Wake Begins For Victim Of Ohio School Shooting

Published March 2, 2012 10:27PM (EST)

EASTLAKE, Ohio (AP) — Bullying and metal detectors were on the minds of some mourners as hundreds lined up Friday at a northeast Ohio funeral home for the wake of a student killed in a high school shooting.

Sixteen-year-old Daniel Parmertor and two others were fatally shot Monday at Chardon High School. His wake in Eastlake came the same day students returned to classes.

Police were on hand under cloudy skies as students returned by car, on foot and by bus to the 1,100-student school about 30 miles east of Cleveland. Some students and parents stood outside applauding as students walked inside.

Parmertor, 16-year-old Demetrius Hewlin and 17-year-old Russell King Jr. were fatally shot and two others were seriously wounded in the Monday attack. Another 17-year-old has been charged.

"It's just horrible to think that you send your kid off to school and then you don't see him again," said Lou Keim, a relative attending Parmertor's wake. "It's not something I like to think about, but we probably have to protect every school child by having metal detectors in the schools just so we're safe, and that's a horrible thing to come to but that's probably where it's going."

Charges filed Thursday in juvenile court accuse T.J. Lane of killing the three students and wounding two others in the shooting. He's charged with three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault.

"We have to understand that they are in a better place now and as hard as this whole situation was, it's changed so many schools right now that people are finally starting to realize that bullying and all of this is awful," said Brianna Simko, a fried at Parmertor's wake.

While the motive for the shooting is unclear, prosecutor David Joyce has ruled out bullying.

Parmertor's funeral Mass is Saturday morning. Visitation is Monday evening in Chardon for Hewlin, and his funeral Mass is Tuesday morning. Visitation for King Jr. will be Wednesday, with a funeral the next morning in Chardon.

Lane, who attends an alternative school for students who haven't done well in traditional schools, admitted taking a .22-caliber pistol and a knife to Chardon High and firing 10 shots at a group of students sitting at a cafeteria table, Joyce said.

Hewlin attended Chardon High. King and Parmertor were vocational school students, waiting in the Chardon High cafeteria for their daily bus when they were shot. One student who was hurt remains in serious condition, and another was released from the hospital.

Joyce has said that victims were selected randomly and called Lane someone "who's not well."

Lane was a normal boy who excelled in school and played outside often with his sister, building snow hills and skateboarding, according to Steve Sawczak, a family friend who's a pastor and has worked with troubled children.


By Salon Staff

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