15-Year-Old Charged With Attempted Murder Of Teen In East Coventry Township, Police Say
CHESTER COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) – A Montgomery County teenager is being charged as an adult for the attempted murder of 14-year-old boy in East Coventry Township, police say. The incident happened Monday near an abandoned railroad bridge by the Schuylkill River.
Police say 15-year-old Raul Castro, a 14-year-old boy and another teenager crossed the bridge, near Porter Road in Lower Pottsgrove Township, on Monday to find an isolated location for a fight.
That's when Raul pulled out a handgun and fired three times, police say.
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According to police, Raul struck the victim in the abdomen and the shoulder.
"Thirty years ago, this incident would have been a fistfight and nothing else," Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said. "But the defendant decided to bring a gun to the fight, almost leading to the first Chester County murder of 2019."
Police found the victim under the bridge on the Chester County side by the Schuykill River. The victim was flown to a trauma center and immediately underwent emergency surgery.
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The victim is still in the hospital recovering, police say.
Authorities say Raul was arrested on the Montgomery County side of the river with visible blood stains on his clothing. Police say the firearm was recovered at the scene of the crime.
"The East Coventry Police, the Chester County Detectives, and the Lower Pottsgrove Police worked together to solve this crime," East Coventry Police Chief Bill Mossman said. "East Coventry is a safe community and this type of gun violence is out of the ordinary."