A 19-year-old man was charged Tuesday after police said he gave a 9mm handgun to a 17-year-old who fired it at Oakland Alternative High School in Tacoma.
Dontae Bell Is charged with reckless endangerment and possessing dangerous weapons on school grounds. The 17-year-old also was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree and aiming or discharging firearms.
Police say Bell gave the gun to the 17-year-old in one of the high school bathrooms, investigators said. The teen, who said he was not very familiar with firearms, pulled back the slide and a round was fired into the floor, according to court documents.
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After the teens left the bathroom, police responded with “significant resources,” prosecutors said. Emergency procedures were put into action, and a bullet hole was found in a ceiling.
Bell told police he fled the school and got rid of the gun by giving it to another person at a bus stop.
Police found that individual and recovered the 9mm with two magazines.
Bell pleaded not guilty.