A civil liberties issue? Recent legislation What is the NRA? Heston defends laws

The sentence came after the teenager apologised in court for the shooting spree that ended at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, saying it took him to "a place of deterioration and self-loathing".

"I thought about what I could say to make people feel better. Nothing I can do can take away the pain and destruction I caused. I am truly sorry for all of this," he said.

Kinkel insisted he loved his parents

The teenager was jailed after abandoning a defence of insanity and pleading guilty to four counts of murder and 26 counts of attempted murder on 21 May, 1998.

Kinkel killed his parents after being expelled from school when officials found a handgun hidden in his locker.

The next day he opened fire in the school cafeteria, killing two students and wounding more than 20 others before he was overpowered.

Kinkel had agreed to serve 25 years in prison for the murders, but Judge Jack Mattison also had the option of adding time for the attempted murders at the Springfield school.

The judge said statements made by victims and their families convinced him "this case needed accountability for each of the wounded".

In addition to the 25-year sentence for the murders, Judge Mattison added a combination of concurrent and consecutive sentences on the 26 attempted murder counts that added up to another 86.67 years in prison.

The teenager did not face the death penalty, because he was only 15 when he went on the rampage at Thurston High. He could have been sentenced to 220 years in jail.

'Intense anger'

Kinkel stood, showing no emotion, as the judge read out the sentence.

Gabriel Thomas, whom Kinkel shot in the arm, said: "I'm happy with the 111-year sentence he received. I feel intense anger but no hatred towards [him]."

Defence lawyer Mark Sabitt urged the judge to give Kinkel hope of eventual freedom, recounting testimony that the teenager was psychotic and driven by hallucinatory voices to commit the murders.