The crime
On January 29, 1979, 16-year-old Brenda Spencer opened fire on an elementary school across the street from her home. The principal and the school’s custodian were killed; eight children and a police officer were wounded.

Charged as an adult, Spencer pled guilty and got 25 to life. She is eligible for parole but it has not been granted to date.

The story
I Don’t Like Mondays is the title of a 2006 UK TV documentary on the case and Spencer, as well as of a hit song by Bob Geldof’s Boomtown Rats that turned a landmark tragedy into an inescapable pop-cult artifact, at least in Monday-morning carpools with moms who allowed K-Rock.