According to the prosecutor, Solomon's fellow students say that the teen-ager thought the Columbine shooting was 'cool'

August 9, 1999
Web posted at: 6:23 p.m. EDT (2223 GMT)

In this story: 'This has nothing to do with Hitler' 'Society wants to see him cured' 15 shots before surrender RELATED STORIES, SITES

CONYERS, Georgia (CNN) -- A prosecutor argued Monday that a teen-ager who opened fire on his high-school classmates last spring is sane enough to be tried as an adult, saying the suspect had written about "planning this for years" and told fellow students that he thought the Columbine school massacre was "cool."

T.J. Solomon, 15, faces 21 charges, including aggravated assault and weapons violations, in the May 20 shootings at Heritage High School in Conyers, 20 miles east of Atlanta. There is no attempted murder charge in Georgia.

Six people were shot but survived the attack.

"This was a premeditated, calculated assault at Heritage High School," said Rockdale County District Attorney Richard Read. "He knew right from wrong. He knew what he was doing. He is not mentally ill."

But Solomon's attorney, Don Samuel, said his client has mental disorders and argued that he should be treated as a juvenile because he can be rehabilitated.

"In legal terms, we are not talking legal insanity, but he does suffer from mental illness," said Samuel.

Juvenile Court Judge William Schneider is expected to issue a ruling on Tuesday. If Solomon is tried as a juvenile, the maximum penalty would be five years in detention. But if he is tried as an adult and found guilty, he could face more than 351 years in prison.

'This has nothing to do with Hitler'

The prosecutor said authorities found the sawed-off barrel and scope from a .22 rifle hidden in Solomon's bedroom.

Read said the search of Solomon's home turned up three pages of bomb instructions printed from the Internet along with a note that alludes to the April 20 school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 18, who killed 13 people at Columbine before killing themselves, were part of the school's Trench Coat Mafia.

Solomon's note, which was found under his bed, mentioned his "brothers and sisters related to the Trench Coat Mafia."

The note also said Solomon had planned the shootings for years but finally got angry enough to do it.

"This has nothing to do with Hitler," the note read. "And it is not because I was picked on."

According to Read, some of Solomon's classmates will testify that he had talked about the Columbine incident, saying he could do something similar. Solomon also allegedly told one student that the Columbine shooters made a mistake when "they wasted time aiming."

Wearing a rumpled white dress shirt, Solomon showed no emotion during Monday's court session, not even when the note was read.

His mother and stepfather, Mae Dean and Bob Daniele, sat directly behind him, and the boy's mother fixed his collar before the hearing started.

'Society wants to see him cured'

Samuel, one of three defense attorneys, said Solomon suffers from major depression with severe reoccurrences as well as a bipolar disorder. Samuel said the boy is suicidal and has had a preoccupation with death.

His grades had declined from A's and B's to D's and F's, said Samuel, but Solomon had no history of violence.

Samuel described the boy as withdrawn and unable to deal with others. He said Solomon was taking medicine for his bipolar disorder and that he was showing improvement.

Society's interests and Solomon's interests overlap, argued Samuel.

"Society wants to see him cured. He wants to be cured. Society want to be safe. He wants to be safe," Samuel said.

If Solomon is tried as an adult he could be put away for years "where we will destroy his life," Samuel said.

If his case is handled through the juvenile system, the attorney said, Solomon can one day be an asset to the community.

"This is the kind of thing juvenile court was set up for," said Samuel.

15 shots before surrender

On May 20, Read said, Solomon took a .357-caliber Magnum pistol from his stepfather's gun cabinet and brought it to Heritage High School, where he went to a common area and began shooting with a different weapon, a sawed-off, .22-caliber rifle.

Six students were hit with the 12 shots he fired, Read said.

The teen-ager then went outside the school and fired three rounds into classrooms with the pistol, Read said. No one was hit by those shots.

Finally, Solomon surrendered to a teacher, Cecil Brinkley, who demanded the gun from him, Read said.

CNN's Mike Phelan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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