XPost: alt.politics.guns, sac.general, alt.homosexual   
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   From: bksherman@outlook.com   
      
   CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A Colorado teenager charged in a school   
   shooting that killed one of his classmates was pressured into   
   participating by a fellow student with a grudge who had recently   
   befriended him, his lawyer said Tuesday.   
      
   The claim came during a hearing to determine whether Devon   
   Erickson, 19, will stand trial for the May 7 shooting at STEM   
   School Highlands Ranch in suburban Denver.   
      
   After co-defendant Alec McKinney, 16, insisted he was going to   
   carry out the attack, Erickson went to the school nurse in a   
   failed attempt to avoid it, but McKinney threatened to go ahead   
   anyway and kill his friends and also threatened to hurt him,   
   defense lawyer Julia Stancil said.   
      
   Erickson sat next to his lawyers and watched closely as Douglas   
   County Sheriff's Detective Brian Pereira testified at the start   
   of the three-day hearing that revealed some new details   
   surrounding the shooting.   
      
   Erickson and McKinney are charged with murder and attempted   
   murder in the shooting that killed Kendrick Castillo, 18, and   
   injured eight others. They have not entered pleas to the charges.   
      
   Authorities say the students entered a classroom through   
   separate doors with guns taken from Erickson's house and opened   
   fire with at least 29 people inside. A private security guard   
   also injured one of the eight students when he fired at a   
   sheriff's lieutenant in a hallway during the confusion,   
   authorities said.   
      
   Castillo was one of the students who rushed Erickson in the   
   classroom, along with Joshua Jones and Brendan Bialy. Castillo's   
   parents watched the proceedings from the front row of the   
   courtroom packed with members of the school community.   
      
   Erickson had said he surrendered his handgun after being tackled   
   by the three students, according to previously released   
   summaries of police interviews with the suspects.   
      
   However, Pereira testified Tuesday that Bialy told investigators   
   there was a struggle for the gun, and he was able to pry the   
   weapon away from Erickson after punching him several times.   
   Bialy also told investigators Erickson had pointed the gun at   
   their heads.   
      
   However, no other students reported that Erickson pointed the   
   gun at anyone in particular. One student told investigators   
   Castillo charged Erickson before he could finish warning people   
   not to move and his gun went off as soon as he pushed Erickson   
   into the wall, making it seem like the firing was an accident,   
   Stancil pointed out.   
      
   Pereira also said three spent bullet casings were found on the   
   floor near Erickson, and one was found in his gun after an   
   apparent malfunction. Erickson previously told police the impact   
   of three students rushing him caused his gun to fire.   
      
   Erickson also told investigators McKinney forced him to   
   participate in the shooting by threatening him with a gun and an   
   ax. But investigators did not find evidence corroborating that,   
   according to Pereira.   
      
   An October hearing has been scheduled for McKinney, who is   
   charged as an adult. His attorneys have said they plan to ask a   
   judge to move the case back to juvenile court.   
      
   https://www.foxnews.com/us/colorado-stem-school-shooter-   
   pressured-attack-lawyer   
       
      
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