CHARDON, Ohio — The 18-year-old West Geauga High School student who was arrested after allegedly bringing a gun to school with a plan to harm several students appeared in court for the first time Wednesday afternoon.
Brandon Morrissette is facing felony charges of attempted aggravated murder and illegal possession of a deadly weapon in a school safety zone and is also accused of inducing panic, a first-degree misdemeanor. Attorneys representing the teen offered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity for the misdemeanor offense, giving a potential preview for how they may tackle the more serious charges.
"We're taking this very seriously," Geauga County Prosecutor James R. Flaiz told reporters afterward. "The initial charge — the attempted aggravated murder — is the most serious charge that can be brought under this type of factual scenario."
Morrissette's initial appearance came more than a week after he was arrested on April 3 when student Casey Orloski alerted a school resource officer of a 9mm bullet that was found in a men's restroom of the building. Following that discovery, the SRO and administrators began to review surveillance video to determine the origin of the shell.
After interviewing nearly 20 students, Morrissette was determined to be a suspect, with authorities claiming he had a plan to shoot multiple classmates. He was allegedly found with a Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun that had three fully loaded magazines inside, as well as a lock blade-style knife on the outside of his pants.
Court documents claim Morrissette, who was released from a mental health facility on Tuesday, admitted to Chester Township police that he was planning to go to the school library and open fire on the students there. He apparently said he picked that location because that's where the greatest number of students would be at the time.
"It's important for me — more importantly, for himself and his family — to get to whatever condition he has and what he suffers from, and we'll move forward from there," Morrissette's lawyer Henry Hilow said.
Due to the serious nature of the charges, prosecutors asked that Morrissette be held without bond in the Geauga County Safety Center, with Chardon Municipal Court Judge Terri L. Stupica agreeing with their assessment. Appearing from the jail via video conference, Morrissette briefly attempted to speak during the proceedings before being silenced by Stupica.
Hilow would not comment on what Morrissette has said or about a possible motive, but said the family is devastated.
"From talking to family members, his mother's death was very traumatic to him," Hilow stated. "It was three years ago. Other issues in his past were traumatic, and I'm in the early stages now of trying to assess what facts are out there to help assist in his defense at this time."
Casey Orloski is now being praised for his quick thinking regarding the bullet in the bathroom. He stopped a possible tragedy, as many are reminded of what happened in Chardon just 11 years ago.
"This is an issue that did bring back memories of that, certainly. But again, I think we've learned a lot from when that has happened 11 years ago until now," Flaiz said. "This is a good example of we had a school resource officer in place, we had a very vigilant student who brought his concerns to the administration. This is a situation where a lot of things have been put into place, and it was those interventions that really, I think, caused a very good result here."
Following the incident, students at the high school were dismissed for the remainder of the day out of an abundance of caution, and all classes were canceled across the West Geauga district the following day. Officials have since unveiled new safety measures and moved to upgrade audio equipment in the high school.
Morrissette is scheduled to be back in court on May 3 at 11:30 a.m., with the felony counts likely to eventually be considered by a Geauga County grand jury. If he is eventually convicted, he faces more than a decade in prison.
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