School was first target for Clovis shooter
Jouett went to library because he was angry
CLOVIS — When detectives asked 16-year-old Nathaniel Jouett why he shot six people on Monday, killing two librarians, he told them he was mad and had been for months.
And he said he had been thinking of shooting up the school, according to court documents filed in the 9th Judicial District Court in Clovis.
Jouett was charged Wednesday with two counts of murder, four counts of assault with the intent of committing a violent felony, four counts of aggravated battery and child abuse.
He is accused of taking two handguns from his father’s safe, walking into the Clovis-Carver Public Library on Monday afternoon and shooting six people, including a child.
“Jouett stated he had planned this for a while and wanted to shoot the school up, and kill himself,” a Clovis police sergeant wrote in a search warrant affidavit. “He stated he ended up at the library
because he was angry and was either going to kill himself or shoot a bunch of people.”
He said he didn’t know anyone at the library.
Jouett’s pastor told the Journal on Tuesday the high school sophomore had been suspended from school for fighting on Friday. School district officials said they could not release any information, citing student privacy laws, and wouldn’t comment for this article.
They did publish a statement saying there have been many stories circulating about the shooting and the police have been following all of those leads.
“Our goal is to proceed with school as normally as possible,” the statement said. “Additionally, we want to assure parents and community members that student safety and mental well-being is first and foremost.”
When officers searched the home of Jouett’s father, less than a mile from the library, they found several more guns, including an AR-15 rifle, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to a search warrant.
They also found suicide notes in Jouett’s bedroom.
Around 4:30 p.m. Monday, Chris Jouett, Nathaniel’s father, called police to say his son had taken guns from the home and was missing, according to the affidavit. It was too late. Officers had already been called with a report of an active shooter at the library 15 minutes earlier.
An affidavit reports that when detectives entered the library, Jouett said, “Here I am.”
They said the youth was standing next to the information desk, holding his hands above his head with a handgun on the shelf next to him.
Circulation assistant Wanda Walters, 61, and Kristina “Krissie” Carter, 48, a youth services librarian, had been shot and killed.
Another library employee, Jessica Thron, 30, was severely injured. Noah Molina, 10, was shot in the hand and his sister, 20-year-old Alexis Molina, was seriously injured, as was 53-yearold Howard Jones, according to police. The injured are all being treated at University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas.
During his interview with detectives, Jouett was reported as saying, “I went to the library. I shot someone.”
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, he told detectives he had been “kind of mad” for a while since getting kicked out of school last year.
It’s unclear when Jouett was “kicked out” of school and when he returned.
“According to Nathan, everyone hates him and no one likes him,” a detective wrote in the arrest warrant affidavit. He is referred to as “Nathan” in the documents. “He said he was a born-again Christian for about a month, but he has been thinking about this for a long time.”
Detectives said Jouett told them he had planned to either kill himself or kill a lot of other people.
But, he said, “I didn’t think I would do it.”
Jouett said he knew how to shoot because he and his father go shooting and had a hunting trip planned for October.
He told detectives he took the guns, went to the library, used the restroom, and then went out and started shooting. He said he didn’t aim at anyone in particular.
Jouett said he knew it was wrong, but he had been having bad thoughts for a while.
“He didn’t tell anyone these thoughts because they have their own problems,” the detective wrote in the affidavit. “He couldn’t say these things to his family, his girlfriend, or his friends from church.”
As police were escorting Jouett out through the library, he saw a woman lying on the ground, without anyone around helping her, according to the affidavit. The sergeant told him to think about it.
“Sergeant Munoz asked him what he thought would happen,” the detective wrote in the affidavit. “Nathan said ‘I feel awful. I don’t like hurting people.’”