Pain from Butte school shooting 30 years ago still lingers for parents

BUTTE - It was 30 years ago when a stray bullet took the life of an 11-year-old boy who was simply waiting in line to go to class at Margaret Leary Elementary in Butte.

For the parents of Jeremy Bullock, the tragic events of that day are still too painful for them to talk about, and what’s equally painful is the specter of school shootings continuing to haunt this country.

“Every anniversary is terrible; it seems especially hard though because the school shootings keep happening,” said Jeremy’s father Bill Bullock.

John Emeigh

It was April 12 ^th , 1994, when a 10-year-old student pulled a handgun on another student and fired three shots. Though he wasn’t the intended target, Jeremy was struck by one bullet and died.

Since that time, Jeremy’s parents, Bill and Robin, have helped organize the Jeremy Bullock Safe Schools Summit to bring together educators, law enforcement, councilors, and others to find ways to improve safety at schools.

“We really want to stress how much we need each other in order to be successful. Nobody can do it by themselves,” said Jeremy’s mother Robin Bullock.

Bill Bullock added, “Even if it’s one life in Montana or across the country or ten, we may not fix it all, but what we’re doing is making that difference.”

The Bullocks also had the soccer fields next to Margret Leary's school named in Jeremy’s honor.

“Loved soccer, loved school, perpetual reader, he and his identical brother Joshua. Just loved life,” said Robin Bullock.

More tragedy struck the Bullock family when their other son, Navy pilot Richard “Max” Bullock, died in a plane crash during training in 2022.

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“That’s been a real hard road for us, but we have them both in Heaven watching over the rest of the crew,” said Bill Bullock.