SPOKANE, Wash. — NEW: Nearly five years after a shooting that left a community in grief, a judge sentenced the Freeman High School shooter who ended the life of a classmate and left three freshman girls wounded.
On Friday, Judge Michael Price sentenced Caleb Sharpe to 40 years to life in prison, with additional lifetime supervision. Sharpe will get credit for the roughly five years he has already served in jail.
Caleb Sharpe’s isolation, lack of parental oversight and knowing the combination of his father’s gun safe, and Sharpe’s good behavior while in custody all factored into Judge Price’s decision. He said his ruling was made to ensure Sharpe’s sentencing was not reversed during the appeal process, reopening the wound for the Freeman community. Judge Price quoted a Freeman High School student present during the shooting ahead of the announcement - “I choose healing going forward, and I’m going to fight to live a full life.”
Randy Russell, Freeman School District Superintendent, released the following message following the sentencing:
“We are relieved this case is finally over. This has been a very difficult time - almost five years - to endure for our Freeman community, especially for the victims and their families. We are so proud of our students, staff, and parents who have been resilient and resolute.
We look forward to our future and we want to thank all those who have stood by Freeman and offered their love and support during this time. Your kindness will never be forgotten. We remain Freeman Strong.”
Shooter Speaks in Court for the First Time
The Freeman High School shooter spoke for the first time ahead of his final sentencing on Friday.
Caleb Sharpe spoke for the first time since September 2017 when he opened fire at Freeman High School. Sharpe killed fellow classmate, Sam Strahan, and injured three freshman girls. Sharpe pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges related to the shooting in January.
During the last day of sentencing, Sharpe removed his mask to apologize to the victims and their families.
"I'm sorry to this entire community. I'm sorry to -every single person I forced PTSD upon," Sharpe said. "I'm sorry to all the people who can't go out in public anymore. Sorry to people who can't sleep at night in fear. Sorry, to everybody who I stole their innocence and high school experience."
"I'm sorry to Gracie Jensen, Emma, the scars on their bodies in their minds that I can never erase or take back. And most of all, I am sorry to Ami and Emily for taking Sam from them. "
Sharpe said that Wednesday of September 2017 showed him the true 'cost of evil.'
"I don't live to myself anymore. I can't," he said. "I pray for forgiveness is God himself distributed."
Sharpe also offered an apology to the community.
"I owe this community this entire courtroom, so many outside of it so much more to be better, do good and live for that good only and I know when using that word of 'Oh that I can never repay never do enough penance to take back or pay back would have taken,' but my faith sustains me," He said.
Sharpe's final sentence comes five years after the shooting following five days of opening statements from doctors, attorneys and heartbreaking testimonies from the victims and families.
On Thursday during the court hearing, the two victims, Emma Nees and Gracie Jensen, described what happened the day Sharpe shot them in the second-floor hallway of their school nearly five years ago. Their parents also shared the heartbreak they've felt since that day. They asked the judge to give the shooter the maximum sentence.
In addition to the two victims and their parents, Ami Strahan, the mother of Sam Strahan, the Freeman student who was killed in the shooting, also shared her story.
Timeline of Freeman High School Shooting Events
According to court documents and witness accounts, the shooting at Freeman High School happened in a span of five minutes. Reports of the first shots fired came in at 10:08 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 13.
The shooting suspect was detained by school staff by 10:13 a.m. Police and fire were notified of a school shooting at Freeman High School at 10:08 a.m. and at 10:13 a.m. reports indicated the shooting suspect was detained by school staff.
What happened in those five minutes forever changed Freeman High School and the community.
On the morning of September 13, a bus driver said she picked up the suspect at his regular bus stop near his home. Documents said she saw him get on the bus carrying a large athletic-style duffel bag. The bus driver later told detectives she thought it was suspicious since the suspect does not play sports, but did not report it prior to the shooting.
The suspect told detectives he had an AR-15 in the duffel bag and hid a handgun inside his coat pocket.
When he got to school, the suspect said he walked inside from a back side entrance and immediately walked up the stairs to the second-floor hallway. When he got upstairs, surveillance video showed he dropped the duffel bag, removed the AR-15 and tried to load rounds into it. The gun immediately jammed, according to documents, and he struggled to load it. Documents said several students witnessed this, and according to the suspect, he was told he would get into trouble for this.
After the rifle jammed, documents said the suspect dropped it and pulled the handgun out from under his coat. Another student, Samuel Strahan, came up to him and according to documents said, "I always knew you were going to shoot up the school" and "you know that is going to get you in trouble."
The suspect then started shooting, killing Strahan and injuring three other students: Emma Nees, Jordyn Goldsmith and Gracie Jensen.
Documents said the suspect continued firing until the pistol jammed. While trying to unjam the pistol, documents said the suspect accidentally fired another round, which struck the floor nearby.
According to the search warrant, one girl, who was shot in the arm, was pulled out of the hallway and into a chemistry room where people tried to help her. Another student told KREM 2 she laid down in the hallway next to another girl who was shot and held her hand and prayed with her.
