CHARDON, Ohio — The teen accused of embarking on a shooting rampage at an Ohio high school that killed three and seriously wounded two was formally charged as a juvenile Thursday with three counts of aggravated murder.
T.J. Lane, 17, was also charged with two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault. He is accused of opening fire on a random group of students in the Chardon High School cafeteria Monday.
In brief remarks announcing the charges, Geauga County, Ohio, Prosecutor David Joyce said Lane was charged with “three counts of aggravated murder for killing our children.”
Shortly after the charges were announced, Frank Hall, the assistant football coach who was labeled a hero for chasing Lane down, said he wished he “had done more” to stop the massacre.
In his first press conference since the shooting, an emotional Hall addressed the families of the victims.
“I want you to know that I was with them,” Hall said. “I prayed with them. I wiped their tears.
“I don’t know why this happened, but I wish I had done more. I’m not a hero, just a football coach and study hall teacher.”
According to Joyce, Lane has admitted to bringing a knife and .22 caliber pistol to the school cafeteria where he fired 10 rounds into a group of students sitting at a table.
Joyce said Lane claimed that he “did not know the students and chose them randomly.”
Sixteen-year-old Daniel Parmertor, 17-year-old Russell King and 16-year-old Demetrius Hewlin died from their wounds.
Seventeen-year-old Nick Walczak was partially paralyzed, with bullets lodged in his cheek and neck. He remains hospitalized at Hillcrest Hospital just outside of Cleveland.
Joy Rickers, 18, was released from Hillcrest Tuesday.
Lane faces a felonious assault charge for a bullet that grazed the ear of another student, Joyce said.
Lane was not student at Chardon and was instead enrolled at Lake Academy, a school for students with academic or behavioral problems. Joyce has described Lane as someone who is “not well.”
Chardon High School, which is located in Chardon, Ohio, about 30 miles (48 km) east of Cleveland, will reopen for classes Friday as the school tries to regain a sense of normalcy.
As many as 1,000 members of the Chardon community marched from the historic Chardon Square to the high school — a nearly one-mile walk — on Thursday as students, faculty and parents showed their collective support for one another.
“It was an incredible and heartwarming experience,” Chardon Local Schools Superintendent Joseph Bergant said. “Parents, children, their teachers, some hugging, were all there for each other.”
The march came a day after President Barack Obama called Chardon High School principal Andy Fetchik to express his condolences.
Lane’s initial hearing is scheduled for March 6 in juvenile court before Judge Timothy Grendell. A second hearing is scheduled for March 19 to determine whether Lane, who is currently being held at a juvenile detention facility, will ultimately be charged as an adult, WKCY-TV reported.