T.J. Lane Wore 'KILLER' Shirt To Chardon High School Before Murdering Three Students

T.J. Lane Wore 'KILLER' Shirt To Chardon High School Before Murdering Three Students

In the morning hours of February 27th, 2012, 17-year-old T.J. Lane (Thomas Michael Lane) opened fire in the cafeteria at the Chardon High School, shooting six and killing three students. Lane has never explained his motive for the shooting, although he told detectives that he "created this goal and needed to see it through." T.J. Lane will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Taken too soon.

Demetrius C. Hewlin was one of the three students killed by T.J. Lane. Demetrius, "D" to his friends and family, was a junior, had a passion for working out, and donated his time at the Habitat for Humanity Resale Shop in Newbury.

Russell D. King Jr.  was a 17-year-old student at Chardon that was a lifelong resident and avid outdoorsman. He worked part time at the Amberwood Kennels in Hartsgrove and enjoyed the outdoors.

Daniel Vincent "Danny" Paremertor was a Chardon junior who enjoyed working in computer networking at the Auburn Career Center in Chardon. Daniel also enjoyed X-Box, skiing, and spending time with his family.

Stole gun from uncle.

T.J. admitted that he stole the gun from his visiting uncle the day before, along with two magazines and a handful of bullets. The murder weapon discharged all ten bullets from the first ten-round magazine. Lane did attempt to reload and continue to fire, pulling out a knife but he never fired from the second magazine.

The weapon used was a training pistol, the Ruger Mark III Target Rimfire Pistol.

Sitting on the curb and waiting for arrest.

A camera video shows deputy Bilicic on camera making the arrest of T.J. Lane around 8:30 am that morning. He told Bilicic that he had "shot people at the high school" and then was calmly arrested. Once in police custody, Lane admitted he had been planning the shooting for nearly two weeks, and packed the gun and knife in his book bag before getting on his morning school bus. Lane was wearing a special shirt that spelled 'KILLER' that he had purchased one week before the shooting, that he wanted to wear this day.

Killer "aimed at the heads so they would die quicker."

T.J. Lane informs the detectives that he was not bullied, and that he chose a random table of kids to shoot. Lane's true motive has been widely speculated on in the media, however, many sources claiming that one of his victim was dating his ex-girlfriend. Most people believe that Lane's true motive was shooting at people he knew and was not randomly selected.

Wasn't even a student of Chardon High School

Like many killers, T.J. Lane was living in an abusive household. At the time of the shooting T.J. was not even a student at Chardon, but attending Lake Academy instead, which is an alternative school in Willoughby for at-risk youth. Lane would ride two separate buses, stopping once at Chardon High School, before arriving at his destination at Lake Academy. However, on this day he decided not to take that final bus ride.

Raised in an abusive household.

T.J.'s home situation was broken, and he was being raised by his maternal grandparents from about three years old. His father, a known wife-beater, was charged many times and spent time in prison once for "attempting to suffocate his wife after he held her head under running water, then bashed it into the wall so hard that it left a dent."

"The hand that killed your sons"

The Chardon shooter shocked the court and nation during his hearing as he wore a shirt that said 'KILLER' and then showed no remorse by flipping off the victim's families. Before being carried away by guards he tells the families that, "The hand that killed your sons now masturbates to the memory."

Escapes prison

On September 11, 2014, T.J. Lane and two other inmates escaped confinement at their medium security prison in Lima, Ohio. By opening a padlock to the maintenance area, the three convicts constructed a ladder and place it over the razor wire and escape. They were apprehended quickly and T.J. was then moved to a super-max prison location where he currently lives.