A Sacramento County judge found probable cause for four gang-related charges against three teenagers who authorities believe carried out a shooting at Hinkley High School in California. One of the suspects is a West Coast rapper who signed a deal with Def Jam.
On May 5, a masked gunman reportedly walked up to a classroom door at the high school with a handgun and opened fire, injuring 15 students. Some in the room said they thought the man was kidding. One student said, “He kept saying, ‘Everybody pop him.’” Several were hit in the torso and head. There was also a witness to the incident, a 14-year-old girl who identified a black male wearing a white hoodie and black leather gloves as one of the gunmen.
Teen suspects in Hinkley High School shooting charged as adults https://t.co/DtvNm2d89A pic.twitter.com/iItXorfCSa — Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 15, 2016
Fredy Flores, an 18-year-old West Coast rapper who signed a deal with Def Jam, and his 15-year-old friend were charged with three felonies and three misdemeanors Friday in connection with the shooting, but were not formally charged by a judge and remain in custody until July 22.
The shooter did not turn himself in, but he was arrested three days later. His parents told authorities he was not living at home but with their son. It was a message that defied common sense, to say the least.
As the Daily Breeze, a California newspaper, wrote after the shooting, “No gang, no no, they’re just two teenagers who got into a very messy situation that, until police say otherwise, was all their fault.”
The 17-year-old suspect — who was allegedly armed with a handgun — is a gang member, but the other three defendants have denied being in the gang, the Sacramento Bee reported. The six juvenile suspects, all 14 or 15, are charged with several gang-related felonies, including assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm on school grounds.