Jury Convicts Teen in School Shooting

GraceAbounds · 08-04-2007, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Jury Convicts Teen in School Shooting

TODD RICHMOND Associated Press Writer
BARABOO, Wis.-A jury on Thursday convicted a 16-year-old boy of shooting his high school principal to death after the boy brought a rifle and revolver to school last fall.
Eric Hainstock was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide in Weston Schools Principal John Klang's death last year. He could face up to life in prison at his sentencing, which was scheduled for Friday morning.

Hainstock's attorneys have conceded he killed Klang. They argued the teen was troubled, suffered from attention deficit disorder and was mocked in school. They said he brought the guns to school only to make people listen and he never meant to kill Klang.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BARABOO, Wis. (AP) - A 16-year-old boy shot his principal on purpose, lied about the gun going off during a struggle and has been trying to blame others ever since, prosecutors said Thursday in closing arguments of the teen's murder trial.
Eric Hainstock's attorneys conceded that he fatally shot Weston Schools Principal John Klang on homecoming last fall but said he had attention deficit disorder, had been abused at home and was teased by other students. They said he went to school with guns to make people listen to his problems - not to kill.
The jury began deliberating Hainstock's fate later Thursday.
Prosecutor Patricia Barrett told jurors that Hainstock's anger toward Klang had been growing in the two weeks leading to the Sept. 29 shooting.
Klang had kicked him out of school for three days after the boy threw a stapler at his special education teacher. The day before the shooting, Klang gave Hainstock an in-school suspension for having tobacco, Barrett said.
"This isn't about reckless. This is about intentional. Find him guilty," Barrett told jurors in laying out her case for a conviction on a first-degree murder charge.
The jury must decide that Hainstock intended to kill Klang the moment he pulled the trigger to support that charge, which carries a life term.
Hainstock's attorneys had asked the boy repeatedly during his testimony Wednesday whether he meant to kill the principal.
"No, I didn't," Hainstock said. "I didn't plan to hurt nobody."
Hainstock's attorneys have conceded he killed Klang. But they convinced Judge Patrick Taggart to ask the jury to also consider whether Hainstock is guilty of first- or second-degree reckless homicide. Those charges require a finding only of reckless conduct.
A charge of first-degree reckless homicide carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. Second-degree reckless homicide is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Hainstock, then a 15-year-old freshman, took a shotgun and a revolver to Weston Schools, just outside Cazenovia in the bluffs and ridges about 65 miles northwest of Madison.
A janitor saw him and tore the shotgun from the boy, but Hainstock pulled out the revolver and ran into Klang in a hallway, prosecutors said. Klang tackled him and the boy shot him three times, the complaint said.
Two students testified they heard Hainstock say Klang wouldn't survive homecoming. The janitor and a guidance counselor heard Hainstock say he was at the school to kill someone, according to Barrett.
As for the teasing, Hainstock instigated much of it himself: "It's all about Eric. 'Poor me. I had a tough life.'"
Holding out a photograph of Hainstock's filthy, cluttered house, his attorney Jon Helland urged jurors not to ignore Hainstock's tough life. The teen's stepbrother assaulted him when he was 6, and social workers placed him with his grandmother for about a year after his father abused him, Helland said.
Helland acknowledged Hainstock started some teasing matches but did so because he craved attention.
On the morning of the shooting, the boy didn't see much in his future. His grades were slipping, kids were still teasing him, his parents were bossing him around and he felt trapped, Helland said.
"It cascades. It's like a dam the water just busts through," Helland said.
Why he went to school with loaded guns may never be known for sure, he said.
"You want a good explanation why he did this? You're not going to get one. He's a kid," Helland said. "We don't know. And he may not know. A lot of teenagers can't answer that question. They just can't."
If Hainstock intended to kill someone, he wouldn't have walked into school brandishing the shotgun like a "neon sign." He just would have started shooting, Helland said.

Jury Convicts Teen in School Shooting

Maulds · 08-04-2007, 06:45 PM

You can get like 5 years in prison just for bringing a gun within so many feet of a school. Saying he didnt plan to shoot anyone is just stupid...he had a rifle and a revolver...looks like he'd planned to kill more. I hope he gets the help he needs.

