2nd victim dead after Ohio school shooting

Updated at 10:21 a.m. ET

CHARDON, Ohio - A student wounded in a deadly school shooting has been declared brain dead, authorities said Tuesday, a day after one student was killed and three others injured when a teenager opened fire in the cafeteria at a suburban Cleveland high school.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office received the word about Russell King Jr. just before 1 a.m. Tuesday, office administrator Hugh Shannon said in a statement. It was unclear whether King remained on life support; the statement referred to him as both deceased and brain dead.

"The cause and manner of death of this case are under on-going investigation and will be released upon completion," Shannon said in a statement. A spokeswoman at MetroHealth System said Tuesday morning that no information on his condition was available.

King, 17, was one of five students injured when a suspect identified by a family lawyer as TJ Lane began shooting at Chardon High School Monday morning. King was studying alternative energy at nearby Auburn Career Center and like the others who were shot was waiting for a bus for his daily 15-minute ride to the center. Student Daniel Parmertor died hours after the shooting.

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Ohio high school shooting victims

On Tuesday morning, a third student, Demetrious Hewlin, was listed in critical condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

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Law enforcement sources told CBS News that Lane -- who says he was a victim of bullying -- warned his friends about his plans two days in advance. Sources said the suspect is cooperating with authorities. He is scheduled for an appearance in court Tuesday afternoon.

According to statistics from the U.S. Secret Service, which started compiling data on school shootings after the attack at Columbine High School in 1999, at least one other person had some prior knowledge of an attacker's plan in 81 percent of incidents. In 59 percent of incidents, more than one other person had some prior knowledge.

Of those incidents where another person knew about the attack in advance, 93 percent of those people were the attacker's friend, schoolmate or sibling.

A student who saw the attack up close said it appeared that the gunman targeted a group of students sitting together and that the one who was killed was gunned down while trying to duck under the cafeteria table.

Lane's family is mourning "this terrible loss for their community," attorney Robert Farinacci said in a statement.

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Ohio teen gunman gets life in prison

FBI officials would not comment on a motive. And Police Chief Tim McKenna said authorities "have a lot of homework to do yet" in their investigation of the shooting, which sent students screaming through the halls at the start of the school day at 1,100-student Chardon High.

An education official said the suspected shooter is a Lake Academy student, not a student at Chardon High. Brian Bontempo declined to answer any questions about the student. Bontempo is the superintendent of the Lake County Educational Service Center, which operates the academy.

The alternative school in Willoughby serves 7th through 12th grades. Students may have been referred to the school because of academic or behavioral problems.

The FBI said the suspect was arrested near his car a half-mile from Chardon. He was not immediately charged.

Teachers locked down their classrooms as they had been trained to do during drills, and students took cover as they waited for the all-clear in this town of 5,100 people, 30 miles from Cleveland. One teacher was said to have dragged a wounded student into his classroom to protect him. Another chased the gunman out of the building, police said.

Fifteen-year-old Danny Komertz, who witnessed the shooting, said Lane was known as an outcast who had apparently been bullied. But others disputed that.

"Even though he was quiet, he still had friends," said Tyler Lillash, 16. "He was not bullied."

Farinacci, representing Lane and his family, told WKYC-TV that Lane "pretty much sticks to himself but does have some friends and has never been in trouble over anything that we know about."

Long before official word came of the attack, parents learned of the bloodshed from students via text message and cellphone and thronged the streets around the school, anxiously awaiting word on their children.

"I looked up and this kid was pointing a gun about 10 feet away from me to a group of four kids sitting at a table," Komertz said. He said the gunman fired two shots quickly, and students scrambled for safety. One of them was "trying to get underneath the table, trying to hide, protecting his face."

Slain student Daniel Parmertor was an aspiring computer repairman who was waiting in the cafeteria for the bus for his daily 15-minute ride to a vocational school. His teacher at the Auburn Career School had no idea why Parmertor, "a very good young man, very quiet," had been targeted, said Auburn superintendent Maggie Lynch.

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[ProgressNow]

The kid was obviously following GOP politics...that will mess anybody up in the head. Look what its done to their pres candidates. Sick...sick group of "men"!!!!!

[teachermom21]

Well its now been reported that the shooting was random. It had nothing to do with bullying. He killed 3 kids for no reason. What is wrong with people?

[ReckonedTruth]

I can remember as a 5th grade student..when upon school grounds-- if me and another kid.. wanted to see whose the tuff kid between the both of us.. we westled on the ground..and called it a truce when one or the other got the best of the other..or we went after each other in the gym class upon competition and the tuff kid won.. and we never confronted each other again..in fact in the few cases I experienced as such .. we became the best of buddies after the fact..

.. but today these kids.. just bring a gun to school and murder your classmate.. for being bullied.. for being gay..you name it..and these disturbed kids find a reason to murder..WOW!..

I can't imagine what the kids of today have to put up with.. however, being a victim(the Ohio student shooter) is not the attitude to have for not being popular, bullied, or for any other reason as a student in school to murder another student..

..my parents taught me and my siblings NEVER to fight each other(of course we did as siblings a couple of times until my parents got involved and we NEVER fought each other again)..because at the end of the day we are family.

