14-Year-Old Charged in Fayetteville School Incident

Fayetteville, N.C. — Cumberland County sheriff's deputies Wednesday charged a 14-year-old boy with three counts of attempted murder and with firing a weapon onto a school campus in connection with a Tuesday incident near Westover High School.

The youth, whose name was not made public, also faces counts of discharging a weapon into an occupied property, possession of a firearm on a school campus and trespassing, the sheriff's office said.

Deputies said the boy had fired one round toward the school on Bonanza Drive about 3 p.m. The round went through the driver's door and lodged in the front seat of a car driven by a 17-year-old who was leaving the school with two other people in the car. None of the three was injured.

The 14-year-old fled on foot and was later caught.

Police did not disclose what kind of gun he used.

The shooting stemmed from a dispute that happened near the school earlier Tuesday and involved several teenagers, deputies said in a statement. It is not clear what caused that dispute, they said. They described the driver of the car as "unsuspecting."

Sheriff's office spokeswoman Debbie Tanna said the 14-year-old was being held at the Cumberland County Juvenile Detention Center and would be arraigned in Juvenile Court at a date that had not been set Wednesday evening.

12 Comments

WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

VIEW ALL 12 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments

whatever..whatever..whatever...The kid knows what he was doing when he went and got the gun. Parents are not able to hold their kids hand all day everyday, we can only instill in them good values and hope it nests deep in their souls. He was not 5, and accidently shot the gun he thought..planned..executed an action. Where you listening it stemmed from an earlier argument. The parents probaly don't even own the gun.

ladiip2
January 4, 2007 3:36 p.m.

Actually, the neighborhood (Foxfire) that is directly across Bonanza from Westover is not mainly populated with military families. It's a high crime, low-ish income area where a shooting is not such an unusual occurance. I graduated from Westover too in 1997, and I've spent enough time in that neighborhood to know.

ENC-43
January 4, 2007 1:09 p.m.

I believe that the juvenile should be charged as an adult, and sentenced as one. I also believe that the legally responsible parent(s) should have to pay all court costs and any restitution to the victim and the victim's family, as well as spend time behind bars if the child obtained the gun from them in any way. Yes, as a teenager, you're wise enough to know that murder is wrong. If you're a parent that allows a minor access to a lethal weapon (keeping it unlocked in a purse for example), you should share the consequences.

-Warden

Warden
January 4, 2007 1:05 p.m.

Why are people blaming the parents? This is what is wrong with our society today. Everyone is blaming someone else instead of accepting the responsibilty for their own actions. I agree that parents are not involved with their children as they should be but in cases such as this, hold the 14 year old responsible, try him as an adult and put him away.

Heard Enough
January 4, 2007 9:05 a.m.

I agree with most of you here. At the age of 14, you know its wrong to shoot someone. There is no such thing as the perfect parent. You may have raised your child to be caring,loving,compassionate and what ahve you, but when that child becomes rebelious against everything its always blamed on the parents. Yes, many parents depend on the school system to raise their kids. I myself, do not. I was bounced around,got caught up in some stuff but, I never shot anyone. I know thats wrong, I knew that when I was 8yrs. old... Anyways, we don't know what kind of home he came from to say its the parent(s) fault. America needs to wake up and stop blaming everyone and work together to solve the problem(s).. One of the biggest problems I see, is that most of these kids never had a good ass whooping. You may not agree with that, but thats my opinion and I'm entitled to it just as you are yours.