Police have arrested a teenager they say shot two students and an adult outside a Williamsburg high school last week.
The 17-year-old, who is from Harlem and is not a student at the school, will be charged as an adult, according to a spokesperson for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office. He will be arraigned today on three counts of attempted murder in the second degree, three counts of attempted assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, among other charges, the spokesperson said.
The shooting happened on Wednesday, Feb. 8 just outside the Williamsburg Charter High School. It rattled students, parents and staff and caused the school to conduct classes remotely all week. Katie Manion, a spokesperson for the school, stated that in-person classes are expected to resume after midwinter vacation next week.
A 17-year-old male student was shot in the left leg, a 15-year-old female student was shot in the right leg, and a 37-year-old male staff member, whom the school declined to name due to privacy concerns, suffered a graze wound to his neck. They were taken to a nearby hospital and are in stable condition, according to the NYPD.
Manion stated that the school takes safety issues seriously and will add metal detectors when it reopens. Even before this incident, she said the school had 13 full-time safety officers, conducted daily bag checks and building sweeps, and had police stationed outside.
“While gun violence is bigger than us, we want our students, staff and parents to feel safe coming through our doors and are actively working to rebuild that trust,” Manion's statement said.
She said the school is also providing both staff and students with counseling support and that the school will be partnering with the New York Peace Institute, which teaches conflict resolution skills and trains and certifies professional mediators, to help with that pursuit.
“We are building stronger lines of communication with the police and elected officials to ensure we have all of the information needed to prevent an incident like this from happening ever again,” Manion said.
