Security is an increasingly serious issue across countries around the world. In the past, there have been many stories of senseless shootings and murders, with victims ranging from the elderly to elementary school children. In 2013, Michael Brandon Hill put his name firmly in the rhetoric about the dangers of guns and the need for gun control.
He was 20 when he walked into an elementary school with a fully loaded assault rifle, mentally prepared to shoot the place. Without the bravery of the school accountant, Antoinette Tuff, the story could have ended very differently. So what has happened to Michael since? Here we expose everything we know about elementary school shooting and shooter.
Michael Brandon Hill – Bio
Other than his various criminal offenses and misdemeanors, no one really knows anything about the armed madman. There is no significant information online regarding his time and, if any, his upbringing.
Michael Brandon Hill has a checkerboard history, which is well documented. Michael was born on June 28, 1993. Nothing is known about any member of his family except his older brother, Tim. He grew mentally and was so disturbed that he was arrested until his arrest in February 2009, aged 15, for stealing.
His brother, Tim, speaking to ABC some time after the elementary school shooting confirmed that Michael had also threatened to kill him a few months prior and even posted a message about it on Facebook. Prior to his elementary school shooting assignment, Michael had been off his medication for a while.
What happened to him?
On August 20, 2013, Michael Brandon Hill armed himself to the teeth with an AK-47 and 500 rounds of ammunition. He entered the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, located in Decatur, DeKalb County, about a mile from his home. He was fully prepared to kill anyone in his path, including staff, parents and students.
Somehow he got past the school’s security zone, past the entrance and into the building. Michael then took the first member of staff he saw – Antoinette Tuff, the school accountant, hostage.
Luckily, Tuff, like all of the other staff, has been trained for situations like this. Calling on her training, she didn’t panic. Hull then took her to an office while the other staff members safely ushered the students out of the school.
The gunman’s first request was that Tuff call a local television station. He wanted them to film the whole event and, according to him, “film the police die”. To Tuff’s credit, she tried to calm him down by telling him her personal story about her life, her struggles, and her subsequent divorce. Unbeknownst to Michael, Antoinette had made an emergency 911 call that recorded her entire conversation with Brandon Hill.
His calm coercion finally began to work its magic. And soon, Michael told her to call the DeKalb County probation office to let them know what was going on.
Additionally, although no one was injured in the incident, there was a brief exchange of gunfire when police arrived at the scene. Michael Brandon Hill fired a few shots and the police returned fire. It is unclear how many shots were fired by the shooter or the police. What is known is that Hill surrendered almost immediately.
Tuff later admitted, after Hill was taken in, that she thought he would have killed everyone if she hadn’t kept him in the office.
After Hill was remanded in custody, Marlena Baldacci reported on CNN that all of the children were picked up and rounded up in the parking lot of the Walmart store across from the school. This is where the parents came to pick up their children.
DeKalb police also reported searching the premises and Michael’s car after the situation deescalated. They reported finding some kind of explosive device in the trunk of the car. The police bomb squad then evacuated a nearby neighborhood and carried out a controlled explosion.
Where is he now?
After Michael Brandon Hill was arrested by the police, he apologized and revealed he was out of meds. Speaking to ABC Atlanta, his older brother, Tim, confirmed that Michael has been forced into drug addiction since at least the turn of this year. He described their mother’s house which looked like the inside of a pharmacy due to Michael’s condition.
He was already there earlier in the year for the threats made against his brother’s life. Michael was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and aggravated assault of a police officer. He was also re-arrested in mid-March 2013 and sentenced to probation for making terrorist threats in DeKalb and Henry counties.
Michael’s medical conditions and bipolar nature also meant that he had attempted suicide nine times in the past. It was after these two incidents that he was diagnosed as medically ill and prescribed psychiatric medication.
After the failed school shooting, Michael’s trial in Brandon Hill saw him plead guilty to 13 counts. These included illegal possession of firearms, school transportation, aggravated assault, burglary and terrorist threats.
Michael is stalling. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, which he is currently serving in DeKalb County Jail.