02/25/2006

Associated Press

The 14-year-old accused in the high school shooting that wounded a 16-year-old classmate apparently fired additional large-caliber bullets into his victim after the teen was already down, police said Friday.

"It appears that that is the case," said Roseburg Police Sgt. Aaron Dunbar. "We're still working to confirm that."

Dunbar also said a small group of students knew there would be a confrontation Thursday between the victim, Joseph Monti, 16, and the accused shooter, Vincent Wayne Leodoro, but that they apparently didn't know it would involve a shooting and didn't notify school authorities.

Leodoro appeared in court briefly Friday.

Dunbar said a search of Leodoro's room found some evidence of pending violence but he declined to elaborate.

Dunbar said Monti was shot with a Wyoming Arms 10mm semiautomatic pistol, equal to a .40-caliber, that Leodoro got from home, apparently without permission.

He said it was loaded with hollow-point bullets, which expand on impact and do maximum damage.

"It's amazing he's alive, absolutely amazing he's alive," Dunbar said.

Monti was hit three times in the torso and once in the elbow.

"It's no longer a `who-done-it,' " Dunbar told The Associated Press. "It's the stuff that led up to it that we're still working on."

During the court hearing on Friday, Monti's brother, Eric Allison, of Sacramento, Calif., shouted "Coward!" several times.

Leodoro sat in shackles between his mother and his court-appointed lawyer.

A trial date is to be set on Monday.

Dunbar said there is no confirmed motive beyond the fact that "there was some ongoing conflict between the two parties." The shooting "does not appear to be random," he said.

It was the first school shooting in Oregon since Kip Kinkel killed two students and wounded several others at Springfield's Thurston High School in 1998. He was sentenced to nearly 112 years in prison.

Monti was in serious but stable condition Friday at Mercy Medical Center. Dunbar said he is expected to remain in the intensive care unit for three to five days and could be released in about 10 days.

Leodoro will be prosecuted in juvenile court. The Douglas County Juvenile Department said Friday that youths under the age of 15 can be remanded to adult court only in cases of murder and the more serious sex crimes.

Leodoro is charged with attempted murder, assault, possession of a weapon in a public building, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm.

If convicted he could be kept in state juvenile custody until he is 25, but could be released earlier by the Oregon Youth Authority.

Dunbar said Monti was cited by police for harassment on Feb. 14 for spitting on a student on a school bus but that the incident wasn't related to the Thursday shooting.

He was cited in September for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and had a Feb. 28 court date.

Dunbar described Leodoro as "an average 14-year-old kid" and said he was not known to police prior to Thursday's shooting.

Allison told the Roseburg News-Review that Monti had had a hard time with school since moving to Roseburg about two years ago.

"He has had a few challenges with his behavior," he said.

The school is to reopen Monday. School officials said mental health experts would be available to give counseling to those who wanted it.