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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.
The teen who authorities believe was behind a deadly shooting Monday in Chardon, Ohio, had violence in his life from early on, Cleveland's Plain Dealer newspaper reported.
Court records showed that Thomas Lane Jr., the father of suspect T.J. Lane, had been arrested several times for abusing women he had children with, including the teen's mother, the newspaper reported. The father had been warned to stay away from the teen's mother at least once, records reportedly showed.
Thomas Lane filed for divorce from the teen's mother in 2002 and later that year was charged with attempted murder, felonious assault and kidnapping, WKYC-TV cited court records as showing. He was convicted of felonious assault and sentenced to 5 years probation. It was not immediately clear what the charges stemmed from.
A juvenile court judge on Tuesday ordered that the teen be held for at least 15 days while prosecutors prepare to file charges.
T.J. Lane
It was not clear whether the teen and his father had any contact recently, the newspaper reported.
The suspect's family said through attorney Bob Farinacci Monday night that they were struggling to comprehend what had happened a day after the worst U.S. high school shooting in nearly a year.
"This is something that could never have been predicted. T.J.'s family has asked for some privacy while they try to understand how such a tragedy could have occurred and while they mourn this terrible loss for their community," the statement read.
Students at the high school outside of Cleveland were told to stay home Tuesday.
Officials believe Lane opened fire inside a high school cafeteria at the start of the classes on Monday, hitting five students.
A prosecutor on Tuesday said Lane had confessed to the shootings and that he had aimed randomly.
Daniel Parmertor was killed instantly and on Tuesday officials said Demetrius Hewlin had died while Russell King Jr. was declared brain dead. Two others remain hospitalized.
"He had no emotion on his face, he was just shooting," a Chardon student told WKYC.
Travis Carver, another student present in the cafeteria at the time said the expression on the gunman's face was "straight determination."
Terrified students turned to social media to console one another and find out more information. NBC's Kevin Tibbles reports.
The suspect was taken into custody near his car a half-mile from the suburban Cleveland school after football coach Frank Hall chased him from the building, according to FBI officials.
The motive for the shooting, which took place while students were studying and eating breakfast, remains a mystery. Fellow students told local media the suspect was a quiet loner who may have been bullied.
Lane was not a student at Chardon High School. He attended the nearby alternative school Lake Academy in Willoughby, which serves at-risk students. Students may have been referred to the school because of academic or behavioral problems.
'Good kid'
When asked about the suspect, his family's lawyer called him a "good kid."
"By all accounts T.J. is a fairly quiet and good kid. His grades are pretty impressive," Farinacci said. "He's a sophomore. He's been doubling up on his classes with the intent of graduating this May. He pretty much sticks to himself but does have some friends and has never been in trouble over anything that we know about."
Student in school shooting: ‘I went into panic mode’
Some fellow students called the 17-year-old quiet and sweet, although others said he had a temper, the Plain Dealer reported.
"He would never really talk about his family," Haley Kovacik said. "But you can always tell he had a very sad look in his eyes all the time. He usually just kept to himself."
Kovacik said she never saw him get bullied, but said it could have happened, as he was "very quiet."
"He never really stood up for himself very much," she said.
His now-deleted Facebook page showed one picture of him bare-chested and glaring at the camera and another behind a huge teddy bear that bore a heart and the words "Be Mine," according to the newspaper.
Ian Sanborn and Travis Carver, who were both in the Chardon High School cafeteria when a teen gunman opened fire, talk to TODAY's Ann Curry about the harrowing experience.
He listed "primitive hunting" among his interests, the newspaper reported.
The suspect's family said they were struggling to comprehend what had happened.
"The family wanted me to convey to the citizens of Geauga County and Northeastern Ohio that the family is devastated," Farinacci said in the statement late Monday. "They want to give their most heartfelt and sincere condolences to the family of the young man who passed and their continuing prayers are with all those who were injured."
Slideshow: Deathly school shooting in Ohio
The mother of a student in Chardon, who asked not to be identified, said her son knew the accused gunman.
"My son's reaction was 'this doesn't surprise me.' T.J. (Lane) was a nice sweet kid who was misunderstood and he probably cracked from being different," she said.
NBC News, Reuters The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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This has nothing to do with gun control. If T.J. did not have access to a gun, he would have used a knife. If not a knife, a bat. Face it, he was cracked. Maybe it was from years of bullying, or whatever, but he was cracked. He would have carried out his deed no matter what. It was not the gun that was the issue. It was the parenting, the school, other students, and T.J.'s fault for not recognizing the signs. It was not the gun's fault. It would have happened anyway, in just a different manner.
I do not own a gun, nor have I ever fired or even seen a gun up close. However, let's start putting blame where it lies for these things. Not on the weapon of choice. Until we do, this will just keep happeing over and over again.
Maybe we should start holding parents responsible for the actions of their children. Yeah, I said it. Lock up his parents (sounds like they should have been locked up anyway before this even happened). While you're at it, hold the school responsible for failing to recognize the signs. Maybe use some of the tax payer dollars to start installing metal detectors in every school (not just the urban areas).
