20 Years Ago: Laurie Dann School Massacre

CHICAGO (WINNETKA, Ill.) -- On this day 20 years ago, a woman opened fire on an elementary school in Winnetka, shooting six children and leaving one dead.

The Laurie Dann massacre in the affluent North Shore suburb is remembered as the first modern school shooting.

Dann stormed into the school and opened fire on a second grade classroom. Nicholas Corwin, 8, was killed in the massacre at Hubbard Woods Elementary School, at 1110 Chatfield Rd. in Winnetka.

Earlier that day, Dann set a home on fire and also sent packages containing poisoned juice boxes and rice treats to people she knew as far away as California.

After the school massacre, she ran into a nearby home and took a family hostage, then shot one family member, 20-year-old college student Philip J. Andrew, in the chest when police arrived. Andrew survived.

Dann then took her own life.

Dann had a documented history of mental illness, but a motive for the crimes was never determined.

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