Philadelphia School Shooting Suspect Surrenders to Authorities

Two students wounded in shooting in gymnasium.

ByABC News
January 18, 2014, 1:48 PM

Jan. 18, 2014— -- The student wanted in the shooting of two fellow students in a Philadelphia high school gymnasium surrendered himself to authorities today, police say.

The juvenile suspect, accompanied by his lawyer, turned himself into police and was taken into custody around 1 p.m. ET, authorities said. The charges against the student include two counts of aggravated assault.

The victims, a boy and a girl, were shot shortly after 3 p.m. Friday as they were hanging out with fellow students in the gym at Delaware Valley Charter School at 5201 Old York Road in the Olney section of the city, police said.

One initial suspect was caught near his home and taken into custody by police, while a second student later turned himself in to authorities on Friday afternoon. Both teens were later cleared after questioning by police.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey confirmed there were seven students inside the gymnasium at the time of the incident, which was caught on the school's surveillance video.

The video shows the gun firing as it was pulled out, and authorities say the shooting appears to be accidental, according to an initial investigation.

The bullet went through the unidentified 15-year-old female's arm and lodged into the unidentified 16-year-old male victim's arm, police said.

Both students were initially said to be in stable condition and expected to recover after being rushed to Albert Einstein Medical Center, a block away from the school. The girl has since been discharged while the boy remained in good condition in the hospital.

A friend of the girl who was shot told ABC station WPVI-TV in Philadelphia that she spoke to her moments after the shooting.

"We were just in the bathroom and our friend, she just came in the bathroom saying her arm, her arm," the friend said. "There was just a lot of blood gushing out. She was saying she heard a loud boom in the gym room and she looked up, her and her boyfriend's arm had been hit."

The suspects fled the scene immediately following the shooting, police said. The school was quickly put in lockdown and all students were searched and evacuated one by one from the building by 5:30 p.m, police said.

Police said they identified one boy originally thought to be involved in the shooting from video footage and looked up his home address in the school's records system. SWAT officers captured the teen not far from his home and took him into custody for questioning.

A second student later turned himself in with his family, said police. Both were later cleared and released by authorities who are not releasing the students' names because they are minors.

The gun has not yet been recovered, and police were searching for the weapon in trash cans and near the school on Friday evening. There are metal detectors at the school, and police said they are investigating how the student managed to get the gun into the building.

"When you first walk in you have to take off your jacket and go through the scanner," one parent, Bernadette Hokins-Jones, told WPVI. "The office is just a couple feet through the glass door but I just want to know how did you get a gun in there."

Delaware Valley Charter School has more than 600 students from grades 9 to 12. The school did not immediately respond to calls from ABC News.