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Man Sentenced For Fatal Shooting At Seattle University

Elaine Thompson
/
AP Photo
FILE- In this June 6, 2014, file photo, shooting suspect Aaron Ybarra is led to a court hearing at a King County Jail courtroom in Seattle, Wash.

A man who fatally shot a student at a Seattle university was sentenced Friday to 112 years in prison.

In November, a jury found Aaron Ybarra guilty of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and one count of assault for the attack at Seattle Pacific University that killed 19-year-old Paul Lee of Portland, Oregon.

Ybarra had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. "I wish I could take back what I did, but I can't," he said before he was sentenced.

The trial included testimony from Ybarra as well as student and safety monitor Jon Meis, who was hailed as a hero for taking down the gunman during the June 5, 2014, shooting.

Meis testified during the trial that he waited to hear the shooter reload his shotgun, took pepper spray out of his backpack and sprayed the gunman in the face twice.

Defense attorney Ramona Brandes had sought at trial to show that Ybarra suffered from a debilitating mental illness and limited intellectual function and that he believed God was directing him to shoot.

Prosecutors had argued the crime was premeditated and that Ybarra knew what he did was wrong.

Jurors also took a short field trip to the campus hall where the shooting occurred.