Red Lake Shootings

Red Lake, Minn. (AP) ― Family members who lost loved ones in last year's shooting on the Red Lake Indian Reservation hoped a meeting with U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger would provide them with more details about what happened inside Red Lake High School.

Heffelfinger scheduled a meeting Monday afternoon with family members of victims. The meeting at the Hampton Inn was closed to the public, and only certain immediate family members, such as parents and spouses, were told they could attend.

Ten people died in March when 16-year-old Jeff Weise went on a shooting rampage that ended with the deadliest school shooting since Columbine. Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend, then went to the high school where he killed seven people before taking his own life.

While some surviving family members hoped they'd find out details about the shooting, others were skeptical.

"I don't know what they'll release. I have no idea," said Francis Brun, who lost his 28-year-old son, Derrick, in the shooting spree. "I'm not too enthused about it, I'll tell you. I've been around bureaucrats too long to know they'll talk out of both ends ... sometimes they don't say nothing."

Heffelfinger's meeting comes soon after the end of his office's prosecution of Louis Jourdain, the teenage son of tribal Chairman Floyd Jourdain Jr., behind closed doors in juvenile federal court. Victims' families tried and failed to get access to that proceeding, and some were angered that Floyd Jourdain wouldn't reveal his son's sentence afterward.

Louis Jourdain, now 17, acknowledged exchanging threatening e-mails with Weise, but a judge ruled that the younger Jourdain was not directly involved in the shooting.

Brun isn't so sure.

"I don't know if they can convince me that Louie was not involved," said Brun, who planned to attend Monday's meeting with his wife.

Steven Cobenais, a 16-year-old who was shot in the face, also planned to attend the meeting with his parents, LeeAnn and Llewellyn Thunder. The family said Sunday they didn't know what to expect, but they hoped to learn more about what happened and who was involved.

Heffelfinger also planned a similar meeting on Tuesday with members of the Tribal Council and some school board members, said Mary Kay Klein, an attorney for the Red Lake School District. That meeting would also be closed to the public.

Klein said the meeting was designed to update those who attend about what federal authorities learned in their investigation. She said Heffelfinger set the meeting agenda, and that he would tell those in attendance what he feels is appropriate.

"I think there are a lot of concerns that people have, and there are certainly a lot of rumors about what happened and who was involved," Klein said. "I'm hoping that Mr. Heffelfinger can lay some of those rumors to rest. ... That will be an important step in the healing process."

In December, U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank said Heffelfinger's office had the discretion to meet with family members to discuss information gathered about the motives and actions of Weise. Heffelfinger previously told The Associated Press that he would discuss the investigation, but would not be able to tell family members details about Louis Jourdain, since that case was a juvenile matter.

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