Texas student who fatally shot classmate did not intend to kill him, DA says
The Houston-area high-schooler who fatally shot another student on campus this week did not intend to kill the 19-year-old senior, the Harris County prosecutor said Wednesday.
The suspected shooter, 16, is being charged with manslaughter, not murder, in Tuesday's shooting at Bellaire High School, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said at a news conference.
"The evidence shows that the act that the juvenile committed was not intentional, but it was reckless,” Ogg said, adding that the two appeared to be friends and were part of an ROTC group at the school.
"So, this is not an accident, because pulling a trigger on a gun whether you know if it’s loaded or not is an intentional act," Ogg said. "But he did not, based on the evidence we have right now, intend to kill his friend. Yet he did."
The victim and the suspect have not been identified by authorities.
The shooter and the victim knew each other and were not engaged in a dispute, Ogg said. “They were friendly; they were friends,” she said.
After the shooting, the gunman fled, and he and a second person were arrested that evening, police have said. The second person, described as an adult, was released with no charges and was simply with the suspect when he was arrested, a police official said.
The handgun thought to have been used has not been recovered and may have been discarded while the suspect fled, the city said.