In May of 1986, David Young stormed into the elementary school in Cokeville, Wyoming, and took over one hundred and fifty children and their teachers hostage. I was ten years old at the time and barely remember the news stories about it, so reading this nonfiction book about the tragedy was fresh to me. However, I somewhat misspeak when I call it a tragedy, for while it was truly a frightening and life-changing experience, it was also a miracle.
David Young was mentally disturbed and believed that if he were to kill the children in the school, when they reached Heaven, he would be a God over them. He wrote up his beliefs in a confusing document which he mailed to important people all over the country, including President Reagan, and brought not only a bomb but several firearms into the school with him. He told the teachers that if they did not do everything he demanded, he would start shooting the children. He then wired his wrist to a trigger on the bomb, and if he chose to raise his arm, the bomb would go off, taking the entire room with it.
We see the events from many angles, as the Wixoms interviewed eyewitnesses to the event. Their own son was one of the children who was held hostage, and he provided much useful information.
As the afternoon wore on, David excused himself to go into the bathroom. He detached the trigger from his wrist and put it on his wife’s. She had been with him the whole time, supporting him in his cause, although it’s not known if she, too, was mentally disturbed. One would conjecture that yes, she would have to be, to go along with this. After David left the room, she subconsciously made a gesture with her arm, and the bomb went off.
Heat and fire raced around the room, causing a smoky inferno. And yet, every single teacher and child in that classroom made it out alive, and the only deaths were that of David and his wife.
The children, once safe at home, told their parents that angels came and told them precisely where in the room to stand. They told the children to go near the window, to stay away from the walls, and to be ready, because the bomb was going to go off. The instructions given were so precise that when the bomb did go off, the children knew exactly what to do, and every single one of them survived.
I wept as I read these children’s words and their simple, yet heartfelt testimonies that their Heavenly Father was watching out for them and sent angels to keep them as safe as possible.
There are many other miracles related to this event, and I would encourage you to pick up a copy of this book and learn about them for yourself. I was repeatedly touched by the sheer miracle of the outcome. By all accounts, every child in that room should have been killed, and yet not one of them did. Absolutely miraculous.
(This edition of the book was published in 2008 by Cedar Fort. The first edition, published in 1994,was the basis for the movie “To Save the Children,” starring Robert Urich and Richard Thomas.)
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