2 teenage suspects caught, arrested after 15-year-old shot in Rock Hill

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Two 15-year-old suspects were arrested and charged Wednesday in connection with the shooting of another 15-year-old in Rock Hill, police said.

Officers said they were called around 1:45 p.m. to a shooting on Laurel Street. When they got there, they found a 15-year-old who had been shot. The teen was taken to Piedmont Medical Center, but is expected to be OK.

“I was outside on the other side of the building and I heard five or six shots, and I heard somebody yell,” said Jason Davenport, who made sure everyone at the Pilgrims’ Inn, a charity that’s right where the incident happened, was OK.

According to police, the shooting happened in the street and the suspects took off in a black Hyundai sedan.

Davenport then went outside to Laurel Street, where shell casings were found at the curb. He said a teen was trying to walk home, and he and others went to help.

“His family, his mother and sister were there, and of course they’d already called 911 and were concerned about him. We were just trying to see how we could assist his mom and his sister,” Davenport said.

Officers later found the Hyundai, which was stolen, and tried to approach the vehicle but it sped away, evading police on Dave Lyle Boulevard near Anderson Road.

Police tweeted that they were looking for the suspects near York Technical College but later ended the search.

The Hyundai was later found abandoned on Keiger Street, and police said they spotted suspicious people behind the apartments there. The two people tried to run away but Rock Hill K-9 officers and York County sheriff’s deputies, along with their K-9s, tracked down the two 15-year-olds, who were identified as suspects in the shooting.

The teen driving the vehicle was charged with criminal conspiracy, receiving/possession of stolen goods and failure to stop for blue lights.

The second teen, believed to be responsible for the shooting, was charged with attempted murder, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, possession of a firearm by a person under 18 and criminal conspiracy.

Both juveniles were taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia.

Rock Hill pastor CT Kirk said kids are often left alone. They’re not out in the community like they used to be, and they’re angry.

“These children who are isolated because of so much technology around them now, it’s almost like they don’t know how to handle their problems in a mature fashion,” he said.

Police have not said what the motive was for the shooting or how the teens got a gun.

“It’s a big change from when I was young. We didn’t even know where to find a gun. But now, every time you turn around, there’s a young person with a gun,” Kirk said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Rock Hill Police Department at 803-329-7293.

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