The King County Prosecutor’s Office is charging a 14-year-old with murder and a 15-year-old with unlawful possession of a gun in connection to a shooting at Ingraham High School last week that left one student dead.
Police say a fight in the school bathroom eventually led to the fatal hallway shooting. There were several other students in the hallway at the time.
According to law enforcement’s account, a 17-year-old victim, identified in court this week as Ebenezer Haile, had his back turned to the shooter and was defenseless the whole time. They say video evidence shows the victim falling to the floor and the shooter running out of the school with the gun still in his hand.
The charging documents reference an autopsy report that shows bullets struck the victim five times. One of the gunshots entered the left side of the victim’s head, and traveled to his neck. The other shots hit the victim’s legs and arm.
The documents also say the King County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled the death a homicide.
Last week, police arrested the suspects alleged to have been involved in the shooting on a public bus about an hour after the incident. Police say they found a gun in the 15-year-old's backpack.
Both suspects are being held at the Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle. KNKX is not naming the teens because of their age.
On Tuesday, the two teen suspects appeared in court. It was the 14-year-old's first court appearance. The 15-year-old sat in the courtroom for a second time and pleaded not guilty. A victim’s advocate read a statement from Haile's family in court that objected to the possibility of the 15-year-old's release.
"The family does not wish this pain of losing a son, a child, on anyone. They hope the court does not release the defendant because they do not wish this incident to happen again. They want all parties involved to be held responsible," the statement read.
Judge Averil Rothrock ordered the teen remain in custody. According to a GoFundMe page set up by the victim's family, Haile was a senior at Ingraham High.
