The shooting of a boy at a Toronto high school, "in the middle of the afternoon, while class is in session," was a planned and deliberate killing, a Toronto Crown attorney told a jury today.
Aaron Del Rizzo was making his opening statement in the trial of two young men charged with first-degree murder in the May 23, 2007, shooting of Jordan Manners.
The two, who were under 18 at the time, can't be identified under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
They are pleading not guilty.
Jordan, who had turned 15 just days before his death, was found at the bottom of a staircase in the middle of C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in the northwest part of Toronto.
Jordan was the first student in Ontario in more than three decades to be killed at his school while it was in session.
Thirty-five years ago, at Brampton Centennial school, a student and a teacher were fatally wounded by Michael Slobodian, who shot himself.
Mr. Del Rizzo said that moments before Jordan's death, he was seen by other students who will testify here walking between the two accused young men, a pop can in his hand.
Then he suddenly collapsed, Mr. Del Rizzo said. Witnesses will testify they saw the accused rifle through his pockets, then walk away from the scene before breaking into a run.
As Jordan lay below the stairs, having trouble breathing and speaking, students and staff came to his aid.
But because the .25-calibre bullet that killed him - it pierced his heart and a lung - remained inside his body, there was little blood and people were confused about what had happened.
Only when bystanders noticed blood on Jordan's jacket did they realize he'd been shot.
Unusually, at some point in the trial, the prosecutor said the six-man, six-woman jury will actually travel to the school to see the scene firsthand.
Jordan's mother, Loreen Small, sat slumped against a friend's shoulder during Mr. Del Rizzo's brief opening.
Editor's note: An earlier online version of this story indicated that Jordan Manners's death was the only fatal shooting of a student in a high school in session in Canada. It was in fact the first such fatal shooting in Ontario in more than three decades. This online version has been corrected.