EVERETT — He was 14 the first time he was arrested for a violent assault.
He jumped in the middle of an argument outside a Casino Road apartment, pulled out a pair of brass knuckles and swung. He hit another teen so hard the weapon left an impression on the victim’s face, including a couple of letters from the word “love,” which were written in raised metal across the brass knuckles.
Since then he’s been kicked out of at least three schools, locked up for stealing cars and sent to drug rehab for a methamphetamine addiction.
The boy, now 16, is back behind bars and could face adult felony charges.
He is accused of shooting another teenager in the chest Tuesday during a dispute outside Horizon Elementary School on W. Casino Road in south Everett.
A 17-year-old Mariner High School student remained hospitalized Wednesday. He was in stable but critical condition, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.
The suspected shooter made a quick court appearance Wednesday at Denney Juvenile Justice Center. Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Appel ordered the teen held on $50,000 cash-only bail. Prosecutors are expected to decide in the coming days if the boy will be charged as an adult or if the case will remain in juvenile court.
Police continued to search the scene for evidence Wednesday. They have been unable to locate a gun.
Some of the witnesses have been uncooperative, Goetz said.
Detectives are investigating whether the shooting was sparked by a gang rivalry or if it was simply a falling out between two young people.
The suspect has claimed to be a member of an Everett-area gang since he was about 13. The boy who was shot is affiliated with a rival gang, police said.
Witnesses reported that there was some sort of dispute between two groups of young people on the basketball courts on the northeast corner of the school.
The suspect reportedly pulled out a handgun and fired.
Investigators later learned that sometime before the shooting there had been an altercation between one of the suspect’s friends and the boy who was shot. The suspect confronted the victim based on that altercation, Goetz said.
Police quickly detained two boys Tuesday. One later was released to his parents. The suspected shooter was booked for investigation of first-degree assault.
He is a convicted felon with multiple run-ins with police during the past two years. His first conviction came in 2009 for the brass knuckles assault.
He was convicted of taking a vehicle without permission in 2010 after he was found behind the wheel of a stolen Dodge Avenger. He was locked up again later that year for assaulting a student at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. He punched the boy several times in the face and later told police the other student instigated the assault by calling him a derogatory name, court records said. A month later sheriff’s deputies arrested him after they found him driving a stolen Honda.
He was charged last month with fourth-degree assault for an incident in January.
Court records indicate that his mother has attempted to get help for her son, but he refused to go to counseling or follow the rules at home. She told probation counselors her son often is gone from home for weeks.
Probation counselors wrote that he would benefit from anger-management counseling. One counselor in 2009 expressed concern about the boy’s involvement with gangs.
Casino Road neighbors have complained of violence and gang activity in the area over the years.
In January, a man was shot to death in a condominium on W. Casino Road. Just five months earlier a suspected heroin dealer was fatally shot during a robbery at his W. Casino apartment. The suspects in that case are alleged gang members. There have been at least two shootings at nearby Walter E. Hall park in recent years.
Police work with area apartment managers and local service groups to fight crime in the area. Most of the crime is attributed to a small number of people, Goetz said.
“There are so many great people and families living on Casino Road,” he said.
Everett police officers met with Horizon staff Wednesday morning to answer questions about Tuesday’s shooting and to talk about safety on campus.
“The police tell us they feel confident that Horizon remains a safe place for children to be,” Mukilteo School District spokesman Andy Muntz wrote in a statement.
To make sure it stays safe, officers will increase their presence in the school area during the weeks to come, he added.
School resource officers also will be speaking with staff at other area schools to ask them to remain vigilant and report any problems.
The department recognizes that there is a potential for retaliation, Goetz said.
“We’ll be doing our best to address that issue,” he said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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