Teen accused of shooting Cape Fear High classmate in court

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A 15-year-old boy made his first appearance in juvenile court Thursday, three days after he allegedly shot a student at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville.

Charles Underwood Jr. is charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the shooting of Catilyn Abercrombie, who investigators say was shot in the neck in a school breezeway.

Ta'Von McLaurin, 18, also a Cape Fear High student, is charged with aiding and abetting. He was in the Cumberland County Detention Center under a $280,000 secured bond.

Underwood's family had no comment after Thursday's court appearance, but his attorney, Bernard Condlin, said the family is "deeply upset and very concerned" about Abercrombie.

She was being treated at an undisclosed location Thursday and was listed in critical condition.

It remains unclear how McLaurin and Underwood know each other, or whether they knew Abercrombie.

Authorities say they believe that she was not the intended target but have not cited a possible motive for the shooting.

"I have officially been on the case for about 24 hours and have tried to do as much as I can to find everything out," Condlin said. "I'm confident that, based upon a thorough investigation by myself and my staff, there's more to this story than appears on face value."

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Latest Comments

Let me just start off by saying I'm praying for Catilyn and I hope the shooter rots in jail.

But how can we (society) say we aren't failing our children when a story title can't even be printed with correct grammer: "Teen accused of shooting Cape Fear High classmate in court". This implies the shooting took place in court. Stupid editorial mistake but they're made all the time. So someone isn't doing their job or we have a bunch of uneducated people in the news industry. The title should read "Teen accused of shooting Cape Fear High classmate". Or "In court, teen accused of shooting Cape Fear High classmate".

I know in the big scheme of things the title of this story being incorrect isn't a big deal but as a society, we should be concerned.

voice your opinion
October 28, 2011 2:20 p.m.

Whether the girl was the intended target or not doesn't matter to me. what matters is that these lame brain wannabe tough guys had the nerve to bring a weapon into the school grounds.

I just hope that the district attorney has the gumption to pursue maximum charges which they so richly deserve.

I'm concerned about the little girl's health and hope that she gets well, she deserves that much.

airbornemonty
October 28, 2011 12:25 p.m.

"Can volunteer to mentor youth."

another case of no daddy being around and some expect society to be blamed for that

heavy machinary
October 28, 2011 12:25 p.m.

Westernwake1 - If that is what it takes, then so be it!!!

aquamarine46
October 28, 2011 12:24 p.m.

I agree the gun should not have been on school grounds but first degree murder is a far reach . this means that there was preplanning of the crime and he was after her and no one other than her . the police are not sure that is the case .

gphotohound2
October 28, 2011 12:07 p.m.