A teenager who killed four people and injured seven others during a shooting rampage at a home and a high school in the northern Saskatchewan community of La Loche has apologized to his victims.
People wept as the teen addressed each of his victims at a sentencing hearing Friday, which will determine if he will be sentenced as an adult or a youth.
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The teen tearfully said if he could talk to teacher Adam Wood, who died from his injuries, he would tell him he was sorry.
“If he was here right now, I would say to him: ‘I didn’t really know you, but I heard you were a good person, a kind person … and I’m sorry I shot you. You were not a target,'” he said.
The teen said the same about teacher’s aide Marie Janvier, who also died, and apologized to her mother.
“I’m sorry I ruined your life and took your daughter away. All she wanted to do was help students,” he said to Jackie Janvier, who has sat through every day of the two week sentencing hearing.
Some of the seven survivors of the shooting were students who can’t be named.
FULL COVERAGE: La Loche school shooting
To substitute teacher Charlene Klyne, who lost her sight in the January 2016 shooting, the teen said he was sorry for shooting her while she was sitting in her classroom.
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“I’m sorry for ruining your life that day,” he said. “You weren’t someone who was a target.”
The teen said he didn’t know what he was thinking when he pulled the trigger.
The teen — who cannot be named because he was just shy of his 18th birthday when the shooting occurred — killed brothers Dayne and Drayden Fontaine in a home in January 2016 before shooting up the high school where Wood and Janvier died.
During the first week of the sentencing hearing, which was held in May, an agreed statement of facts detailed the shooter’s murderous path from a home in La Loche to the community’s high school.
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The Fontaine brothers, who had just played video games with the killer the night before, were gunned down first.
Dayne, 17, pleaded for his life and said “I don’t want to die” before he was shot 11 times, including twice in the head. Drayden, 13, was shot twice.
The shooter then posted messages online: “Just killed 2 ppl,” and “Bout to shoot ip the school.”
Surveillance footage captured his frightening walk through the halls, his shotgun raised, as students and staff ran in fear. Wood managed to call 911 before being shot in the torso and then once again while on the ground. He was pronounced dead in hospital.
Janvier was shot when she ran to get help for Klyne, who was wounded when the shooter fired through the window of a classroom door.
When police arrived, the shooter ran into a women’s washroom where he put his weapon down and gave himself up.
He pleaded guilty last fall to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder.
READ MORE: La Loche school shooting: psychiatrist testifies teen not developmentally delayed
The teen told court he knows the boys’ mother forgives him.
“I know she knows I am sorry for what I did.”
Earlier Friday, a neuropsychologist testified for the defence that the teen had an IQ of 68, which is considered well below average. Dr. Monty Nelson said “thinking quickly was a major difficulty” for the teen.
Nelson met the teen last July and again Thursday night. He said the teen restated that he didn’t feel bullied, but didn’t feel connected to people.
Court has already heard a defence psychiatrist testify the teen has symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as an intellectual disability, major depressive disorder and displays signs of fetal alcohol syndrome.
The court is still waiting for a Gladue report, which examines an aboriginal offender’s background for the judge to use in making a sentencing decision. Then final submissions need to be made from the lawyers.
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