Jury selection set for Tuesday in Orange High shooting

Jury selection will begin Tuesday for the trial of a man accused of killing his father and then opening fire outside Orange High School almost three years ago.

Posted 1:18 p.m. Jul 26, 2009 — Updated 4:03 p.m. Jul 27, 2009

RALEIGH, N.C. — Jury selection will begin Tuesday for the trial of a man accused of killing his father and then opening fire outside Orange High School almost three years ago.

Alvaro Rafael Castillo, 22, of Hillsborough, is charged with fatally shooting his father, Rafael Huezo Castillo, on Aug. 30, 2006, driving to Orange High and firing at the school. Two students suffered minor injuries before the gunman was tackled by school personnel.

Castillo publicly acknowledged after his arrest that he was obsessed with the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado. Before the shooting, he sent an e-mail to the principal at Columbine High to announce his intention to commit a similar act and mailed a videotaped confession to a Chapel Hill newspaper.

Since his arrest, Castillo has received treatment at Central Prison and Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh for mental issues. In February, Judge Allen Baddour ruled that he was competent to assist in his defense at trial.

He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to all charges.

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