A 17-year-old will be tried as an adult in the school shooting deaths of three students, a juvenile court judge ruled Thursday after hearing a sheriff's deputy describe how the teen wore a T-shirt with the word "Killer" and admitted shooting people.

T.J. Lane admitted firing at students sitting at a cafeteria table at Chardon High School east of Cleveland on Feb. 27, killing three and seriously wounding two, authorities say.

Lane, with his grandparents and the relatives of victims sitting apart in court, swallowed hard and blinked as Geauga County Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Grendell announced that he should be tried as an adult.

Lane could face life in prison if he's convicted. Minors are not eligible for the death penalty in Ohio. Had his case been routed to juvenile court, the maximum possible penalty would have kept him jailed until he turned 21.

The judge said he found probable evidence in all six charges against Lane, including aggravated murder counts.