A decade past Columbine and NOTHING has changed.
Sorry for the rambling and any typos. Still early here.
Michael - you've obviously missed the point that guns are neutral & don't kill people. People kill people. The gun used may have been locked away, or may have been borrowed from someone else, or stolen...
I did not miss the point. I am responding to some of the other posters about gun control. By the way - he stole the gun from his Uncle.
The answer is more guns, even if you're a minor. This could have been prevented if 13 year olds could carry weapons legally. One might have to become proficient at dodging bullets as a rule, but it would be worth it. Heck, let's give the chimps at the zoo guns. They have five fingers, right?
This is another terrible tragedy in our country. Parents send their children to school to get an education and then their children do not come home. Things are really messed up here.
white trash family. no good losers raising a boy with nothing but hate. and the stupid mother is mourning the community. YA right! in a week we will find out she got him the gun. too bad he didnt just take his family and himself out. my condolonces to the familys of the real victims. NOT to the family of the cold blooded killer, you will get what you deserve.
Susan, (How do I say this)
You are a moronic, self righteous, hypocritical, immature ill-informed, judgemental person entitled to her idotic opinion.
and you are probably part of that screwed up family. we can meet up and i can make you choke on those words. hypocritical? not at all. immature ill-informed?HAAA i have a more mature sense of this world than your half witted florida brain. judgemental? i didn't raise a killer, i'm only stating that when someone is only around hate, that is all they know. you are a product of your environment, and obviously hate/violence and anger was what he was raised around, and look what happened. go @!$%# yourself
susan333: I'm not so sure about your racist beginning (white trash family - although they were white so I guess that's okay), BUT, that being said, I have to agree with your ending - if he was so full of rage and hatred, he should keep it in the family and leave INNOCENT folks alone.
Susan,
Thank you for so eloquently proving beyond any doubt exactly what floridaguy typed in regards to you :)
This is a truly sad event. Condolences to the families who lost their sons. Best wishes to the families who kids were wounded and are recovering.
God speed to the teachers and administrators at the school in fixing the broken parts so this never happens again.
A special prayer for the family of the shooter asking the man above to make this the last time anythting like this ever happens in the world!
And for the shooter .. a swift trial with fair and appropriate punishment.
No matter what the excuses and no matter what stupidity is put forward for a system that allows troglodytes like this to own killing weapons,it still comes down that our society prizes penis substitutes to be freely available to immature and immoral fools just for the asking.
Mandatory castration for the violent offenders who procreate these monsters.
There seems to be a subset of the human race that has the property of a violent sociopathic life and a propensity to procreate at higher than normal rates. Eliminate them from the ability to have children now or it will be too late. Taking away their beer is not enough.
If you don't know that everyone has the capability within them to perform horrendous acts under the right circumstances, you have truly led a sheltered life, my friend.
Allowing indiscriminate gun acquisition to all,including the "subset"that we all know exists, is total idiocy -might as well pass out hand grenades to insane asylum inmates and defend the grenade manufacturers in the name of freedom-
makes me very sad for these kids on both sides...what kind of pain are the kids in that are doing the killing? and then there's the pain they cause :-(
This isn't a report. This is gossip filled with innuendo and speculation. A single 'violent' family member? Does that tar brush the wider family members as violent? Especially when including: "It was not clear whether T.J. Lane and his father had any contact, the newspaper reported."
Should all at-risk students be tarred, too: "He attended the nearby alternative school Lake Academy in Willoughby, which serves at-risk students. Students may have been referred to the school because of academic or behavioral problems." "... may have been referred ..." indicates a lack of information -- why was the student referred?
Oh, that would be journalism. Lacking in MSNBC's methodology of speculative writing instead of investigating or being factual. Wait for the real news.
To Pro Individual - really? So if I vote for Obama for reasons other than what YOU state, my thinking isn't straight or rational? You are pretty self-righteous, m' man.
On the topic: I feel for any kid who is abused, neglected and/or bullied. Perfect cocktail for something like this to happen. In a real sense, we are all responsible.
Instead of dwelling on Guns as the cause, which I think it is not it is just the tool being used. The broader issue is how schools are dealing with children. This is not just about bullying but it is about the many different personalities with in the population. The need to support the unique child as well as the round peg in the round hole. Much of what is being said about this is using some key words that should be a warning sign for a greater issue we still refuse to deal with. Loner, Different, Goth, Bullied all words that cause increasing stress in Adolescence. Some of these we have tried to take seriously such as Bullying yet we continue to hear stories. But what are communities and schools doing to level the playing field about being different. We as a society have a hard time ourselves dealing with different and that maybe because of our early years and a lack of dealing with it. Maybe we need to stop pointing out what is different and praising what is the same about all of us. Maybe then our children will have an easier time accepting different as the norm. The pain being felt by all the families is no different they had children that held the promise of the future now taken away in one way or another. No one is different the heart still aches and will for a long time to come.
