The Cokeville Elementary School bombing remains one of the most extraordinary survival stories in American school safety history. On May 16, 1986, David and Doris Young took 154 children and adults hostage at the elementary school in rural Cokeville, Wyoming. What unfolded over two and a half hours tested the limits of human courage and quick thinking—and resulted in a death toll of only two: the perpetrators themselves.
David Young had served as Cokeville's town marshal in the 1970s but was dismissed after his six-month probationary period. He developed an elaborate personal philosophy he titled "Zero Equals Infinity" and conceived a ransom scheme he called "the Biggie"—targeting $2 million per hostage. He built a crude but devastating explosive device using a two-wheeled shopping cart, gasoline jugs, and an aluminum powder and flour mixture. His own teenage daughter, Princess Young, refused to participate in the plan and reported it to town hall authorities—but by then, it was already too late.
At 1:00 PM on May 16, David and Doris Young arrived at the school. Two local men, Gerald Deppe and Doyle Mendenhall, were handcuffed outside but refused to enter. The couple then walked into the school and initiated the hostage-taking, holding 136 children and 18 adults captive in a single classroom.
