Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| A 14 year old boy killed his teacher |
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| bhaloo |
| 05/09/01 at 12:13:25 |
| slm This seems to be a very common occurence now on the news. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening or better yet what can be done to prevent this from continuing to happen? Could something like this happen in a Islamic school? ??? WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - A 14-year-old Florida boy charged as an adult with murdering his teacher wept on the witness stand on Wednesday and admitted pulling the trigger in a school shooting that he said was an accident. Nathaniel Brazill was 13 when he shot and killed Lake Worth Middle School teacher Barry Grunow. He is on trial on a first-degree murder charge and faces life in prison if convicted. Seeming composed and showing little emotion, he testified on Tuesday that he did not recall pulling the trigger. He said the gun went off accidentally as he pointed it at Grunow, 35, whom he described as ``a nice guy, a good teacher.'' Brazill was sent home early from school for throwing water balloons on the last day of the term last May. He returned with a gun and shot Grunow after the teacher refused to let him into his classroom to speak to friends. He said he pulled the gun on Grunow so the teacher would take his request seriously. During cross-examination on Wednesday, prosecutor Marc Shiner handed Brazill the .25-caliber handgun and asked him to ''Show the jury how you shot Mr. Grunow between the eyes accidentally.'' Raising the gun, Brazill said, ``I had the gun up with both hands like this.'' ``Who pulled the trigger, Nate?'' Shiner asked. ``I did,'' Brazill answered. ``I pulled the trigger but I didn't intend to do it.'' Asked what Grunow did when he fell to the ground, Brazill replied ``What do you think he did?'' as tears rolled down his face. Normally in order to convict on first-degree murder, the jury would have to find the defendant acted with intent to kill and that the killing was premeditated. But Brazill was charged under Florida's felony murder statute, allowing defendants to be charged with murder if anyone dies during the commission of a felony -- in Brazill's case, entering school property without permission. Photos Pool/Reuters Photo If the judge grants a defense request to drop the felony murder charge, and the jury finds the shooting was accidental, Brazill could be convicted of a lesser charge. The boy also faces aggravated assault charges since he allegedly pointed the gun at another teacher. He is also charged with witness tampering based on letters written to friends from jail. The prosecutor attempted to show premeditation, asking Brazill if he recalled telling a classmate he was going to get a gun and come back to shoot the counselor who suspended him. Brazill, who earlier denied making the statement, testified he had since recalled saying that, but did not mean it. ``Going To Be All Over The News'' Another schoolmate testified that Brazill told friends before the shooting that he ``was going to be all over the news.'' Quoting that testimony, Shiner asked Brazill, ``And you have been all over the news for 11 months, haven't you, giving interviews to major magazines?'' ``My lawyer told me to do that,'' Brazill replied. Shiner asked repeatedly if Brazill was angry and determined to be taken seriously on the day of the shooting. ``You wanted to prove that Nate Brazill wasn't someone to be messed around with?'' he asked. ``No,'' Brazil replied. The case, one of a string involving school violence since the deadly Columbine High School shootings in April 1999, has prompted protests because Brazill is being tried as an adult and faces mandatory life imprisonment if convicted. Critics such as Amnesty International say sentencing someone so young to life in prison without a chance for parole violates international law. Brazill's trial follows the conviction and sentencing in March of another Florida boy, Lionel Tate, 14, who was sent to prison for life by a Broward County judge for the beating death of a 6-year-old friend. |
| Re: A 14 year old boy killed his teacher |
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| Moe |
| 05/09/01 at 14:11:47 |
| This is truly sad, it’s happening so often now. At my school there have been a few bomb threats in the last couple of years. The kids who are doing this are kids that getting made fun of daily and don’t know how to handle it. The have hate built up in them and want to take it out and this is a way they do it:(. They don’t really care about what there punishment will be, because they don’t really care about life. Getting life in prison at the age of 14 isn’t a life to look forward to. |
| Re: A 14 year old boy killed his teacher |
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| BroHanif |
| 05/09/01 at 16:53:24 |
| A.W.W. Perhpas they have nothing to live for, or are just sick and tired of life, its another minor sign of the hour approaching. Allah save us. And Allah knows best. Salaam, |
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