‘He’s in Walmart with a pistol.” SC judge keeps 15-year-old jailed
A 15-year-old Lancaster teen who could be tried as an adult after being caught on video in a daylight shootout at a South Carolina Walmart will remain jailed, a judge ruled Thursday.
The teen has been in custody since April 5 — four days after the afternoon shootout police and prosecutors say involved two rival gangs in Lancaster forced hundreds of shoppers to run for safety. Detectives found three guns had fired 11 shots in the crowded store. Only one person involved suffered a gunshot wound but it was not life-threatening.
The teen’s lawyer, Mark Grier, said in court Thursday in Lancaster during a detention hearing that the teen was in the store to buy fishing equipment when four others from the second group of people pulled out guns.
But prosecutor Melissa McGinnis countered that the teen bumped shoulders with a rival, then pulled out an illegal gun he had taken into the store. Police also asked a judge to keep the teen in jail because of the fear of violent reprisals in Lancaster.
Visiting Family Court Judge W. Greg Seigler said in court that even though the facts of the case are in dispute — the undisputed fact the teen took a gun into a Walmart means he will stay in juvenile jail pending trial.
“That (dispute) doesn’t negate the fact that he’s in Walmart with a pistol — that’s concerning,” Seigler said.
Grier wanted the 15-year-old released on house arrest and GPS pending a trial. The teen’s mother also said her son was not at the store for an altercation and was targeted by others.
He faces two counts of attempted murder, breach of peace, and illegal gun possession by a person under age 18.
“These two groups are from rival gangs,” prosecutor McGinnis said in court.
At least 200 customers and employees were inside the store when shots were fired. Some bullets went as far as halfway across the huge store, McGinnis said. No employees or other customers were hurt.
The Herald is not identifying the teen who was in court Thursday because of his age.
Where the case stands now
He is one of six people charged. The three accused of firing guns — the boy in court Thursday and two men — remain jailed, while three others are free on bail pending trial.
Store surveillance footage has not yet been played in court.
Prosecutors want to try the 15-year-old as an adult. That means he could face much more serious punishment if convicted. Any sentence in juvenile court ends at age 22. In adult court, punishment could be as much as 30 years in prison if convicted of attempted murder.
A Family Court judge will make a decision about adult court.
