Campus Alert Archive
Simon's Rock

The Ammunition Package That Was Opened, Then Ignored: Simon's Rock 1992

MAactive shooteremergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the evening of December 14, 1992, 18-year-old student Wayne Lo opened fire with an SKS rifle at Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, killing student Galen Gibson, 18, and professor Ñacuñán Sáez, 37, and wounding four others. Earlier that day, staff had discovered ammunition in a package addressed to Lo but did not notify police. Lo's rifle jammed after firing at least nine rounds, and he surrendered by calling police himself.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
2
Injured
4
Institution
Bard College at Simon's Rock
Private Liberal Arts · MA
~400 students
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTPhone
Approximate reconstruction189 chars
EMERGENCY: There is a shooter on campus. All students must lock their doors and stay inside their rooms. Do not go outside. Campus security and police have been notified and are responding.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Simon's Rock had approximately 400 students in 1992 and no electronic alert system
Security guard Theresa Beavers was among the wounded; she had been the one who earlier discovered ammunition in a package addressed to Lo
The shooting spanned approximately 18 minutes and covered about a quarter mile of campus
ALL CLEARPhone
Approximate reconstruction210 chars
The situation on campus has been resolved. The shooter has been taken into custody by police. Emergency medical services are treating the injured. Students should remain in their rooms until contacted by staff.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Lo's SKS rifle jammed after firing at least nine rounds, ending the shooting
Lo walked to the student union building and called police himself to surrender
An anonymous caller had warned school officials earlier that evening that Lo was armed and planned to kill, but police were never notified
FOLLOW-UPWebsite
Verified verbatimStatement by Dean Bernard F. Rodgers, Jr. quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education's December 1992 'Questions in the Wake of Shooting at Simon's Rock' and reproduced in subsequent Berkshire Eagle and Wikipedia coverage157 chars
A decision was made to deliver the package unopened, and then immediately find out what was in it. In retrospect, of course, I wish we had acted differently.
Rodgers was the dean of the college on December 14, 1992; this is the only contemporaneous, on-the-record acknowledgment from Simon's Rock leadership about the failure to open the ammunition package or call police
The package contained 7.62mm rifle ammunition shipped from Classic Arms to Wayne Lo earlier that day; staff opted to give it to him unopened
Rodgers's 'I wish we had acted differently' became one of the most-cited institutional admissions in pre-Virginia Tech campus-violence literature
Context

Background

The 1992 Simon's Rock shooting is notable both as an early campus mass shooting and as a case study in institutional failure to act on warning signs. On the morning of December 14, 1992, receptionist Theresa Beavers discovered 7.62mm ammunition in a package from Classic Arms addressed to Wayne Lo. Residence director Katherine Robinson searched Lo's room but found nothing. That evening, an anonymous student called school officials claiming Lo was armed and planned violence against the Robinson family. The Robinsons left campus, but no one called police. At approximately 10:15 PM EST, Lo, who had purchased an SKS semi-automatic rifle from a Pittsfield sporting goods store earlier that day, began shooting at vehicles, buildings, and people. He killed student Galen Gibson and Spanish professor Ñacuñán Sáez and wounded security guard Beavers and three students (Thomas McElderry, Joshua Faber, and Matthew David). The shooting ended when Lo's rifle jammed. He walked to the student union and called police to surrender. Galen Gibson's father, Greg Gibson, later wrote the book 'Gone Boy' about his son's death and eventually met face-to-face with Lo in a 2017 StoryCorps conversation.
Analysis

Key Findings

Staff discovered ammunition addressed to Lo and received an anonymous warning call, but police were never notified, representing a critical failure in threat assessment
The shooter purchased the SKS rifle legally from a sporting goods store the same day as the shooting
Simon's Rock had roughly 400 students and no mass notification system; warnings spread person-to-person
The rifle jamming after nine rounds likely prevented additional casualties
Outcome
Wayne Lo was convicted and sentenced to two life sentences without parole plus 20 years. He may now be eligible for parole following a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling on juvenile and young adult sentencing. The shooting raised questions about institutional responsibility when warning signs are reported and not acted upon.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Source
    1992 Bard College at Simon's Rock shooting (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  2. News
    Berkshire Eagle: Wounds still raw 25 years after Simon's Rock shooting rampage
    berkshireeagle.com
  3. Source
    Salon: Our school shooting
    salon.com
  4. Source
    NPR StoryCorps: A Father Speaks To His Son's Killer Face To Face
    npr.org
Tags
active-shootersmall-collegeliberal-artswarning-signs-missedpre-clery-notificationno-alert-systemweapon-malfunction1992historical
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion