Surveillance video leads to 2 in school shooting

[October 25, 2011]  FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Surveillance video helped lead authorities to two suspects in the shooting and wounding 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 18-year-old, Ta'Von McLaurin, a student at the school, was scheduled to appear in a Fayetteville courtroom Tuesday in connection with the shooting of 15-year-old fellow student Catilyn Abercrombie, who was wounded in the neck Monday. McLaurin is charged with felony aiding and abetting.

Abercrombie, who was standing in a breezeway outside the cafeteria when she was shot, underwent surgery and was listed in stable condition.

Classes were scheduled to operate as usual at the high school and at a nearby middle school. Sheriff Butler said there would be additional deputies on hand to help students and parents feel confident about their safety.

The 15-year-old suspect will go to juvenile court, although an exact date for the student's appearance wasn't known, sheriff's office spokeswoman Debbie Tanna said.

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

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," he said.

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

The high school and nearby Mac Williams Middle School were locked down for hours before students were allowed to go home.

[Associated Press]

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