Gary Scott Pennington: Distal and Proximal Shame in a School Rampage Shooting
Abstract
On January 19, 1993, Gary Scott Pennington, an impoverished 17-year-old from Grayson, Kentucky, brought his mother's .38-caliber revolver to school concealed in his backpack and, during English class, shot his teacher, with whom he had disputed a grade, and the school custodian. This case merits special attention because it was one of the earliest of what the FBI refers to as a “targeted school shooting,” and has some unusual characteristics, such as Pennington's intelligence and intellectual curiosity; the reenactment, during the crime, of details from a Stephen King book he had recently read; and the cessation of his stuttering after the crime. The case is interpreted through the use of shame theory. The concepts of distal shame and proximal shame are introduced as a means of understanding motive in school rampage shootings.
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Published In
Violence and Gender
Volume 1 • Issue Number 3 • September 2014
Pages: 134 - 142
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Copyright 2014, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
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Published online: 19 September 2014
Published in print: September 2014
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