NRA will want this boy enshrined as a reminder that we should allow all students from K-12 to carry weapons. 2nd Amendment and all that.
...those Second Amendment rights could be what protect you some day, when a neighbor has to protect YOUR life in a life/death situation...
You know that statement is dumb.
I hope this kid's father understands how much of this is his fault. If you have kids you should be prepared to be around and raise them properly. He set a hell of an example and now people have died and lives are in turmoil. Not every kid turns out great no matter how good the parents, but this jerk totally shirked his responsibilities.
The murderer has a boat load of rights and the stupid taxpayers only have a right to be victims. What's new? Isn't this the way of "civilized" societies?
The crime does not count or matter. All that matters are extraneous factors such as how did the killer feel at the time of the crime - was he having a rough day? Did he have a rough childhood? Was he drunk or on drugs? Bad hair day? Can he say the words "I'll be better in the future"? Or "I won't do that again"? Maybe he isn't smart enough to know that killing somebody or ruining their life isn't nice.
These are the only things that matter in our Politically Correct court system. Of course the victims and taxpayers don't matter.
He was under 18 at the time. The supreme court has already ruled that a killer under 18 years old cannot be expected to know what they are doing and are therefore not responsible, so it is OK for those 17 and under (except maybe for the dead victims). They can kill as many as they want. Thank you supreme court.
That is a complete uncivilized Rant. It demonstrates to all your lack of knowledge about how our judicial system was founded and what the pillars of that system are.
I hope the same individuals denouncing this violence aren't threatening the kids family. The fact that people actually do that is appalling.
Less guns = less people killed by guns.
Ask anyone in NYC if the strict gun legislation helped.
As long as you are willing to live (if you can call it that) like the people in NYC ...
Unfortunately their is very little that can be done about bullying. Everyone thinks that these kids can just tell a teacher or their parent or a councellor and thats the end of it. You need to teach your child how to "not be a victim", to stand up for his or her self. Parents need to encourage their children and lift them up , make them feel good about themselves. I grew up playing violent video games, watching violent T.V. and movies and never once did I feel like taking a gun to school and opening fire (and just for the record I have owned guns since I was 8 years old). Their is always going to be bullys in one way or another learn to deal and adapt, if all else fails teach your kid how to slap a bully across the mouth.
Disgusting - oh yeah - he's a "good kid" - a true argument for abortion.
and unfit they woun't seek help. They most likley don't attend church where they could be helped and the schools often do not see the warning signs. Young people don't like to "snitch" on each other and often won't cooperate when something happens. It's hard to know how to deal with these youth and how to reach out to them. It's really everyone's job if we are a society. This trend of school shootings is out of hand. It's not a brave deed to kill unarmed students. It's a very cowardly deed. It's a way to get your name in the news, but who wants that kind of publicity? Only someone with a sick mind. Where do sick minds get fixed? That's something that is being cut back in our Health Care system. Maybe we need to rethink that trend.
It's sad. This kid had anger issues and never learned a healthy way of dealing with it. His father dealt with it through violence and now he has done the same.
Actually if he had learned to deal with it like his father, he would have gotten into fights with those bullying him and it probably would have stopped there. Instead he was raised by a mother and grandparents who probably eshewed violence, and eventually went over the edge. A little low-level violence is the only language these guys understand.
Telling teachers and 'the authorities' about bullying is just a way of letting them use threats to protect you rather than doing it yourself. If you have ever, once told a teacher about something like this, you know how it goes "Oh Billy, we don't pick on little Johnny now; shake hands and be friends'" Then after the teacher leaves Billy and his friends torture Johnny unmercifully.
If his father had been available, maybe he could have instilled a self-defence ethic into TJ. As far as a 'restraining order' being an indicator of violence, it's kind of de-rigueur for any contested divorce - a tactic often employed by lawyers to gain sympathy (and protect wife's assetts). Can't say he was OK, but a restraining order isn't a good indicator.
Violent people are still people and are covered by the 2nd mendment. No need to be alarmed. Why would anyone want to deny psychtoics (or gun nuts) access to deadly weapons.
don't mess with my freedumb
duh nra
Don't take my gun away because some other dim wit isn't intelligent/responsible enough to use it.
this kid was a punk , testimony from witnesses states a kid was dating his ex and even if he was bullied he should have mentioned it to someone not shooting kids cus he is a hater loser.... throw out the key
More guns= more violence yet some people live under the delusion that more guns will keep us safer which is absurd.
Was he on psychoactive prescription medicine/s for attention disorders? From what I've read in EVERY school shooting involving teens (save one) the killers were on these mind altering zombie-maker drugs.
Food for thought...
Wow... so many of you are making assumptions about things that are pure speculation. There's not enough information out yet to understand what may have caused this young man to do something so horrible. I wouldn't be so quick to judge.
But that's what Americans do. They don't think; they just react.
mtn: So you are proposing there could be a good reason for him to shoot and kill innocent kids? Could you share your list of good causes for "young men" to be justified in shooting and killing 3 INNOCENT kids?