Possible motives revealed in RHS shooting trial

Several incidents appear to have led up to the shooting at Roseburg High School four months ago, including reported threats, jealousy over girls and an alleged drug deal.

Roseburg Police Department Detective Joe Kaney testified in Douglas County Circuit Court Wednesday about his initial interviews with then-14-year-old Vincent Wayne Leodoro shortly after the Feb. 23 shooting on the high school campus.

Leodoro, who allegedly admitted to police he shot Joseph Monti, 16, listed several reasons animosity had grown between the two.

Leodoro told the detective about threats Monti had allegedly made to hurt the younger teen’s family in the days preceding the shooting. Monti made the threats because he thought Leodoro was talking bad about him to some female students, Leodoro claimed.

“When he talked about those threats, he would get a little emotional,” Kaney said.

Outside the courtroom, during a brief recess, Monti denied having ever made such threats.

“I never threatened his family in my life,” he said.

Monti claims he’d heard from another student it was his family that had been threatened by Leodoro.

At one point, Kaney said, Leodoro also said he’d given money to Monti to purchase some marijuana, but never got his hands on the drugs. Kaney said that appeared to exacerbate Leodoro’s animosity toward the other teen.

Leodoro told Kaney in the taped interviews that in general he had not been a victim of bullying at the high school.