Is T.J. Lane the Chardon High School Shooter? Facebook Rant, Twitter Photos Leaked Online
Update: T.J. Lane has been identified by police as the shooting suspect in the Chardon High School shooting on Monday. For everything sources know so far about the Ohio school shooting suspect, go to Who is T.J. Lane? 5 Things To Know About Chardon High School Shooter.
Although police have yet to release the name of the student currently in custody for the Chardon High School shooting in Ohio that killed one student and wounded four others, several of the suspect's classmates have identified the gunman as Thomas T.J. Lane, a 17-year-old sophomore or junior at Lake Academy, a nearby school for at-risk children.
Evan Erasmus, who identified the shooter to the press, said Lane was the shooter, adding that Lane and some of the victims used to be friend before they drifted apart in high school.
“He just came from a really broken-down home and he was living with his grandparents, the Chardon High School senior told CNN, saying he was quiet but could be really nice if someone reached out to him.
He was one of the nicest kids there, Erasmus said. It was really shocking that it was him.”
'I saw him take a shot.'
Junior Nate Mueller, who was hit in the right ear during the shooting, also identified the shooter as T.J. Lane.
Mueller and his friends, including fellow students Russell King, Nick Walczak and Demetrius Hewlin, were sitting at their regular cafeteria table at 7:30 a.m. when Lane approached them.
Lane usually waited in the cafeteria for a bus to Lake Academy, a school in Willoughby, Ohio, that serves at-risk students.
Suddenly, Mueller heard a loud noise, and his ear began to sting.
My friends were crawling on the floor, and one of my friends was bent over the table, and he was shot, Nate said. It was almost like a firecracker went off. I turned around and saw [Lane] standing with a gun and I saw him take a shot.
He was silent the whole time, Mueller, who was waiting for a bus to his culinary arts classes at Auburn Career Center, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. That's what made it so random.
Facebook Rant: 'Die, all of you.'
After news broke that T.J. Lane might be the shooter, news sources scrambled to get confirmation from local sources. Local police, federal agents and school officials have so far remained tight-lipped as to whether the identification is accurate.
A Facebook page belonging to a young man named Tj Lane, however, may in fact belong to the shooting suspect. Although the Facebook profile doesn't say where the user is from, more than 40 of his friends are from Chardon, Ohio. Six of them attend Chardon High School.
And perhaps most disturbing, especially in light of the rumor that Lane warned his classmates on Twitter that he would bring a gun to school on Monday, a rhyming note on this Facebook profile speaks graphically about death, murder and an oppressed and misunderstood genius.
His only company to confide in was the vermin in the street. He longed for only one thing, the world to bow at his feet. They too should feel his secret fear. The dismal drear. His pain had made him sincere, a portion of the post reads.
He was better than the rest, all those ones he detests, within their castles, so vain. Selfish and conceited. They couldn't care less about the peasents [sic] they mistreated.
The world is a sandbox for all the wretched sinners, the post continues.They simply create what they want and make themselves the winners. But the true winner, he has nothing at all. Enduring the pain of waiting for that castle to fall. Through his good deeds, the rats and the fleas. He will have for what he pleads, through the eradication of disease. So, to the castle he proceeds, like an ominous breeze through the trees.
I'm on the lamb but I ain't no sheep, the post ends. I am Death. And you have always been the sod. ... Now! Feel death, not just mocking you. Not just stalking you but inside of you. Wriggle and writhe. Feel smaller beneath my might. Seizure in the Pestilence that is my scythe.
Die, all of you.
But Is It Really T.J. Lane?
This disturbing passage has been circulated around the Internet for several hours now, with many pointing to it as proof that Lane is the suspect in custody, and the boy responsible for the shooting spree this morning.
A widely circulated set of photos on Twitter alleged to be T.J. Lane posing with handguns has made the evidence look even more damning, despite no proof that these shots are of the actual suspect. In one disturbing photo, the young man pictured holds a hand-printed sign that reads, 02-26-12 [obscured] High School Massacre Omegle Initials R.F.
The boy in the photos, however, though he does bear a striking resemblance to the T.J. Lane pictured on Facebook, has not been connected to the shootings yet. The Facebook profile been confirmed as the suspect's. And although the Tj Lane Facebook page does feature a disturbing diatribe, it also features a polite comment from the user thanking the people who liked it, saying he wrote it myself in class one day.
A series of pictures just after Valentine's Day show Lane cuddling with a giant teddy bear with a heart reading Be Mine stitched to the front. His Info page includes such typical teen angst posts as Employers: Free the Slaves and High School: we don't need no thought control, quoting Pink Floyd's The Wall. His interests range from listening to Adele to watching anime movies.
His most recent activity has been sharing songs by Bright Eyes, while the questionable Facebook post, the only one of its kind from his account, dates from late December.
T.J. Lane may indeed be the Chardon High School shooter, as confirmed by witnesses. He may also be a young man with a lot of rage and a lot of creative potential, whose anger prompted those who knew him to view him as the suspect. Until police confirm the shooter's identity, everything up until this point remains largely speculation.
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