Four teenagers arrested, charged in Durham shooting that killed Hillside High student
Four teenage boys have been charged by the Durham Police Department in connection with a shooting that resulted in the death of Hillside High School student earlier this year.
Police filed juvenile petitions against the four teens for their alleged role in a Feb. 8 shooting near the American Tobacco Trail, about a quarter-mile from the campus of Hillside.
One of the teens charged was located and arrested Thursday, according to police.
Anthony Feaster, 17, was shot fatally in the incident, The News & Observer previously reported.
A 15-year-old boy, whose identity was not released, was injured.
Two juveniles, ages 15 and 16, were each charged with possession of a handgun by a minor and possession of a weapon on educational property.
Another 15-year-old and a 17-year-old were each charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon. The identities of juveniles are being withheld by authorities due to their age.
Police said they don’t expect to file any additional charges in the case.
2023 juvenile shootings in Durham
Twenty-seven juveniles have been shot in Durham this year, according to July 22 data from the Durham Police Department. Not all of the shootings were fatal.
Police previously declined to confirm to The N&O that the guns involved were indeed stolen.
The rate of juveniles charged with stealing firearms in North Carolina has risen considerably in recent years. There were 362 firearm larceny charges in the 2022 fiscal year compared to just 74 in the 2018 fiscal year, representing a nearly 400% increase, according to DPS data requested by The N&O.
A total of 21% of juveniles charged with car break-ins were stealing firearms in 2022, according to the Department of Public Safety data presented by Gov. Roy Cooper’s NC SAFE (Secure All Firearms Effectively) initiative.
Guns — often stolen from vehicles — end up in the hands of juveniles who sell them to make money, DPS officials previously told The N&O.
Gun deal between teens
The violent incident near Hillside High in Durham stemmed from a group of teens who set up an off-campus gun deal, according to search warrants.
Two groups of teens — a total of six — met around 1 p.m. that Wednesday afternoon in February near the trail in the vicinity of the Durham School of Technology and W.G. Pearson Magnet Elementary.
The warrants state that Feaster and three other boys planned to rob the other group, according to one teenager’s testimony to police investigators.
Feaster drew a gun on another teen in the incident in an attempt to rob him, the warrants said. But the teen also drew his own weapon and shot Feaster once in the chest.
The warrants didn’t spell out who allegedly shot the injured 15-year-old.
This story was originally published July 27, 2023 at 3:25 PM.
