The Cokeville Miracle by Hartt Wixom

The Cokeville Miracle by Hartt Wixom

On May 16, 1986, around 1:30 p.m., David Young and his wife, Doris, quietly took control of Cokeville Elementary. Wielding a homemade bomb and several guns, the Youngs took staff hostage as they made their way to the first-grade classroom. Students and teachers throughout the school were unknowingly drawn into the crisis when Doris Young went from room to room, instructing them to gather.

Slowly they filed into the 30-by-32-foot room where the rest of the school was being held--154 people in all. Inside stood David Young, a string detonator around his wrist and a homemade bomb by his side.

David Young was a former Cokeville town marshall fired for misconduct years earlier, had returned to start a revolution and create a brave new world where he would be leader. And he demanded a ransom of $2 million per child.

Later that afternoon the bomb went off and should have leveled an entire wing of the School, yet only two people lost their lives. This book provides an in-depth look at the miracles that saved 154 lives.