VISTA – Jury deliberations in the case against Brendan O’Rourke, the lone gunman accused of shooting at kids at a Carlsbad elementary school in October 2010 took less than one hour Monday to result in a guilty verdict.O’Rourke, 42, was found guilty on all 14 charges for the assault with a firearm at Kelly Elementary School that caused injuries to two second-grade girls.
O’Rourke plead not guilty by reason of insanity and faces more than 100 years in prison, if convicted.
The jury will now have to decide whether O’Rourke is insane or not.
If O’Rourke is found insane, he will carry out his sentence in a mental facility.
“The issue for you is whether or not Mr. O’Rourke intended to kill,” Deputy Public Defender Dan Segura told jurors in his closing statements Monday.
During court testimony, witnesses at the school during the shooting said they heard O’Rourke shout derogatory words about President Obama, gay people and about a company that O’Rourke used to work for.
He also was heard saying, “This is a drill. These are blanks,” so people would stay away from him while he reloaded his gun, according to the prosecutor.
On March 1, the judge and jury visited the school site and followed a path of orange cones that dotted the grass at specific locations, each representing events as they happened during the Oct. 8, 2010 shooting.
Sgt. Mickey Williams, of the Carlsbad Police Department prepared a sheet that numbered each location and explained what had happened at each spot.
The jurors stopped at the cones while Williams read the script to them, explaining the site’s significance.
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