emotional and physical development. Police booking photo of Kip Kinkel. Kinkel was arrested after killing his parents, then going to his high school killing two people and wounding twenty-five others. (AP/Wide World Photos)
His parents enrolled him in karate classes where he did exceptionally well. Despite high IQ (intelligence quotient) scores, Kip continued to have problems in school and by third grade had qualified for special education services.

Kip's parents tutored him in the evenings when he fell behind at school. In addition, the family physician prescribed the drug Ritalin when it was decided he had attention deficit disorder, or ADD. (ADD is a learning and behavioral problem characterized by difficulty in sustaining attention and by impulse behavior. Ritalin is a drug that sometimes helps calm these symptoms.) There was also growing concern over Kip's interest in violence. The Kinkels disconnected their cable television service when they could no longer monitor Kip's viewing of violent programs.

In fourth grade Kip continued with special education and was diagnosed with dyslexia, a learning disability that interferes with the ability to recognize and comprehend written words. At the same time, however, he was placed in a Talented and Gifted program because he excelled in science and math. Despite being small for his age, Kip was good at sports in elementary school. Like his father, Kip was very competitive and had an uncontrollable temper.

In 1995 Kristen Kinkel transferred from the University of Oregon to Hawaii Pacific. No longer having his sister overseeing his activities, Kip began hanging out with a new group of boys and getting into serious trouble. Kip and three friends ordered bomb-building books over the Internet and began experimenting with explosives. One of Kip's friends sold him an old shotgun, which he kept hidden in his room. After several of the boys were caught shoplifting, the Kinkels pulled Kip out of Springfield's Thurston Middle School to tutor him at home for a year.

Criminal events continued in January 1997 when Kip joined a friend and his family on a trip to Bend, Oregon, for a snowboarding clinic. The two boys were arrested for throwing a twelve-inch rock onto a car from an overpass. Kip was taken into custody and his parents received a midnight call from the Bend Police Department. Once back home, the Kinkels put Kip in psychotherapy where he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Kip needed to learn more appropriate ways to manage his anger. His mother was concerned about Kip's extreme interest in guns, knives, and explosives.

Kip also had a strained relationship with his father, who was his disciplinarian since his mother thought Kip was a good kid who just had some bad habits. Both parents wanted him to take responsibility for the rock-throwing incident in Bend and, following a mandatory interview at the Skipworth Juvenile Facility, Kip was required to complete thirty-two hours of community service, write a letter of apology, and pay for damages to the car that was hit.

Kip's final year in middle school ended in a two-day suspension for karate-kicking a schoolmate in the head for calling him names. Just three days later Kip received a three-day suspension for throwing a pencil at another boy. In June 1997 his psychologist recommended treatment with Prozac, an antidepressant drug. It seemed to be working well as both Kip's attitude and his grades began to improve. Kip remained on the drug the entire summer before he entered high school.