Teen accused of firing gun at Lacey high school to be tried as juvenile



LACEY, Wash. (AP) — A 17-year-old accused of firing two shots at a high school in Lacey will be tried in juvenile court.

The Olympian reports (http://goo.gl/sTNL7M ) in Thurston County Court Tuesday Deputy Prosecutor Wayne Graham withdrew a motion asking that the teen be tried in adult court.

Graham says he made the decision based on a psychologist's evaluation of the teen. Graham says it made clear that the "blunt instruments" of the adult criminal justice system would not be suited to the case.

Authorities say no one was injured after the teen shot at the ceiling at North Thurston High School on April 27.

Teacher Brady Olson has been credited with stopping the shooter by tackling him from behind.

The teen faces five charges and is being held at a juvenile detention center.



Prosecutors said the teen could have injured many people in North Thurston High School when he fired two rounds near hundreds of students.

Q13 FOX News learned the suspect was already on probation after pleading guilty last November in King County to charges of groping two female students at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines. He had just recently transferred to North Thurston High.

Prosecutors said he stole one of his parent’s guns and brought it to school fully loaded with hollow-point bullets. Police said the boy told them he didn't intend to harm anyone but himself.

He is not being identified because he is a minor.