Neighbor: Alleged Ohio shooter was a normal kid

T.J. Lane, a suspect in Monday's shooting of five students at Chardon High School is taken into juvenile court by Geauga County deputies in Chardon, Ohio Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012. Three of the five students wounded in the attacks have since died. / AP Photo/Mark Duncan

(CBS/AP) CHARDON, Ohio - The teenage suspect in a deadly shooting rampage at an Ohio high school was a normal boy who excelled in school and played outside often with his sister, building snow hills and skateboarding, a family friend said Wednesday.

Steve Sawczak said he never would have allowed his own grandchildren to play nearby if he thought anything was wrong with suspect TJ Lane.

"We're all absolutely stunned," Sawczak told The Associated Press. "He's an average kind of kid."

Sawczak, 58, a pastor who works with troubled children, said he never saw similar signs in the boy. A next-door resident of Lane's grandparents for almost 25 years, he said the grandparents, who have custody of the teen, gave Lane a healthy place to live. They were actively involved in the life of Lane and his sister and often took them to school events.

"They are in shock," Sawczak said. "They are absolutely devastated."

The suspect has told investigators he stole the gun he used from his uncle, who had legal ownership of the firearm, reported CBS News correspondent Bob Orr. Sources tell CBS News there were, in fact, lots of guns around - about two dozen legally-owned weapons were discovered in FBI searches of Lane's relatives' homes.

At Chardon High School, the faculty parking lot was jammed Wednesday as teachers returned to the school for the first time since Monday's shooting, with grief counselors on hand inside if needed. Parents and students are encouraged to return to the school Thursday, and classes resume Friday.

Lane, 17, appeared briefly in juvenile court Tuesday as residents of the shaken community offered sympathy and support for families and friends of the three students who were killed and two who were wounded.

Prosecutor: Ohio shooting suspect confessed
Ohio school shooting suspect "not well"
Prosecutor: Ohio shooting not about bullying

Hundreds of residents turned out for a vigil later that evening at St. Mary Catholic Church to pray and hear scripture readings, while overhead banners from a rival high school contained signatures from other students showing their support.

A prosecutor described suspect Lane as "someone who's not well" and said the teen didn't know the victims but chose them randomly.

Lane admitted taking a .22-caliber pistol and a knife to the 1,100-student Chardon High School and firing 10 shots at a group of students sitting at a cafeteria table Monday morning, prosecutor David Joyce said.

An 18-year-old girl who was hurt in the shootings was released from the hospital Tuesday and was home with family. The girl's family declined to comment Wednesday. The second injured teen remained in serious condition at a suburban Cleveland hospital.

As mentioned on "CBS This Morning" Wednesday, Frank Hall, the assistant football coach, is being credited with saving lives when he chased the suspect out of the school. "Chardon's always been great. It's gonna be great. I just want to thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers," he said.

On Tuesday, Lake Academy, the school that Lane attended, issued a statement that read: "This is devastating for all of us at Lake Academy. We are fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation and trust that the authorities will be able to sort out the facts surrounding the incident."

Those trying to understand what prompted the shootings got few answers from Tuesday's court hearing, which came hours after the death toll rose to three.

Lane, a thin young man described by other students as extremely quiet, spoke little in court, where a judge ordered him held for at least 15 days.

Lane's grandfather, who has custody of the teenager, and two aunts joined him in court. The women lightly embraced the older man as the hearing began.

14 Photos

Ohio high school shooting victims

Prosecutors have until Thursday to bring charges and are expected to ask that Lane be tried as an adult. He will probably be charged with three counts of aggravated murder and other offenses, Joyce said.

The prosecutor appeared to rule out rumors and speculation that the young gunman lashed out after being bullied or that the shooting had something to do with drug-dealing.

• no previous page
• next

1/2

[involved_indi]

Normal kids don't do what this kid done... and there are always signs... Wait two weeks and a different picture will emerge.

[OnTheRoad01]

Ok, so far I have seen this kid called 'Normal', 'Sweet' and 'Average'! What I don't understand is how can you describe someone that kills 3 other children with these terms???? If you can, then I really don't want to ever meet someone that you would call 'Bad'!

[valopinion]

What are they comparing 'NORMAL' to?? What is normal? Normal people know how to handle life when it doesn't go exactly the way they please and that's normal for EVERYONE, because nobody has a perfect life. It's not what happens to you in life, it's how you choose to react to it that will screw you up. I grew up in South Florida 50+ years ago and hardly anyone that I knew didn't have divorced parents or a step parent or some kind of trauma that they had already dealt with. Everybody knows rejection, everybody gets made fun of in one way or another. Everyone knows what it's like to feel that they don't fit in sometimes. That's life, but we feed kids medication now and we don't use corporal punishment and we give them every material thing under the sun and don't expect them to earn anything hardly so they grow up with an overinflated sense of self entitlement. "I'm unhappy and you are the reason and now you will be more unhappy than I ever was, you'll see". It's not about Religion, it's about responsibility and teaching kids that they are not to have everything handed to them including a perfect life. If things aren't working out, talk it out, get help, there are social services just for that. Parents, get involved in your kid's lives. Don't depend on the schools to raise your kids and then ignore them when they come home by saying 'how was school?' and then let them eat and go somewhere. Know your child!!!!!! Take them places, have fun with them!!!!! I could go on and on, but saying that this kid was a "normal" kid says NOTHING AT ALL. Obviously he was anything but.

[askagain]

Normal kids don't walk into a school and kill other people. This kid is anything but normal.

[Nikos_Retsos]

Many children and people look normal because they strive for acceptance with the public at large, but they are not. They just manage to control their high and low psychic urges as part of the social compliance mechanism under which they were raised. But when something ticks them up strongly - above their social refraining level of control, their repressed ego is released and violence occurs - sometimes deadly. Nikos Retsos, retired professor

[plundgren33]

I agree with you. I have an issue where I have been trying to get help for my teenage son, but no one will assist or do a proper diagnosis until he is 18. I am sure because the Grandparents were legal guardians that there are some family issues with mental illness. This is obviously past depression. What kind of help is out there for kids? I have tried to get an evaluation done, but the insurance doesn't cover it or again the 18 years old thing. It seems like as long as the child is staying quiet and under the radar, getting good grades, nothing can happen

[Candide8]

Normal - only for the USA where "packing heat" and using it is worshipped.

[SJames6621]

the uncle from whom the gun was stolen should be charged as an accessory before the fact. He had the opportunity to keep it in a securely locked metal cabinet or safe, or buy a trigger guard that would have prevented 3 murders.

[askagain]

Not good enough. You can't charge a person if no law was broken. Does Ohio require that guns be locked away in secure cabinets, safes, or have trigger guards? Nor did the uncle authorize the taking and use of his gun.

[askagain]

Not good enough. You can't charge a person if no law was broken. Does Ohio require that guns be locked away in secure cabinets, safes, or have trigger guards? Nor did the uncle authorize the taking and use of his gun.

[halligator]

Thanx NRA!!

[Rafterman11]

He was a normal kid. You know, when he wasn't shooting people.

[Filmguy870]

Really...maybe not so much.