Remembering the victims of the May 1998 Thurston shooting

Twenty-five years ago today, a 15-year-old Thurston High School student killed four people and shot and wounded 25 others. Fatally shot were:

Mikael Nickolauson, 17

Mikael was a Thurston High School junior and a private in the Oregon National Guard before he died in the May 21, 1998, shooting on campus. He had been doing homework at a table in the cafeteria with his fiancée, Michelle Calhoun, before gunfire broke out there. Mikael's interests included computers, and he served as a teacher's aide in the computer lab at Thurston Middle School. He had been scheduled to begin basic training in the Oregon National Guard following the 1997-98 school year, after enlisting as a systems analyst and computer programmer.

Ben Walker, 16

Thurston sophomore Ben Walker was shot as he stood in a hallway with friends and later died at a hospital. He had moved to Springfield from southern Oregon in 1997. Friends at the time described Ben as easygoing and always happy, and said that he enjoyed "Ace Ventura" movies and the "Final Fantasy Seven" role-playing video game. He'd told people that he eventually wanted to own a brewery. At his funeral, Springfield Mayor Bill Morrisette announced that Ben's organs had been donated to 12 other people.

Bill and Faith Kinkel

The married couple and parents of Thurston shooter Kip Kinkel were slain by their son in their home east of Springfield before the high school shooting occurred. Faith Kinkel was 57; her husband was 59. The couple had been married since 1972.

Faith Kinkel was born in Cleveland and graduated from Bowling Green State University. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer before obtaining a master's in education in 1970. She taught language classes in the Eugene School District from 1970 to 1982 and at Lane Community College from 1970 to 1972, then began work at Springfield High School in 1989. She was chosen as Springfield's teacher of the year for 1998. She enjoyed hiking, traveling, skiing, international studies and astronomy, and she was interested in environmental issues.

Bill Kinkel was an Idaho native who received a master's in education from the University of Oregon in 1965. He went on to teach foreign languages, adult education and tennis. He worked at Thurston Middle School and Thurston High School for 25 years before retiring in 1991, but had continued to teach classes at Lane Community College, where he had worked since 1972. He was an avid tennis player, a member of the Eugene Swim and Tennis Club, and also enjoyed skiing and sailing.

25 years later: Healing from the Thurston High shooting

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Remembering the victims of the May 1998 Thurston shooting