1927 School Bombing Was Deadliest In American History

Sadly, America has seen a few school massacres with a higher body count than the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Sandy Hook is the second worst school shooting in American history and the third worst school massacre. The deadliest school massacre in United States history was a 1927 school bombing referred to as the Bath School Disaster.

[You can see a list of the 10 Deadliest School Massacres In American History here.]

The 1927 school bombing occurred at a schoolhouse in Bath, Michigan. Forty five people were killed during the incident, including the bomber, 55-year-old Andrew Kehoe.

Unfortunately, the high body count isn’t the only thing that the Bath School Disaster has in common with the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Like the Newton shooting last week, the majority of victims during the 1927 school bombing were children. According to Voice News, 38 children were killed during the bombing.

Yahoo News reports that Kehoe was upset about a new tax levied upon the community to build a new school. Kehoe, who was a board member at the school as well as the caretaker, blamed the new school for the financial problems that led him to lose his farm. Kehoe was so enraged with the new tax that he decided to blow up the building.

The motive behind Adam Lanza’s horrific rampage aren’t known yet but the Newtown shooting does have one other thing in common with the 1927 school bombing. Before Kehoe enacted his plan to blow up the school he attacked and killed his wife. Police believe that Lanza also attacked a love one, his mother, before he went on his rampage.

According to Voice News, Kehoe killed his wife and lit his barn on fire before making his way to the school. While firefighters were putting out the fire on his farm he set off several bombs at the school.

Several teachers and students lost their lives during the initial attack but Kehoe still wasn’t quite out of explosives. The 55-year-old farmer waited in his car next to the school for the authorities. When they arrived, he blew up the car, killing himself, the superintendent and several other people.

The 1927 school bombing known as the Bath School Disaster remains the deadliest school massacre in American history. Unfortunately, several incidents have challenged the Bath School Disaster in recent years. Two of the deadliest incidents have occurred in the last five years. Five of the seven deadliest incidents have occurred in the last 15 years.

You can see the 10 deadliest school massacres in American history here.