Prosecutors charged a 14-year-old boy arrested in a shooting near Lincoln High School with one count of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm Tuesday, court documents show.
The boy was booked into Remann Hall after Tacoma police responded to a shooting in the 600 block of South 37th Street just before noon on Monday, The News Tribune reported. He made a first appearance in juvenile court Tuesday where not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf. Court Commissioner Amber Austin ordered him held in secure detention for the time being.
The shooting left a 16-year-old boy injured but in stable condition after he was transported to a local hospital. He had gunshot wounds to his left arm and chest, according to police reports that were part of the court record.
The shooting happened during a fight among teenagers outside Lincoln High School, the police reports show.
The boy who was hospitalized told police a friend of his had gotten on bad terms with the 14-year-old boy because of an interaction in which one of them blew vape smoke in the other's face a few weeks ago. The two were going to have a fight, but the 14-year-old had pepper spray and a knife on him at the time, police reports show. The school suspended the 14-year-old after finding those objects on him, the reports state.
On Tuesday, the two friends ran into the 14-year-old boy in the courtyard on his first day back at school, police reports show. He talked "trash" to them and their friends and asked if they were going to jump him, according to the reports.
The two boys decided to walk home from school after one of them felt unsafe, hearing the 14-year-old boy might have access to a gun, according to police reports. As they crossed the street near Lincoln High, the 14-year-old boy came up behind them and pointed a gun at them, then punched one of the boys in the face, the reports show.
While the other boy stalled, the boy who was punched responded by tackling the 14-year-old boy to the ground. A fight broke out during which two shots were fired, according to police reports.
A SWAT team was called in and arrested the 14-year-old boy, who was then on the third floor of an apartment nearby.
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