MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The 13-year-old charged in Thursday’s school shooting made his first court appearance Friday afternoon.
Prosecutors say he admitted to shooting another 13-year-old Thursday at Cummings K-8.
No cameras were allowed in court as the suspect heard his charges. He’s been charged with criminal attempted first degree murder, carrying a firearm on school property and employing a firearm during a dangerous felony.
He allegedly told police he and the victim had been fighting for several days. The victim’s father confirmed there was animosity between the two.
“It was really some conflict, words going back and forth, maybe over three or four weeks,” said the victim’s father, Emory Hammonds.
WREG obtained information from policy saying both teens met to fight in a hallway that morning but somehow ended up in a deserted stairwell. Prosecutors say surveillance video shows the suspect hiding behind the stairwell.
He then allegedly comes up behind the victim, pulls a gun from his pocket, and shoots him once in the abdomen.
“God has shown grace. Thank God my son’s alive – grace and mercy. And I want to see that same grace and mercy flow to the other child,” Hammonds said.
Police have not said how the suspect got the gun. Police say he fled the school by vehicle, but it’s still unclear who was driving.
He turned himself in at the Raines police precinct around two hours later.
The suspect had wanted to go home to his mother. His public defender suggested an ankle monitor, but the judge said he’d have to stay in jail.
His next hearing is October 12.
