Jeffrey James "Jeff" Weise (August 8, 1988 – March 21, 2005) was labeled an outsider in the Red Lake community and had recently been placed in "homebound" schooling for breaking school rules. In 1992, his mother began dating a man who allegedly also abused Jeff. After having two children, the couple married on June 27, 1998. In 1997, when Weise was eight years old, his father died by suicide at the age of 32; he shot himself with a shotgun after a days-long standoff with Red Lake
tribal police. Weise's grandfather, Daryl Lussier Sr., was a sergeant with the tribal police and involved in the standoff. Two years later, his mother was in an alcohol-related car accident and suffered severe brain damage. She had to be
committed to a nursing home for rehabilitation. Weise was placed in the custody of his paternal grandmother, having to leave Minneapolis, where he had lived most of his life, to live with her and other paternal relatives on the Red Lake reservation. Weise became close to his paternal grandfather and his younger companion, Michelle Sigana, who had given him his own room with them. The family said he had a good relationship with both. In 2000, his mother and her husband separated; they completed the divorce in May 2004. Their custody arrangements covered only the children they had together, and not Weise. By 2003, his mother had moved to an assisted-living facility; she had recovered enough from her accident to work part-time, and had regained speech. Weise chose to stay with his grandmother rather than rejoin his mother and move again. Another teacher described Weise as "a pretty bright kid, but ... lazy when it came to school." Several students remembered Weise as being non-violent. A
LiveJournal account, apparently created by Weise, contained three entries posted between December 2004 and January 2005. The
weblog was customized to be rendered in black and white. In his posts, Weise expressed his desire for change and salvation in his life.
The Guardian and
CBS News alleged that Weise had an account named Todesengel (German: 'angel of death') on nazi.org, a
neo-Nazi website operated by the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party. On a talkboard hosted by nazi.org, there were many entries signed by someone going by the name Jeff Weise, stating that he was a Native American from Red Lake. These entries criticized interracial marriage on the reservation and shamed Native American teens for listening to rap music, claiming it makes them violent.
Motives Police investigators began searching for a motive behind the shootings. According to their findings and media reports, Weise was often
bullied or teased in school by classmates. A tall youth weighing 250 pounds (115 kg), he was known to wear dark
eyeliner, Although Weise was sometimes described as a loner, several students said he had numerous friends. I had went through a lot of things in my life that had driven me to a darker path than most choose to take. I split the flesh on my wrist with a box opener, painting the floor of my bedroom with blood I shouldn't have spilt. After sitting there for what seemed like hours (which apparently was only minutes), I had the revelation that this was not the path. It was my dicision to seek medical treatment, as on the other hand I could have chose to sit there until enough blood drained from my downward lascerations on my wrists to die. After he attempted suicide again the following month in June 2004, his aunts arranged with the Red Lake Medical Center for him to be hospitalized at a facility away from the reservation. His continuing treatment included counseling and a prescription for
Prozac, an
anti-depressant. The extended Lussier family had been involved for years in trying to help him, and arranged for Weise to have care and psychiatric treatment for depression. Dr. Leslie Lundt, a psychiatrist, has commented that a parent's suicide put individuals at high risk for psychological problems, as does alcohol abuse in the family. Weise ended up staying at the Red Lake Medical Center for three days. One source said that his doctor had increased his dosage a week before the shooting, to 60 mg a day of Prozac. His grandmother said he had not seen the doctor since February 21. His aunts said they were concerned about the increase in his dosage. == Aftermath ==