Suspected shooter of students turns himself in

The teenager suspected of firing the shots that wounded two Graham-Kapowsin High School students turned himself in to authorities Monday.

The 16-year-old male surrendered in Tacoma at Remann Hall, Pierce County’s juvenile detention center. He was taken into custody and is expected to be charged with two counts of assault in the first-degree and drive-by shooting, according to the Sheriff Department.

He had been the object of a search by police since the incident Dec. 5 on Eustis-Hunt Road near Graham-Kapowsin High, where a group of people gathered for a fight between two students who had been involved in a dispute earlier at the school. The fight didn’t happen, but shots were fired from an automobile as it drove away from the off-campus site. Two students suffered bullet wounds that the Sheriff Department described as life-threatening, but they survived.

Investigators used information from witnesses and photographs of the suspect in asking for the public’s help in finding the suspected shooter. He was at-large for six days before turning himself in. Authorities said he was armed and considered dangerous.

Three other teenagers who reportedly were in the same car as the shooter were arrested in the hours after the shooting. Two of them were held at Remann Hall before being released without being charged.