Nick Walczak Sues T.J. Lane For Assault, Battery

May 16, 2013

By John Karlovec
Nick Walczak is suing convicted murderer T.J. Lane and mem-bers of his family for leaving him permanently paralyzed from the Chardon High School shooting.
Walczak, who turned 19 on Sun-day, filed a six-count lawsuit last Thursday in Lake County Common Pleas Court alleging, among other things, that Lane assaulted him on Feb. 27, 2012, resulting in serious, debilitating and permanent injuries.
Also named in the 10-page complaint are T.J. Lane’s parents, Sarah Nolan and Thomas Lane Jr., both of Mentor-on-the-Lake, and his maternal grandparents and legal guardians Jack and Carole Nolan, of Munson Township. They have been sued for negligent supervision.
The lawsuit also names Daniel Lane, T.J.’s uncle and the legal owner of the Ruger MK II Target .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun used in the shooting rampage.
In addition, Walczak is suing T.J.’s paternal grandparents, Thomas and Michelle Lane, for negligence in storing their son’s weapon. Daniel, who reportedly was away at school on Feb. 27, 2012, lived with his parents in their Chardon Township home.
Nick’s mother, Holly Walczak, referred all calls to Nick’s lawyer, John P. O’Neil of the Mayfield Heights-based law firm Elk & Elk.
O’Neil did not return a phone call left at his office Friday afternoon seeking comment.
Nick, however, did take to Facebook to address those critical of the filing of the lawsuit.
@:”Yeah I’m suing for all of you guys who think this is wrong, walk in my shoes. Oh wait, you can’t,” he wrote. “Everyone that … thinks this is wrong can review what happened. I went to school one day to get an education and lost three friends. And, guess what? I did learn something that day and that’s how to use a wheelchair.
“Also, if your kid went to school one day and was aimlessly shot at, then what (would) your decision be?”
The case has been assigned to Judge Richard Collins Jr.
O’Neil stated in the complaint that Thomas and Michelle Lane owned or had under their con-trol more than 50 unsecured wea-pons in their home, including the Ruger semi-automatic hand-gun.
“(They) were also responsible for the proper and safe securing of that firearm (and over 50 others) from anyone else having access to the home where the guns were kept, including T.J. Lane,” O’Neil alleged.
During a search of the grandparents’ home following the shooting, O’Neil said officers found more than 50 firearms “scattered throughout the home, none of which were properly secured or stored.”
He added, “The weapons were found laying throughout the home in an open manner either loaded or in close proximity to ammunition.”
Neither his uncle nor his paternal grandparents made any effort to secure the weapons from others, including T.J., who was a minor at the time of the shooting.
“T.J. Lane had easy access to these weapons and ammunition when he selected this firearm for the planned shooting the next day,” O’Neil stated.
In addition, at the time, T.J.’s father, a convicted felon, was living with his parents and was not permitted “to own, control or have access to firearms,” O’Neil said.
This is the second civil lawsuit that has been filed against T.J. Lane and his family members. In February, the families of the three students who were killed — Daniel Parmertor, Russell King Jr. and Demetrius Hewlin — filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the Lake County Common Pleas Court. That case is pending before Judge Joseph Gibson.
T.J. Lane is serving three life sentences without parole after pleading guilty to the murders. He has appealed his sentence, however, to the 11th District Court of Appeals in Warren.