Boy, 15, dies a day after school shooting

[Schuyler Colfax]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/13/boy ... index.html

OXNARD, California (AP) -- Police say a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head at a junior high school in California has died.

Oxnard police spokesman David Keith says Lawrence King died Wednesday at a hospital from his injuries.

Police say he was shot Tuesday by another eighth-grader near the end of first period in a computer lab.

The 14-year-old suspected shooter was arrested shortly after the shooting.

Prosecutor Greg Totten says the boy could face charges of murder and use of a firearm in commission of murder

Worried parents gathered Tuesday outside the 1,150-student E.O. Green Junior High School, which was locked down. Students were released classroom by classroom.

The wounded boy had improved since arriving at St. John's Regional Medical Center in extremely serious condition.

The shooting occurred near the end of the first period, during an English class that had moved from a classroom to the computer lab, said Jerry Dannenberg, superintendent of the Hueneme School District.

Dannenberg said 22 other students were in the lab at the time.

The one-story campus, which includes grades six though eight, does not have metal detectors.

About 40 officers arrived within minutes of getting calls of a shooting. The victim was found on the ground and the suspect was apprehended a few blocks away, Keith said.

There was a dispute between the boys but a motive hasn't been released.

Parents were notified that school would be in session Wednesday and a crisis team would be present.

"This kind of incident is the most difficult for police officers," Keith said. "A 15-year-old should be allowed to go to school and be in a safe environment but this sort of thing happens all over the country."

The school is in south Oxnard near a Navy base at Port Hueneme in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles.

Here's a sad story and I'm really curious to see the motive behind the shooting was. It was because of stories like this I was a afraid to go to middle and high school back when I was younger.

[Ritterin Sophia]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/13/boy ... index.html

OXNARD, California (AP) -- Police say a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head at a junior high school in California has died.

Oxnard police spokesman David Keith says Lawrence King died Wednesday at a hospital from his injuries.

Police say he was shot Tuesday by another eighth-grader near the end of first period in a computer lab.

The 14-year-old suspected shooter was arrested shortly after the shooting.

Prosecutor Greg Totten says the boy could face charges of murder and use of a firearm in commission of murder

Worried parents gathered Tuesday outside the 1,150-student E.O. Green Junior High School, which was locked down. Students were released classroom by classroom.

The wounded boy had improved since arriving at St. John's Regional Medical Center in extremely serious condition.

The shooting occurred near the end of the first period, during an English class that had moved from a classroom to the computer lab, said Jerry Dannenberg, superintendent of the Hueneme School District.

Dannenberg said 22 other students were in the lab at the time.

The one-story campus, which includes grades six though eight, does not have metal detectors.

About 40 officers arrived within minutes of getting calls of a shooting. The victim was found on the ground and the suspect was apprehended a few blocks away, Keith said.

There was a dispute between the boys but a motive hasn't been released.

Parents were notified that school would be in session Wednesday and a crisis team would be present.

"This kind of incident is the most difficult for police officers," Keith said. "A 15-year-old should be allowed to go to school and be in a safe environment but this sort of thing happens all over the country."

The school is in south Oxnard near a Navy base at Port Hueneme in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles.

Here's a sad story and I'm really curious to see the motive behind the shooting was. It was because of stories like this I was a afraid to go to middle and high school a couple years ago[/b[.

I fixed it for you since I know you aren't old enough to be saying 'when I was younger, this was at most 3-4 years ago that you're talking about,

Saf to see it happen, any news on where the weapon came from

[Darth Quorthon]

I live in Ventura, the neighboring city to Oxnard, and I heard about the shooting while at work yesterday. It's disheartening to hear that the victim died, I was under the impression that he was going to make it. What makes this even more scary is that my mother works at the county juvenile corrections, facility, which is where I think the shooter will probably end up, at least for the time being.

[AndritVoor]

Apparently prosecutors are seeking to charge the shooter with a hate crime, as the victim identified as gay.

Oxnard Teen Faces Murder, Hate Crime Charges
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) ― Prosecutors say a 14-year-old boy will be tried as an adult in the Oxnard school shooting of a 15-year-old classmate who has been declared brain dead.

The charge against Brandon McInerney was upgraded Thursday to murder from attempted murder after authorities learned that victim Lawrence King's condition was not survivable. Prosecutors also filed hate-crime and firearm-use enhancements against McInerney.

The Ventura County medical examiner says King was pronounced brain dead Wednesday but remains on a ventilator so some of his organs can be harvested for donation.

Police have not specified a motive, but said there appeared to be a personal dispute between the two.

Several classmates have said King would wear feminine attire, making him an unpopular figure with other boys.

http://cbs2.com/local/Oxnard.Murder.Hate.2.654653.html

A Gay Teen's "Bad Blood"
On February 12 a gay eighth-grade student in Oxnard, Calif. lay in a pool of his own blood in his school's computer lab as his attacker, a classmate, ran out of the room and off campus. John Ireland explores the undeniable feeling that Lawrence King took the bullet for every gay teenager.
By John Ireland
An Advocate.com exclusive posted February 14, 2008
A Gay Teen's

On Tuesday morning of this week, an eighth-grade student in Oxnard, Calif., sat in front of a monitor in the school computer lab. Within a few minutes, he would lie dying on the floor in a pool of his own blood as his attacker, a classmate, ran out of the room and off campus.

Unlike most boys his age, Lawrence King did not seek to blend in. Many of us remember junior high as our most harrowing years of peer pressure and social uncertainty, no matter what crowd we fit into -- nerd, jock, pep squad, orchestra, or somewhere in between. At 15 years old, King dressed effeminately, wore makeup and fingernail polish, and told people he was gay.

School officials knew that King had been bullied. They had attempted, unsuccessfully, to contain and prevent the tension on campus that followed him around. A police spokesman said there had been, between these two students, some “bad blood…”

http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid52214.asp