Chardon High School Shooter was Shy, Bullied, Heartbroken …

While people continue to blame either the NRA or the government for making guns easily available, the thousands of critics rarely turn around to take a second look at the boy next door who may be fighting nightmares. And, as in the case of T.J. Lane, the Chardon High School shooter – in the process of turning those nightmares to reality.

His last poem on Facebook that found three positive reviews, and has since been deleted, but was a sufficient indicator:

“In a time long since, a time of repent …
In a quaint lonely town, sits a man with a frown,
No job. No family. No crown…
His luck had run out.
Lost and alone. The streets were his home.
His thoughts would solely consist, of “why do we exist?”…
He longed for only one thing, the world to bow at his feet.
They too should feel his secret fear. The dismal drear….
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 peasants they mistreated.
That castle, she stood just to do all she could to keep the peasants at bay, not the enemy away.
They had no enemies in their filthy orgy.
And in her, the castle’s every story, was just another chamber of Lucifer’s Laboratory….
The world is a sandbox for all the wretched sinners.
They simply create what they want and make themselves the winners….
So, to the castle he proceeds, like an ominous breeze through the trees.
‘Stay back!’ The guards screamed, as they were thrown to knees…
‘Oh God, have mercy, Please!’…
I’m on the lamb but I ain’t no sheep. I am Death.
And you have always been the sod. So repulsive and so odd….
However, they shall not mind the mud on my feet if there is blood on your sheet…
Now! Feel death, not just mocking you. Not just stalking you,
But inside you…
Wriggle and writhe. Feel smaller beneath my might.
Seizure in the Pestilence that is my scythe.
Die, all of you.”
(Scraps of the last poem T.J. Lane posted on Facebook before walking into Chardon High School and opening fire killing two students and severely wounding three others).

The 17-year old was a loner, staying with his grandparents, as his parents were divorced and separated. His father had a long history of being abusive with charges ranging from attempted murder, to assault and kidnapping. Under a plea deal he served four years in prison.

According to media reports, Lane who was studying in a school for troubled students was an introvert and avoided mention of his family.
Witnesses of the shooting incident say Lane targeted a table of five boys. One of the victims was a teenager who was known to be dating a girl who had broken up with Lane.

There is no excuse for what Lane did that is sufficient to justify his actions. All the apologies in the world and all the punishment our legal system heaps upon him are not going to bring back the lives that have been lost. While the loss of those who died and were permanently hurt by the actions of Lane can never be filled, the irony is no one would feel the loss of Lane, for he never had what others call a home.

This entire sad tale of young lives lost just stresses, why, having a family and emotional shelter is so important to our children.