Ohio shooter upset at teachers, boy’s uncle says

Routinely roughed up
As a teen who read “War and Peace” and had opinions on global warming and world issues, he was different, and that’s why he was picked on, Looney said.

He routinely got roughed up after school, coming home with scratches and bruises. Looney witnessed some of the beatings as his nephew walked down the street.

“They’d be like a pack of dogs surrounding him. It was brutal,” he said. Coon wouldn’t allow his family to intervene, saying it would only make things worse.

Juvenile court records show Coon also had a tough home life. He came from a poor home and was the subject of a juvenile court neglect case at age 4. When he was 12, Coon was charged in juvenile court with domestic violence, accused of attacking his mother.

Coon and his mother had a poor relationship and used foul and abusive language toward each other, according to his probation officer.

Coon, who is white, stood out in a school that is 85 percent black by wearing a black trench coat, black boots, a dog collar, chains and a glove. Coon’s neighbor Linda Lacey had seen Coon in “gothic” garb, but added that more often she had seen him in a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt.

Looney said Coon had few friends and that most of them were black. He didn’t believe the shooting had anything to do with race.

“He got mad if someone would say something about someone’s ethnicity,” Looney said.

Uncle thought he was beat to death
When Looney first heard that Coon was dead, he immediately thought that someone finally beat him to death. When he heard the whole story from his sister Lori, Coon’s mother, he was shocked, and drew relief only from the survival of the wounded teachers and students.

“Things go through your mind. Why didn’t I see this?” he said.

He recalls a kid who a few weeks ago cleaned an older woman’s yard across the street, without pay and without being asked. He said his nephew played 1,500 games of chess with him before winning one at age 11 or 12, then defeated his uncle, who taught him the game, about 60 percent of the time and won a citywide chess tournament in December.

The last time Looney saw his nephew, Coon was leaving his home Tuesday after their weightlifting session.

“He said, ’Thanks, uncle, for helping me work out. I appreciate it,”’ Looney recalled. “I said, ’I’ll see you tomorrow.”’

Sporting events involving Cleveland schools resumed Friday and the district asked for a moment of silence at each event to mark the tragedy. Athletics Commissioner Leonard Jackson said extra security guards and police were assigned to each game to make fans and players comfortable returning to their routines.

“We just want to be more vigilant,” he said.

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