CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Traveling nurse Charlotte Carter was working in Virginia Beach yesterday when she received word that her 14-year-old son, Anthony, had just witnessed a shooting.
Shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 3, Chesterfield County Police were called to the 12600 block of Bailey Bridge Road for a reported shooting at Manchester High School.
Students and fans were gathered inside the school for a basketball tournament when the shooting occurred.
“At this point, the investigation indicates the victim and the suspect — who are known to each other — had arranged to meet at Manchester High School to fight,” a Chesterfield Police spokesperson said.
According to police, a 15-year-old boy shot into the car that Anthony, his friend and the victim were riding in. The victim, who was driving, was struck in his left thigh. No one else in the car was hurt.
According to Carter, the victim is Anthony’s friend’s older brother.
“As soon as they pulled into the parking lot, [Anthony] just got a bad feeling,” Carter said. “And my son said, ‘You know what? Let’s just go.’ As they were there, they actually turned around and they were leaving. Nobody ever got out of the car.”
After the shooting, the three left the school and Anthony called 9-1-1 as they drove. They ended up pulling into a driveway just over a mile away on the 5800 block of Cedar Springs Road.
“The dispatcher walked my son through providing first aid to the driver — the victim who was shot,” Carter said. “They told him to take his shirt off and to apply pressure to the wound.”
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries and has since been released.
“He’s shaken up,” Carter said of how this incident has affected her son. “I think he’s learned a very valuable lesson — one that I’ve told him he needs to share with his friends.”
Officers arrested the suspect and charged him with malicious wounding and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is currently being held at the Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Home.
The Chesterfield County Police Department is continuing to investigate this shooting. Anyone with information related to the case is encouraged to call 804-748-1251.
