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Teen admits he fired gun that killed teacher

Brazill says in this videotaped confession that Grunow "pushed me away and told me to go to class ... he was laughing, and that really made me mad."

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (CNN) -- Prosecutors played a videotaped statement in court Monday in which 14-year-old Nathaniel Brazill admits to firing a gun that killed one of his middle school teachers in nearby Lake Worth last year.

Brazill, who was 13 at the time, told police he did not mean to hurt Lake Worth Community Middle School teacher Barry Grunow. "Me and Mr. Grunow, we were like good friends," he said.

After he pulled the trigger, he said, he did not know that Grunow had been shot.

VIDEO CNN's Mark Potter reports on the alleged shooting captured on this security video taken at a Florida school Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Mark Potter has more on the first degree murder trial of Nathaniel Brazill in West Palm Beach, Florida (May 2) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)  DOCUMENT • Read the Florida law on juveniles being tried as adults  FINDLAW • Read the complaint against the gun maker (PDF) Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing.  MESSAGE BOARD School safety

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On the tape, Brazill described loading the gun with five bullets at his grandfather's house the weekend before the Friday shooting.

"I kept the safety on," Brazill said. "I put it in my bag [backpack]."

Later in the tape, which was made public last summer, Brazill tells what happened when he told Grunow he wanted to talk to a girl in his classroom.

"I asked him if I could speak to them. He told me -- he told me no, he pushed me away and told me to go to class, and he had a smile on his face and he was laughing, and that really made me mad," Brazill says on the tape.

"OK, so what did you do then?" asks the detective.

"I don't really remember," Brazill replies.

"OK."

"I can't really remember. I think I pulled out the gun. I was like checking the lock. I was already holding it, and I was fixing to drop it, and I didn't know what was going to happen if I would have dropped it. It all went from there," Brazill says.

Prosecutors believe the tape supports their case that Brazill meant to kill Grunow. Defense attorneys believe the statement shows just the opposite.

Robert Udell, Brazill's attorney, said his client never intended to fire the weapon. He said Brazill pointed the gun only to show he was serious. The defense does not dispute that the gun was fired, hitting Grunow in the face.

"Guns go off in this country unintentionally every single day and that's what occurred in this case," Udell told CNN.

The defense has previously announced it plans to put Brazill on the stand later this week.

"If they think he's a bad kid, they're going to find him guilty," Udell said, "If they think he's a fine young man, they'll give that some consideration in determining what crime occurred here."

Prosecutors argue that besides being angry that Grunow would not let him inside the classroom, Brazill was angry because he had been sent home for misbehaving earlier in the day and because he had recently received a failing grade.

A classmate of Brazill's testified Friday the defendant told her he was going to kill a counselor. Another classmate testified Brazill showed her a gun in the days before the fatal shooting.

Michelle Cordovez testified that she was with Brazill on the last day of school when the two were caught throwing water balloons and suspended by Kevin Hinds, a counselor at the school.

"[Brazill] said he was gonna come back to school and shoot Mr. Hinds. He said he had a gun," she said. Cordovez said she laughed at Brazill's comment, believing he was kidding. She quoted him as saying in response, "Watch. I'm going to be all over the news."

Under cross-examination by Udell, Cordovez said Brazill referred only to Hinds in his threat, not to Grunow. She said she hugged him goodbye on that day.

"You wouldn't have hugged him if you thought he was serious, would you?" Udell asked.

"No," Cordovez responded.

Another student testified Friday that Brazill showed her a gun three days before he shot Grunow. Tiffany Jenkins testified that when she asked Brazill whether he would ever use the gun to kill someone, he replied, "No, not unless I have to."

Grunow was married and the father of two children.

Classmate: Teen made death threat before shooting
May 4, 2001
Jury in teen's trial sees videotape of shooting
May 3, 2001
Friend says she saw teen-ager pull trigger
May 2, 2001
Florida teen offered plea in teacher shooting
April 17, 2001
Grand jury weighs charging 13-year-old as adult in teacher shooting
June 12, 2000

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