JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The final police report in the murder-suicide at Episcopal School of Jacksonville last month was released Friday afternoon.
Head of school Dale Regan was shot and killed by former teacher Shane Schumerth, who was fired that morning. Schumerth, who returned to the school about five hours after he was escorted off campus, then killed himself with the same weapon.
In the report, a coach who meeting with Regan in her office gives a detailed description of the tragedy.
The coach said he was sitting on a couch next to Regan's door, and he said the side door of Regan's office opened and he immediately recognized the intruder as Schumerth, according to the report.
The coach said Schumerth had a cloth guitar case, took it off his shoulder and unzipped it.
Regan said, "Excuse me. What are you doing? Can't you see we're in a meeting?"
Schumerth stood silent for several moments, then pulled an AK-47 out of the case, the coach said, according to the report.
The coach yelled, "Shane, no, no," according to the report.
He said he left the room and thought Regan was right behind him, according to the report.
The coach said he heard five to seven shots, and then a single shot.
Police said the coach would have had to get by a table, sofa chair and the chair Regan was sitting in before reaching Schumerth to overpower him. The coach told police he "instinctively ran out the door and expected Ms. Regan to be right behind him," according to the report.
No note was found from Schumerth.
His family in Indiana had no prior inkling what he was planning, according to the report. His brother told police Schumerth was dealing with depression issues, but refused to seek help.
At his home, investigators found a receipt for the AK-47 that he'd bought at a gun show Feb. 5, a month before the shootings, according to the report.
Regan, a mother of two sons, had worked at Episcopal for 34 years as an educator. More than 3,000 thousand people attended her funeral.