‘Don’t want to die:’ Sentencing hearing told victim begged teen shooter to stop

The shooter called Dayne down to the basement of the house, where the first shot was fired. Dayne ran upstairs and the teen followed him, opening fire along the way.

The teen then went outside to a pickup truck, where Drayden saw him and asked for a ride back to school.

The teen asked Drayden to come back into the house. He then shot Drayden, who was 13, twice in the face and the head.

The hearing in Meadow Lake, Sask., also heard that the shooter then posted “Just killed 2 ppl,” and “Bout to shoot ip the school” online.

Video surveillance footage captured his frightening walk through the halls of the La Loche high school, his shotgun raised, as students and staff ran in fear.

Teacher Adam Wood ran into the office and called 911.

“Shooter is coming,” Wood could be heard telling the emergency operator as the call was played in court.

Wood, 35, was shot in the torso, fell to the ground, and was shot again.

“On Jan. 22, 2016, we lost not only a son, brother and partner, but a piece of hope for the future,” his mother, Nancy, said in a victim impact statement read by the Crown. “His absence is felt every moment of every day.”

Teacher’s aide Marie Janvier, who was 21, was also killed at the school.

A photo submitted in court showed Janvier’s body lying face down in a hallway, a pool of blood under her face and chest.

Janvier was shot when she ran to get help for Charlene Klyne, a substitute teacher who was wounded when the shooter fired through the window of her classroom door. Klyne was one of seven people injured that day.

Another teacher said in a victim impact statement read by the Crown that she heard Janvier pleading with the shooter to stop.

Court also heard that the shooter talked with a friend about shooting up the school in September 2015. The friend didn’t take him seriously.

The teen also researched school shootings and firearms on the Internet many times, said the agreed statement of facts.

He has pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder. He can’t be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act because he was 17 at the time of the shootings.

Two weeks have been set aside to determine if the killer should be sentenced as a youth or an adult. The Crown has served notice that it wants an adult sentence.

Others feel the same way.

“We want justice. The shooter needs to be held accountable for his actions,” the La Loche Community Safety Board said in its victim impact statement.

“He acted like a cold-blooded killer. We do not think he deserves leniency.”

At the time of the shooting, the teen’s friends described him as the black sheep of his family and a victim of bullying at school.

Defence lawyer Aaron Fox said reports from psychiatrists and psychologists will be presented but he said “there’s not a one-sentence answer to that question of why” he did what he did.

Fox said it’s up to the Crown to convince the court to sentence the teen as an adult.

“It is very hard to ignore the horrific crimes that were committed here because they were horrific, you can’t describe them in any other way, and you can’t ignore the impact that it’s had on many people,” he said.

“But in a sentence hearing like this, that can’t be the only consideration. You have to look at the youth that you’re dealing with and decide whether or not this person should be sentenced as an adult or should you look at some of the other sentencing alternatives that are available.”

The hearing continues Wednesday.

Jennifer Graham, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

‘Don’t want to die:’ Sentencing hearing told victim begged teen shooter to stop

What's Trending