A 16-year-old student mistakenly shot his friend in their Houston-area high school's ROTC room before fleeing and being arrested several hours later, officials said Wednesday.
The two were in a room at Bellaire High School with four other students but no adult Tuesday afternoon when the 16-year-old took a semi-automatic pistol out of his waistband and pulled the trigger, killing 19-year-old Cesar Cortes, said Lt. Greg Bartlett.
The suspect, whose name wasn't released, fled the scene after the shooting and was arrested about 3 1/2 hours later, authorities said. He was charged as a minor with manslaught er, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
District Attorney Kim Ogg said that based on evidence gathered so far, the shooting does not appear to have been intentional. She said the students were part of the school's ROTC program and that there's no indication that they'd been fighting before the shooting.
"They were friendly. They were friends," Ogg said. "Pulling a trigger on a gun, whether you know if it's loaded or not, is an intentional act. But he did not, based on the evidence we have right now, intend to kill his friend."