Tacoma teen shooting suspect returned to school after suspension for bringing weapons
TACOMA, Wash. - On Tuesday, the teen accused of shooting his Lincoln High School classmate appeared in juvenile court surrounded by family members.
According to documents FOX 13 Seattle obtained, the 14-year-old is already convicted of several other violent crimes.
The teen was sentenced in late July for two counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
Those crimes are in King County.
The suspect also just got a reduced sentence for a crime in Pierce County, less than a month before the shooting. That crime involved the suspect taking someone's car without permission.
Probable cause documents also show the suspect just got back to school on the day of the shooting. The documents said the teen had been suspended for two weeks for bringing a knife and pepper spray into school.
In court, the shooting victim's grandma said she is concerned what might happen if the shooting suspect is released.
"My grandson might not have survived yesterday," she said. "That bullet went through not only his arm, and his elbow, and God only knows how much limitations he is going to have going forward, but it was inches in his chest. The doctors, everyone there, including me, knew it was an absolute miracle he was alive," she added.
According to the probable cause document, Tacoma police said on the suspect's first day back, he confronted a classmate he had issues with and threatened him by saying he had a gun.
Given the threat, the classmate and their friend felt unsafe at school and started walking home.
According to court docs, the teen retrieved a gun from an apartment across the street from the school, then came up behind the two and held them at gunpoint from under his sweatshirt. He then punched one of the two, court docs say.
He told the victim's friend to record their fight on their cellphone, and he reportedly did it slowly to buy them time, court docs say. The victim then tackled the suspect, and two gunshots were fired.
The victim and his friend hit and kicked the teen, then ran, according to court docs. Once they got a few blocks away, the victim saw his left hand was covered in blood, and realized he had been shot twice.
In court, the suspect's family told the judge the accused shooter is a good kid.
"He's really smart and a really bright young man, and i hate that he got put in this predicament," said the suspect's uncle.
Despite several community and family members speaking on the suspect's behalf, the judge ruled to keep the teen locked up.
He is charged with assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
FOX 13 Seattle asked Tacoma Public Schools why a student who was suspended for bringing weapons into school would be permitted to come back to campus.
TPS would not speak about a specific student, but provided school policy information.
Digging through the police info, FOX 13 Seattle discovered there are two types of out-of-school suspension for TPS: long term (more than ten days) and short term (less than ten days).
According to the police report, the suspect was suspended for about two weeks.
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