By Alexis Krell / The News Tribune
A 16-year-old who allegedly shot two students near Graham-Kapowsin High School on Dec. 5 was charged as an adult Tuesday.
Ronald Douglas Ackerson Jr. turned himself in at the Remann Hall juvenile detention center Monday. Pierce County prosecutors then charged him with two counts of first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and second-degree unlawful gun possession.
They allege Ackerson wounded a 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old boy when he fired into a crowd of students gathered near the school for a fistfight.
Both victims, who were bystanders, survived.
Ackerson is expected to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Superior Court. He was charged as an adult under state law, because of his age and the seriousness of the crime.
Charging papers gave this account of the incident:
The day before the shooting, two girls had an altercation in the school cafeteria. Another student told the boyfriend of one of the girls that he needed to control her.
The boyfriend responded with a derogatory comment, and the dispute escalated to the gathering behind the school the next day.
When the students decided not to fight the boyfriend, Ackerson and a third student started to leave in a car. That’s when Ackerson fired into the crowd from the front passenger seat.
The two other boys in the car, both 17, were arrested in connection to the shooting last week. They were released Monday without being charged.
The Sheriff’s Department said detectives still are investigating, and looking for another teenager who they want to question.
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