California school killer gets 50 years

Williams (centre) did not say why he went on a rampage

A teenager who opened fire at a California high school, killing two students and wounding 13 others, is beginning a 50-year term in prison.

The killing began just after the start of classes

Charles Andy Williams, 16, who faced a possible sentence of 425 years, tearfully apologised after he was sentenced on Thursday.

"I'm sorry and I feel horrible about what happened," he said.

"If I could go back to that day, I wouldn't have got out of bed."

Williams - who pleaded guilty to two charges of murder and 13 charges of attempted murder but was too young to face the death penalty - received the minimum term under California state law.

The shooting occurred on 5 March 2001, just after the start of classes at Santana High School in Santee, about 16 kilometres (10 miles) north-east of San Diego.

Eyewitnesses said Williams emerged from the boys' toilet block and started firing his gun in the courtyard.

One of the victims died at the scene and the other died later in hospital. They were Brian Zuckor, 14, and Randy Gordon, 15.

Question unanswered

Judge Herbert Exarhos called the attack vicious, but said that Williams had a difficult home life and had no prior history of criminal behaviour.

The judge also said the question of why Williams went on a shooting spree still remained unanswered.

"In all likelihood, it is a question the defendant will be struggling with daily to answer himself," he said.

Some of Williams's classmates have said that he was apparently open about his plans to kill, but nobody took him seriously.

Josh Stevens, a friend of the boy, said Williams "was joking on and off that he was going to come to school and shoot people".

Taunts

Some fellow students said he had been taunted for being skinny.

One, Jessica Moore, said other students picked on him and called him such names as "dork", "freak" and "nerd".

Williams's lawyer said the teenager - who had moved to Santee shortly before the shooting - was also feeling lonely.

The attack was the worst episode of school violence since two students at Columbine High School in Colorado killed 13 students and a teacher before taking their own lives, in 1999.

It was also the first of two shootings which happened within weeks at schools in San Diego.

On 22 March 2001, a mentally ill student wounded five people at Granite Hills High School. He later hanged himself in jail.