Two Catonsville High School students face criminal charges in connection with Tuesday’s shooting in a parking lot at the school that left a 16-year-old boy wounded.
Sean Potter, 18, of Catonsville, faces charges of attempted murder and first-degree assault, in addition to other firearms charges, according to charging documents filed in Baltimore County District Court.
A second student, a juvenile, also was arrested, Baltimore County Police said in a news release. His or her charges were not specified. Both are being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center, police spokeswoman Joy Stewart said in a news release.
It’s not clear in the charging documents whether Potter, who is identified as a Catonsville High School student, is accused of shooting the 16-year-old boy. Police say he was the driver of a vehicle “from which the shooter(s) emerged,” the documents say, and that he should therefore be charged with the attempted murder.
The charging documents also describe a second shooting victim, who had a gunshot wound to the back of his head and was dropped off at a hospital at about 3:45 p.m., roughly 45 minutes after the first incident was reported.
A Baltimore County Police spokesman declined to confirm Wednesday evening that there was a second victim in response to a Baltimore Sun reporter’s question. Spokesman Trae Corbin said in an email that police could “only confirm that one individual was injured during this incident.”
But Stewart confirmed the second shooting in a Thursday news release, writing that detectives are looking into whether the person was “injured during this shooting or an unrelated incident.”
Baltimore County Police said Wednesday that “several individuals” were in custody following the Tuesday afternoon shooting.
In charging documents, police say they interviewed the 16-year-old boy who was shot, who told them he was walking with a friend when he saw a Volvo SUV and two people in the vehicle “displayed handguns to him.” The boy told police there was a struggle and he was shot in the arm.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage and saw a “physical confrontation” between the SUV’s occupants and others in a Toyota Corolla. At one point, a group of students practicing lacrosse nearby could be seen running, as if shots had been fired, according to police.
The Volvo fled the scene. It later dropped off the second gunshot victim at St. Agnes Hospital, police wrote in charging documents.
Police identified Potter through the SUV’s registration and through a witness interviewed at police headquarters.
Police have described the incident as a “targeted shooting” that began with an argument earlier in the day off school property.
The 16-year-old boy who was shot was taken Tuesday to an area trauma center with injuries not expected to be life-threatening.
Darryl L. Williams, the superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, said in a statement the school system was committed to doing “whatever it takes” to keep students, staff and schools safe. The system will continue to provide resources for Catonsville High School for as long as needed, Williams added.
“Gun violence, other violent acts and dangerous behaviors in or around our schools are unacceptable,” Williams said. “These acts jeopardize the sense of safety and security that school buildings and communities provide for our more than 111,000 students. Anyone who threatens the safety of our school community will be dealt with swiftly.”
