Physical fight between students led to shooting at Omaha school, court documents say

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT/Gray News) - Court documents released Wednesday are revealing more details about what led to a shooting that happened at a high school in Nebraska.

Officials say a 14-year-old is accused of shooting another student in Omaha Northwest High School on Tuesday. He has been charged, as an adult, with first-degree assault, use of a gun to commit a felony, and possession of a firearm on school grounds.

The suspect was booked into the Douglas County Youth Center with bond set at $275,000. The teen’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine told WOWT that while there are still a lot of details left to sort out in the investigation, the severity of the crime warrants charging the teen as an adult.

The teen suspect appeared before a judge on Wednesday with a public defender.

The public defender said what happened on Tuesday wasn’t a random act. He said the suspect had been severely bullied to the point that his mother considered moving him to another school.

The public defender said the school was notified of the bullying and had granted the suspect, whom he said had no unlawful missing or absence school reports, a school pass to leave the premises five minutes before the school day ended for his safety.

According to court documents, the suspect admitted to shooting the 15-year-old victim once. Officers found him wounded in the hallway on the main level of the school, the documents state. He had been shot in the torso. The boy remains hospitalized in stable condition, according to a Wednesday update from Omaha police.

The affidavit says that the school’s security camera footage showed the two boys engaged in a physical fight near a classroom after the victim approached the suspect.

Omaha Public Schools confirmed that the incident began as an altercation between the two students, noting that it happened on the north side of the school.

According to the court documents, the suspect had his right hand inside his hoodie pocket, then shot a concealed firearm through the sweatshirt, hitting the victim, who then fell to the ground. But both boys ran — in opposite directions — from the scene.

The gun was seen on the security footage, according to the documents; the suspect had it in his right hand before putting it back in his pocket and fleeing from the scene.

Hours later, police would ask for the public’s help locating a discarded firearm before an update Tuesday night said they believed they had found the weapon used in the shooting.

All Wednesday classes and activities at the school were canceled. Administrators will instead focus on the staff during that time, with counselors being made available.

When students return Thursday, they will be on modified schedules to allow them to have time to meet with counselors and obtain other resources they may need.

In the wake of the shooting, security has become a renewed focal point for Omaha Public Schools.

Superintendent Matthew Ray told WOWT that school security is a constant discussion with a lot of moving parts.

“It’s not just one thing,” Ray said.

All the schools in the district have new cameras and locks, and every high school and middle school has a school resource officer stationed in the building.

School district officials said in an update on Wednesday afternoon that anytime incidents like this happen, the district reviews its security measures. They said that metal detectors will be one such measure under discussion.

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Reporter Johan Marin and Digital Director Gina Dvorak contributed to this story.

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