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Subscribe to RSSIn rare situations, students who are isolated from their peers, and lose interest in activities they used to like doing, can sometimes become violent. NBC's Chris Jansing reports.
A student who was nicked in the ear Monday during a shooting in a high school cafeteria in Chardon, Ohio, has identified the teen gunman as a fellow student who had “got into a gothic phase” in recent years.
Nate Mueller, a student at Chardon High School, told NBC affiliate WKYC.com that he was sitting in the cafeteria at a table with three of the victims and was grazed in the ear by one of the bullets as he turned away from the gunman. He said he was friends with the suspect until the end of eighth grade.
“He kind of got into the gothic phase and kind of silenced himself from his friends,” Mueller said. “But I mean, he still had friends. He was still a nice kid … I don’t think anybody really ever expected it to be him. We didn’t think he would hurt anybody.”
Police have not formally identified the gunman, who is a juvenile, but students, parents of students and local media said his name was T.J. Lane, which was confirmed by NBC News.
Other students and a parent, reacting to reports identifying the alleged shooter, described him as an “outcast,” a victim of bullying and being from a "broken home."
“He was not like a jock, a popular kid,"’ Evan Erasmus, an 18-year-old high school senior, told Channel 5. “He has friends, but he would be considered the outcast type."
Official: 1 dead, 4 wounded in Ohio school shooting
In a separate interview with CNN, Erasmus said, “He just came from a really broken down home and he was living with his grandparents. He was more of a quiet type of kid. He was really nice, though, if you did talk to him.”
Mueller, the student who was in the cafeteria when the gunfire erupted, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that one of the friends he was sitting with was dating the suspect's ex-girlfriend.
Another student, freshman Danny Komertz, told The Associated Press that the gunman was an outcast who had been apparently bullied.
Greg Fletcher, a parent who said his son, a 10th grader, was about 15 feet from the shooter in the cafeteria, told Fox8.com that his son did not know the suspect but other students had told him he was “kind of shady and possibly suicidal.”
Terrified students turned to social media to console one another and find out more information. NBC's Kevin Tibbles reports.
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Leave a Comment:
Register all goths. They are dangerous.
How about enacting some sort of dress code so that kids won't walk around looking like something that doesn't even belong in a school?
It's not the games, it's not the music. I don't know the whole story, probably never will. If I were to make assumptions, I'd say this boy was let down on every front.
Absolutely he made his choices and needs to, and will be held accountable for his actions. The adults in his life should be held accountable as well for not doing their job, for not being there when he needed them most.
Sure it's hard communicating with teenagers, sometimes damn near impossible, but you never stop trying. It's a commitment we as parents made at conception, and nothing should be more important than that.
He allegedly lived with his grandparents, madam - do you believe they should be fined or jailed for not holding his hand 24/7? He alone is responsible.
If this guy was a Muslim born, he would have been branded a terrorist even if he never practiced the religion. So he is just a troubled kid. next..
"Greg Fletcher, a parent who said his son, a 10th grader, was about 15 feet from the shooter in the cafeteria, told Fox8.comthat his son did not know the suspect but other students had told him he was “kind of shady and possibly suicidal.” WOW! Doesn't this school have a system set up so that students can anonymously tell a counselor about verbalizations such as that??!!
Don't misunderstand me, though. No one is responsible for the killing and wounding of the students except the student who pulled the trigger. HOWEVER, it's a scientific fact that the area of the brain regulating impulses and judgment are not fully developed until the early 20's. That's why it's all the more important (based on this rather "new" knowledge) that we are all accountable if we do not do what we can to prevent a murder or suicide that has been verbalized. I know there are some people who say "I could just kill him" (for example) -- said by a wife who is frustrated/angry/disappointed with her husband. But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know when someone actually means it or just expressing frustration about a recent incident.
Children (yes, other students) need to learn that they have a responsibility to report such verbalizations, whether they like the person or not, and that their reporting can be done anonymosly. I can only imagine how many "I wish I would have told someone he'd said that" are being said today and will be said in the days to come. Perhaps there are those, though, who don't believe any of us has any responsibility to other people's children. I'll never understand THAT point of view, however.
Sounds like the PARENTS are the ones who are GUILTY of this tragedy, by NOT being parents!!