Surveillance video leads to 2 in school shooting

October 25, 2011 at 1:21p.m.

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Surveillance video helped lead authorities to two suspects who have been charged in the shooting of a 15-year-old student at a North Carolina high school.

The video showed the 18-year-old and 15-year-old suspects carrying the rifle inside Cape Fear High School, Cumberland County Sheriff Earl “Moose” Butler said.

The younger suspect has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Tanna said Tuesday. He was being held in the county juvenile facility. It wasn’t clear when he would appear in court.

Eighteen-year-old Ta’Von McLaurin, also a student at the school, was scheduled to appear in a Fayetteville courtroom Tuesday afternoon on a charge of felony aiding and abetting.

Fifteen-year-old Catilyn Ambercrombie was standing in a breezeway outside the cafeteria when she was shot Monday. She underwent surgery and was listed in stable condition.

Butler said investigators don’t think Abercrombie was the intended target, but no motive had been established.

“Why did they shoot? I don’t know,” Butler said.

An officer assigned to the high school was standing near Abercrombie when she was shot around 1 p.m. and immediately called 911, Tanna said.

While the high school has metal detectors, Butler said he didn’t know if they were used on a daily basis.