After the spate of news stories following the Red Lake Massacre that killed ten people painted gunman Jeff Weise as a loner, Minnesota will be surprised to find out that the FBI has arrested another teenager as a co-conspirator. Louis Jourdain, the son of the tribal chief, was taken into custody last night and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, according to the Star Tribune:

The teenage son of Red Lake Tribal Chairman Floyd Jourdain Jr. was charged with conspiracy Monday in connection with the March 21 shootings that killed 10 people, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

The source said that Louis Jourdain, who is believed to be 16 or 17, plotted with the gunman, Jeffrey Weise, to violently attack Red Lake High School.

One witness told reporters that Jourdain hid out with her in the library and knew without looking that Weise was the shooter, a development which apparently has led to evidence that the attack was to have been larger and more coordinated. At the moment, no one says that Jourdain actually took part in the shooting. It looks more like the FBI thinks that Jourdain helped to plan it and was supposed to assist Weise in the massacre, but for some reason didn't and failed to warn anyone of Weise's intentions.

The native community at Red Lake sounds very much on edge, and their reaction indicates that more may be at the bottom of this massacre than first met the eye:

Some of the victim's relatives, such as the mother of Dewayne Lewis, declined to comment on the arrest. A family member of another victim was afraid to talk about it because "someone might come by and shoot at the house." ...

Tonya Lussier, the older sister of victim Chase Lussier, said Monday that she was shocked when she learned about the younger Jourdain's arrest -- and is concerned that there could be more people involved.

"I hope they catch everybody who was involved and knew what was going on," she said.

Said Victoria Brun: "I won't feel safe. These kids won't feel safe. This community won't feel safe until they're all brought in custody."

Was Weise the loner that the FBI initially portrayed -- or did he have a group of likeminded teenagers who helped him plan this out? Jourdain's arrest may portend even further revelations that could tear Red Lake apart. This demonstrates the risk of the easy characterization of murderers as anomalies and "loners" without ensuring more monsters aren't in our midst.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has more on the possible conspiracy:

One of the sources, who spoke on the condition his name not be used, said Jourdain and Weise exchanged e-mails that discussed Weise's intent to go on a shooting rampage at the school. Other teenagers who were in e-mail contact with Weise also could face charges in the coming days...

...One source with knowledge of the case said the alleged e-mails between Jourdain and Weise took place days and weeks before the shooting, and involved discussions in which Weise - and perhaps others - expressed an intent to commit an act of violence at the school.

So what exactly were the kids at Red Lake doing in their spare time?

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Red Lake Shooter Not Exactly A Loner:

» Was the Red Lake Shooter a Loner? from Cyber-Conservative
Captain Ed of Captain's Quarters has found a story in the Star-Tribune that indicates he may not have been:
[Read More]

Tracked on March 29, 2005 8:03 PM