Freeman High School teacher John Hays saw the suspect walk past his classroom carrying a handgun after hearing numerous gunshots immediately outside his classroom along the long hallway. Documents said Hays walked out of his classroom and saw the suspect had dropped his gun. Hays told detectives the suspect was raising his hands above his head, surrendering to Joe Bowen, a custodian at the high school, who was approaching him. Bowen ordered the suspect to lie down on the floor.
Documents said Hays immediately saw an assault-style rifle on the floor near his classroom door, so he picked it up and took it into his classroom to keep it out of reach. Bowen held the suspect down until Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Nye, Freeman’s school resource officer, arrived and took him into custody. Deputy Nye was at the middle school nearby when shots were fired, according to the sheriff’s office.
When detectives arrived at Freeman High School, they reported seeing numerous fired cartridge cases scattered on the floor along the majority of the second-floor hallway. Detectives also said the hallway was covered in a trail of an unknown white powder. A large black sports-style duffel bag with numerous boxes of rifle ammunition in it was found at the far end of the hallway, according to documents.
Suspect’s Behavior Before the Shooting
The suspect was in the care of a school counselor and mental health professional for suicidal thoughts, which prompted his temporary suspension, according to documents.
A friend of the suspect said he handed out threatening notes the first or second day of school this year. Students said the notes said he was going to do something stupid to where either he gets killed or put in jail.
Other students said the suspect was active on social media and that they knew he liked to play with guns. KREM 2 found several videos the suspect posted on YouTube where he repeatedly pretends to be shot and pretends to shoot others.
Court documents said the suspect’s mother found a suicide note in their home that was written more than a week ago. When Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich was asked to clarify the timeline of when the note was found, he said that was unclear.
The suspect also told detectives he knew the combination of his father’s large gun safe in their home and that he is familiar with the operation of firearms. The suspect’s father confirmed with detectives his son knew the combination to the gun safe.
A friend of the suspect also told detectives the suspect makes improvised explosive devices at home.
During a search of the home, court documents said detectives found a list of chemicals and a practice Molotov cocktail.
Charges
Sharpe pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including first-degree murder and second-degree assault in January of 2022. He is being tried as an adult.
The shooter's defense was asking for a 20-year sentence due to the shooter's age and immaturity at the time of the shooting.
Prosecutors asked for a minimum sentence of 35 years as they argue Sharpe still exhibited a lack of remorse and true understanding of what he did.
Statement From Experts and Doctors
During Monday's hearing, psychologist Dr. Craig Beaver described Sharpe's home life prior to the shooting as "isolating."
“As his parents will describe, he became more and more reclusive, less and less coming out of his room," Beaver said. "Basically, cocooning himself in his room during this period.”
The defense attorney asked him about a report the school counselor made prior to the shooting. Beaver said it had major red flags that concerned him, adding that the report indicated the shooter obsessively watched videos about Columbine. The shooter also admitted he had access to guns in the house.
“I wouldn’t have let that go. That needed to be addressed aggressively," he said. "A safety plan that included getting those guns out of there and locked up should have been number one the first time they met. Didn’t happen.”
Beaver said he doesn’t understand why school staff and the shooter’s parents didn’t take diligent steps to ensure it was safe to return to school, let alone do any follow-up on the access to guns.
“Dad called up the school principal and said, 'Yeah, he’s doing great, he’s going to school.' And they go, 'Fine.' There was no formal assessment letter or report that was reviewed," he added. "There was no safety plan put into effect to monitor him closely when he was back at school to make sure everything was safe.”
The doctor also testified the shooter currently shows motivation to change and has a low risk of reoffending. When asked what kind of treatment he believed Sharpe needed to ensure the safety of the community prior to his release, Beaver said individual and group therapy.
Shooting Victim Statements and Parents
During Thursday's hearing sentencing, the two victims, Emma Nees and Gracie Jensen described what happened the day Sharpe shot them on the second-floor hallway of their school nearly five years ago. Their parents shared the heartbreak they've felt since that day, asking the judge to give the shooter the maximum sentence.
"The next thing I remember is laying in the hole, stuck, unable to get up and move," Gracie Jensen told the shooter in her court testimony. "As I lay there, I watched you walk by me. Lockdown alarm blaring, wearing all black with the most emotionless face I've ever seen. Shooting at my classmates as they run their lives into classrooms. I screamed. There was nothing else I could do."
"The fact that Gracie survived is remarkable," Eric Jensen, Gracie's father, said. "The fact that she can walk is a miracle."
"I started running and was so scared because I felt like I was running in slow motion," Emma Nees said in her testimony. "I felt a sort of pressure near my hip area. I didn't even think twice about it because my mission was to get to the nearest classroom as fast as possible. As I was running, I began thinking there's absolutely no way I'm getting out of this. But, the scariest part for me was yet to come."
"You took so much from her, Caleb," Staci Nees, Emma's mother, told the shooter. "You took her innocence. You extinguished her jovial personality, her ability to enjoy life without fear."
In addition to the two victims and their parents, Ami Strahan also shared her story. She is the mother of Sam Strahan, the Freeman student who was killed in the shooting.
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