Officials Say Gun Used In Houston-Area School Shooting Has Been Found
BELLAIRE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The deadly shooting happened near a Houston-area high school's ROTC classroom on January 14. Now police say they've found the gun used in the incident.
A 16-year-old student is charged with manslaughter after killing his classmate. The teenager, whose name has not been released because of his age, told investigators the shooting at Bellaire High School was an accident.
Nineteen-year-old Cesar Cortes was killed and the teenage gunman, who fled after the shooting, was captured more than three hours later and charged as a minor with manslaughter.
The city of Bellaire announced Monday that authorities have recovered the weapon. Lt. Greg Bartlett declined to say when or where the gun was found.
Bartlett said last week that the younger student took a semi-automatic pistol out of his waistband and pulled the trigger, killing Cortes. There were four other students in the room at the time, but no adults.
Police had been searching for the weapon since the shooting. Bartlett said the student had taken the gun from home, and that it was not school property nor issued by the ROTC. Both teens were part of the ROTC program at the school.
District Attorney Kim Ogg has said the shooter and victim were friends and that there was no sign that they had been fighting before the shooting.
Bellaire, Texas is about 9 miles southwest of Houston.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)