Nick was a good friend of mine and the pressure Mr Whitis (the asst. principal who he shot) put Nick under tremdous pressures. He singled him out many times, picked on him and drove him to feeling worthless. Both of Nicks parents worked for the school system, so the asst. principal thought he could get away with taunting this young man...I do not condone what Nick did in any way, but I can certainly understand the enormous pressure/scroutony he was under bc I witnessed it myself....I just hate to see a part of this story smearing his name w/out the whole story being told. The day this happened, Mr. Whitis "busted" him for smoking behind a building where many of us were smoking, but Nick was NOT. He snatched him by his arm and took him to the office and suspended him anyway, when he was completely innocent. Thats how it got started that day. This was just the icing on the cake for years of similar abuse by the asst. Principal.....Also, a good friend of ours and her boyfriend both commited suicide w/in 2 weeks of each other just a few months before....Nicks last words was "Dont be like LeighAnne"....the close friend that commited suicide just months before.....
Sometimes the snippet we read doesnt contain alot of info and this is one of those stories. I feel I owe it to Nicks life to tell the rest of the story to onlookers such as urself so he isnt thought of as "just the guy that shot someone and killed himself"...

is there a picture available of nicholas? we cannot find any pictures of him in the yearbook.

I knew Nick as well. We went to school at the same time. Not to speak ill of the dead, but he was maladjusted and "go nowhere" from the start, as is evidenced by his later actions. The Assistant Principal was one of the fairest administrators at Grimsley, both at the time and since, and his legacy should not be disparaged by someone who so clearly did not spend a great deal of energy participating in the eduction system.

woww..i remeber mii teacher from kiser middle school telling me this story..i think he was caught up in the scene helping this young boy!!!woww memories i guess

Nick was NOT maladjusted or a "go nowhere"!! He was a highly intelligent person who deserves more respect. Since you obviously didnt personally know him please, do not speak of him. Nick was a beautiful person both inside and out and while he did something terrible to both himself and Mr. Whitis, his memory shouldn't be tainted. For your information, Nick was participating in the education system and trying to get his academics back on track. So please, stop spitting on the memory of someone you obviously didnt know, except maybe in passing, and let those of us who did know him and love him decide what type of person he was.

I just wanted to add to the discussion. I grew up in the neighborhood with Nick and knew him since 5 or 6 years old playing teeball. Nick was by no means a super achiever. He was however loved by most everyone. He grew up in a rough neighborhood where most of his peers were drug dealers and had a "gang" like mentality. Mr Whitis was known to be a arrogant, sexist and racist bully who only showed kindness and fairness to cute girls. I on multiple occasions observed him threaten violence and treated kids with utter disregard. He was in the business of crushing and bruising people's spirit. My own cousin who is 13 years older than me had dozens of stories to add to mine and my friends dozens of stories in which he displayed appauling behaviour. It still amazes me to this day that he was allowed to be withon 20 yards of children much less to be an assistant principal. He threatened to beat me with a baseball bat in his office after he asked me what I thought of him. I told him everyone knows he was an arrogant racist and a sexist. My own father had to come down to warn him to his face that he was to never talk to me again or he would press charges against him for child abuse.

I was there the day the shooting happened and stood over Nick's body within a minute after the shooting. It changed my life. Nick had been on probation and part of his responsibilty to be in good standing was to stay in school. He had done so for months and was doing well. Nick was walking to school in front of the campus one morning and Mr. Whitis used his binoculars from his office to see Nick smoking a cigarette before school. Instead of giving him detention or something reasonable he expelled him. He knew Nick's probation would be violated and knew he would go to jail. If that is not an abuse of power I do not know what is.

Even though i did not know this young man im sure he was/is a great person.... and i understand where you guys(those defending Nick) is coming from b/c my little brother is now experiencing it (different grade/school) and i dont think its right how teachers get off on bullying students even if its their way of "pressure" i believe they should just mind their jobs and not try to manage their students lives..unless they are really intrested in helpig

RIP:
Nick & Friends

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