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Teen shows how he handled gun that killed teacher

Brazill says that he was just carrying the gun that killed his teacher and "didn't have any plan of using it."

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (CNN) -- At the request of prosecutors, the teenager charged in the shooting death of a teacher in a Florida middle school last year demonstrated Wednesday how he held the gun in the seconds before the fatal shot was fired.

Nathan Brazill, 14, showed the jury how he had moved the slide on the gun, cocking it and putting a bullet in the chamber.

"You wanted to make sure there was a live round in the gun," asked Assistant State's Attorney Marc Shiner.

VIDEO CNN's Mark Potter reports on the testimony of 14-year-old Nathaniel Brazill (May 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) See highlights of 14-year-old Nathaniel Brazill's testimony (May 8) Part 1 | Part 2 (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Mark Potter reports on the alleged shooting captured on this security video taken at a Florida school (May 4) 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)  DOCUMENTS • Read the complaint against the gun maker (FindLaw) (PDF) • Read the indictment and probable cause affidavit in the Brazill case (FindLaw) (PDF) • Read the Florida law on juveniles being tried as adults Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing.  MESSAGE BOARD School safety

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"Yes, sir."

Shiner then told Brazill to show the jury how he pulled the trigger.

"I didn't intentionally pull the trigger," Brazill said. "My hand was on the trigger."

"Who pulled the trigger?"

"I did."

The testimony came as cross-examination began in the first-degree murder trial in the shooting death of Lake Worth Community Middle School teacher Barry Grunow.

Shiner later grilled Brazill about why he ran away after the gun went of in Grunow's face.

"You knew he was shot, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You did nothing to help that man, did you?"

"I was scared."

"Yes or no."

"No, sir."

"You just let the man die there."

Shiner continued, "You were trying to scare Mr. Grunow?"

"Yes."

"Having a gun made you feel like a big man?"

"Yes."

In other questioning, Shiner asked Brazill about a conversation he had with a friend.

"Do you remember telling Michelle Cordovez that you were going to bring a gun back to school; you were going to shoot Mr. Hines because he suspended you; do you remember telling her that?"

"Yes, sir."

During Tuesday's testimony, Brazill said had no plans to kill Grunow, his favorite teacher. He described pulling out a handgun on the last day of classes last May 26 when Grunow wouldn't let him talk to two friends in private.

He had returned to the campus after being sent home earlier in the day for getting in a water balloon fight. Pulling out the gun, Brazill said, was a way to get Grunow to concede to his demands.

The young teen said Grunow didn't appear to be "taking him seriously," so he cocked the gun to let him know it was real. He said Grunow told him to "get that out of my face."

"Immediately after that, that's when the gun went off," he said.

Brazill, who was 13 at the time of the shooting, said he didn't recall pulling the trigger and he believed the gun's safety was on. He said he remembers clutching the gun with two hands and trembling with tears in his eyes when he was pointing the gun at Grunow.

He said he took off running after the gun fired. He pointed the gun at another teacher who was moving toward him, telling him, "Don't bother me," but when he saw an officer he knew from a recreation center, he told him what he had done and turned himself in peacefully, Brazill said.

Why didn't he just stop after the gun went off?

"I was scared ... scared of what was going on," he said.

Brazill described Grunow, a father of two, as a "nice guy" and a "good teacher" who "made his class fun."

Grunow had given him an "F" on a progress report about a week before the shooting, but Brazill said he had no ill-will toward his favorite teacher and that he had completed the necessary work to pass the class.

"Did you mean to harm Mr. Grunow?" asked Brazill's attorney, Robert Udell.

"No," Brazill answered.

He testified he had found the gun and bullets inside a cookie tin in his grandfather's room several days before the shooting. Though he took it, he said, "I didn't have any plan of using it."

14-year-old boy denies he planned to kill teacher
May 8, 2001
Jury told teen's gun couldn't have fired by itself
May 7, 2001
Teen admits he fired gun that killed teacher
May 7, 2001
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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