Juvenile charged with assault in weekend shooting - WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, AL

Juvenile charged with assault in weekend shooting

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The scene of the shooting on Marion Street. The scene of the shooting on Marion Street.
DECATUR, AL (WAFF) -

A Florida girl remains in critical condition after being shot in Decatur Saturday night.

Police charged a 15-year-old boy with the shooting.

He will be brought in from Tuscumbia to face a Morgan County judge sometime within the next two days.

Police have charged him as a juvenile.

Whether the 15-year-old will ultimately be charged as an adult will be up to prosecutors and the judge.

Right now, he is being held in the Juvenile Detention Center in Tuscumbia.

Decatur investigators are working to find out where the gun he allegedly used came from. If they do, there could be charges for that source.

They have not found the gun itself, which they believe is a 9mm or a 380 caliber semiautomatic pistol.

The shooting happened outside on Marion Street. The 16-year-old girl was shot in her back.

Police arrested the suspected shooter Monday.

He was charged with first degree assault instead of attempted murder.

Police said it comes down to if the suspect purposely shot the girl, and right now, investigators said everything points to the boy not intending to shoot her.

Monday, investigators had enough information to arrest the 15-year-old. Much of that information came from witnesses, as did information that leads police to believe that the suspect did not intentionally shoot the girl.

"All the evidence we have supports a charge of first degree assault. In order to make a charge of attempted murder, intent has to be proven," said Lt. John Crouch with Decatur Police. "Both first degree assault and attempted murder are Class A felonies. So as far the seriousness of the charge, they are both equal."

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