Cleveland School Shooting: Tragic 1979 Incident Haunts Survivors as Perpetrator Remains Incarcerated

The Cleveland Elementary School shooting took place on January 29, 1979, at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California. Brenda Spencer, a 16-year-old girl who lived across the street, opened fire on the school, killing the principal and a custodian and injuring eight children and a police officer. Spencer was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. As of 2024, she remains incarcerated.

Brenda Ann Spencer was born on April 3, 1962, in San Diego, California. After her parents separated, Brenda lived with her father under poor conditions, often sleeping on a single mattress surrounded by empty bottles. She claimed to have suffered neglect from her mother and sexual abuse from her father, though these allegations were denied by her parents.

Brenda Spencer Photo by San Diego Union-Tribune

Spencer was known for her hostility towards authority, particularly the police. Despite her talent in photography, she showed little interest in school and had a history of behavioral problems, including truancy and vandalism. In December 1978, a psychiatric evaluation recommended hospitalization for depression, but her father refused. Instead, he gave her a semi-automatic rifle for Christmas.

On the morning of January 29, 1979, Spencer began shooting from her house at children and staff outside Grover Cleveland Elementary School. She injured eight children, killed Principal Burton Wragg and custodian Mike Suchar, and wounded police officer Robert Robb. The police managed to stop her by blocking her line of sight with a garbage truck.

Brenda Spencer Photo by The Advertiser

During a standoff with the police, Spencer spoke to a reporter and infamously said she shot at the school because, "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." She eventually surrendered after being promised a meal from Burger King.

Spencer was tried as an adult and pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. She was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Diagnosed with epilepsy and depression, she has spent her time in the California Institution for Women, working on electronic equipment repairs. Her parole applications have been consistently denied, with the next hearing scheduled for 2025.

A memorial plaque and flagpole were installed at Cleveland Elementary School to honor the victims. The school closed in 1983 and was later demolished to make way for housing. The plaque was moved to a nearby location.

In 1989, another tragic shooting at a different Grover Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California, resulted in five student deaths and 30 injuries, deeply affecting survivors of the 1979 shooting.

Brenda Spencer Photo by Scottish Policy Now

The incident inspired Bob Geldof and Johnnie Fingers of the Boomtown Rats to write the song "I Don't Like Mondays," released in 1979. The song became a hit in the UK and Ireland but did not achieve the same success in the US. Geldof later claimed that Spencer had written to him, expressing pride in her infamy, a claim she denied.

The shooting has been featured in several documentaries and TV series, including "The Killing of America" (1981), "I Don't Like Mondays" (2006), and episodes of "Killer Kids" and "Deadly Women."