I thank the heavens for the parents I was given and my family also--looking back!

(IMO).. alot of these kids today can't say they are greatful for the family they have.. and the OHIO school incident noted as isolated incidents(kids murdering classmates).noted once upon a time as such.. are no longer considered isolated.. somewhere in america KIDS are intentionally killing each other..

..when I was growing up..we NEVER hardly even heard of kids intentionally killing each other..not today..its the norm..

[cdhardison]

I am so very angry right now...this is coming from a woman who was bullied in high school. Not once did it cross my mind to go and shoot up my high school. I had a mother that I could go to and release my frustration. That's the problem parents aren't involved enough in there children's life. We as parents need to be more open for our children so they can feel more comfortable to talk out there problems. Parents are the answer to stopping bullying. We have to be there for our children and recognize when there is a problem and address the problem. I feel that will help both the bullies and the ones being bullied. We have to teach our children just because someone is different does not give them the right to bully and if they are being bullied they need to no that no one controls them and being bullied does not give them the go ahead to shoot up there school or o kill them self.

[chriseparent]

someone should see what prescriptions the kid has and hold the doctor & pharmaceutical companies responsible way moreso than the gun companies.

[pbarber12]

As a society we need to realize that bullying starts early around 2nd grade, and if caught and corrected then it does not usually happen again. There are four parties that need counseling when this happens: the aggressor, the victim, the children who are watching, and the teaching staff. A staff psychologist needs to be brought in to instruct all four parties as to their role in stopping this behavior. This session typically occurs for the children (voluntary basis) over several weeks during a lunch bag session. The aggressor and his/her parents need to understand this behavior is not acceptable and if repeated consequences will occur. The victim needs to learn to what actions are appropriate to let others around her/him that this is happening. The surrounding children need to learn to bring the supervising adults attention and to talk to the aggressor about stopping this mean behavior as it is in progress - peer pressure. The staff needs to know how to handle these situations - administration rules need to be established. The school district needs to have resources to bring in the psychologist when needed. Schools should also be aware that aggressive behavior is typically learned at home. Evening classes on parental skills is surprisingly accepted readily by many parents at a school for various reasons. The golden rules are easy (1) Never say anything mean that a child or their playmates may take to an adult as a complaint (2) do no physical harm. If you break these, there will be consequences - verbal warning, parents brought in, suspension, psychologist brought in, voluntary lunch time classes for the whole class involved, staff classes, and voluntary parental classes in the evening offered for the entire school. The bottom line is this:
School should be a pleasant experience, where our children can laugh, play, learn and most importantly be happy.

[Mustgofishin]

I repeat but its the parents of bully's who are also bully's! The Parents should be held accountable for there children who are bully's!

[pak31]

Well, now a 3rd child has died. I wonder how this fool feels now? If he thought bullying was a problem, he's going to really not like what is in store for his life.

[rightontarget]

Well it seems the shooter was already a "troubled" kid because he was being sent to an "alternative" type school. Kids who are sent to any kind of "special" classes usually always get picked on. Why would you have kids being sent to a school for kids "at risk" waiting for their bus at the school with other kids? Just asking. There is no good excuse for anybody to use "murder" as a way to get even no matter what the other kid did. That being said, I have looked at the photos of the two deceased victims and, not to speak ill of the dead but Russell (the 17 year old) has a slightly mean look about him. No smile or anything but maybe that was his way of appearing good looking in the picture. Still I bet he could be intimidating if he wanted to. The other one, Daniel doesn't appear that way at all but you never know. I think that Kids with mental problems or behavorial problems should not be put with the "general population" of kids if it can be helped. That's always a recipe for trouble. Kids who bully are probably just as mentally disturbed because they have to get their self-esteem from pushing others around and wanting to be popular.

[em_2011]

Kids should stop being such babies, just because you get picked on doesn't give you the right to bring a gun to school and start shooting. I'm young, I didn't have the most friends in High School yet I got by. If parents would stop coddling their children and let them be independent stuff like this wouldn't happen.

[jose_z1]

Law enforcement sources told CBS News that Lane -- who says he was a victim of bullying -
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Notice a trend?
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If your kids are bullying other kids, you better put a stop to it before the bullied does.
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[pak31]

I guess nowadays every parent has to warn their kids even more so that bullying others is wrong because you may get killed. I always remember being told to ignore bullies and to just turn and walk away because you don't know what the other person is capable of and I was a kid of the 70's and 80's. So bullying is nothing new, the murdering of bullies is though. WHY?

[omded]

Kids will be kids. Kids can be really mean. It sounds like this guy sought out the people he shot. The "victims" probably were targeted for their previous aggressions. These things will happen. It isn't pretty, but, it happens. If you're a kid, be careful how you act toward others. Not all of the people you abuse will passively take it. Some will retaliate. Some will kill.

The good news here is that, if you're a parent, and your kids are nice, friendly, and respectful of others, they're highly unlikely to become the target of someone like this. Notice how there were lots of other kids right nearby, and they were not targeted. They were just fine. So, if your kids are good toward others, you probably don't need to worry about them being attacked in an incident like this.

[enough-already]

transman123:

Huh? Free speech? Social skills? You lost me somewhere.