GraceAbounds · 08-04-2007, 06:59 PM

He shot Klang 3 times with a revolver; that is no accident. He is old enough to know right from wrong and that there are consequences to one's actions. I agree with the courts decision to charge him with first-degree intentional homicide.

People need to realize that guns are not something you go waving around to threaten people with. One should not pull out a gun unless they intend to use it.

I'm so tired of hearing about these kids shooting people in schools or killing their friends and family. I can't help but wonder why this happens today and was not prevalent 50 years ago. There are too many variables I know, but I can't help but wonder.

Peter Parka · 08-04-2007, 09:55 PM

Here's a thought... ban people from carrying fucking guns!!!

Maulds · 08-04-2007, 10:00 PM

Pete that kid broke about 5 existing gun laws, why should I lose my gun over what he did?

Peter Parka · 08-04-2007, 10:02 PM

Because it will save lives

Maulds · 08-04-2007, 10:05 PM

I'm not gonna kill anyone Pete. 99% of documented gun owners aren't.

dt3 · 08-04-2007, 10:06 PM

If I was gonna kill someone but I didn't have a gun, I'd find another way.

All Else Failed · 08-04-2007, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Parka

Because it will save lives

It would only make the criminal's job easier.

If I were thinking of breaking into a house, or doing a home invasion and KNEW they didn't have any guns, I would be more likely to do it than if there was a chance they could be armed.

08-04-2007, 06:45 PM	#2
Maulds Moderator Staff Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: TN Posts: 4,828 Tokenz: 8,541	Re: Jury Convicts Teen in School Shooting You can get like 5 years in prison just for bringing a gun within so many feet of a school. Saying he didnt plan to shoot anyone is just stupid...he had a rifle and a revolver...looks like he'd planned to kill more. I hope he gets the help he needs. __________________ Member Of The Conservatives In Exile Est.11/5/2008 anticipated date of death 11/6/2012

08-04-2007, 06:59 PM	#3
GraceAbounds V.I.P User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 7,324 Tokenz: 1,858	Re: Jury Convicts Teen in School Shooting He shot Klang 3 times with a revolver; that is no accident. He is old enough to know right from wrong and that there are consequences to one's actions. I agree with the courts decision to charge him with first-degree intentional homicide. People need to realize that guns are not something you go waving around to threaten people with. One should not pull out a gun unless they intend to use it. I'm so tired of hearing about these kids shooting people in schools or killing their friends and family. I can't help but wonder why this happens today and was not prevalent 50 years ago. There are too many variables I know, but I can't help but wonder. __________________ "The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of "liberalism," they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." - Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948

08-04-2007, 09:55 PM	#4
Peter Parka King Of Cunts Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Harlow, Essex, England Posts: 23,187 Tokenz: 110,705	Re: Jury Convicts Teen in School Shooting Here's a thought... ban people from carrying fucking guns!!! __________________

08-04-2007, 10:00 PM	#5
Maulds Moderator Staff Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: TN Posts: 4,828 Tokenz: 8,541	Re: Jury Convicts Teen in School Shooting Pete that kid broke about 5 existing gun laws, why should I lose my gun over what he did? __________________ Member Of The Conservatives In Exile Est.11/5/2008 anticipated date of death 11/6/2012

08-04-2007, 10:02 PM	#6
Peter Parka King Of Cunts Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Harlow, Essex, England Posts: 23,187 Tokenz: 110,705	Re: Jury Convicts Teen in School Shooting Because it will save lives __________________

08-04-2007, 10:05 PM	#7
Maulds Moderator Staff Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: TN Posts: 4,828 Tokenz: 8,541	Re: Jury Convicts Teen in School Shooting I'm not gonna kill anyone Pete. 99% of documented gun owners aren't. __________________ Member Of The Conservatives In Exile Est.11/5/2008 anticipated date of death 11/6/2012

08-04-2007, 10:06 PM	#8
dt3 Semper Fi Staff Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 18,899 Tokenz: 2,150	Re: Jury Convicts Teen in School Shooting If I was gonna kill someone but I didn't have a gun, I'd find another way. __________________ Charter Member of The Conservatives In Exile 11/5/2008

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