Glendale Boy Who Provided Gun in High School Shooting May Be Charged

Glendale police say they're submitting felony charges against the teen who provided the gun in the pre-Valentine's Day murder-suicide of two teen girls at their high school. The families of both of the deceased 15-year-old girls in the February 12 incident at Independence High School don't wish the boy, who's...

By Ray Stern

February 26, 2016

Audio By Carbonatix

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Glendale police say they're submitting felony charges against the teen who provided the gun in the pre-Valentine's Day murder-suicide of two teen girls at their high school.

The families of both of the deceased 15-year-olds in the February 12 incident at Independence High School don't want the boy, who's also 15, charged, police say in a statement issued today. But the cops are submitting the boy for charges anyway.

Whether the unidentified boy actually will be charged is up to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office: The report on the February 12 incident hasn't yet been reviewed by prosecutors.

Police are seeking a charge of sale or gift of a firearm to a minor, a low-level felony.

The "white female suspect" in the case still hasn't been named by police. However, fellow students identified the suspected shooter as Dorothy Dutiel, and her victim as May Kieu.

The girls were in a serious relationship, expressing "love" for each other and posting pictures on social media of themselves as a couple.

Their bodies were found near an administration building on campus about 8 a.m., prompting fears of a potential mass-shooting incident. The school went into lock-down mode and students were released early, many carrying Valentine's gifts as worried parents picked them up.

Police said a gun and a suicide note had been found near the bodies and that each girl suffered a single gunshot wound. A report on the incident would be released today, police said.

The charge against the teen boy who provided the gun "will be submitted upon completion of reports and examination of all evidence. Both families DO NOT wish to prosecute the 15-year-old male teen," the police statement says.

Jerry Cobb, spokesman for County Attorney Bill Montgomery, says he can't comment on the potential of charging the boy yet. In general, he says the office would take the wishes of a victim's family into consideration, though without necessarily giving a family "veto power" over a charging decision.

Another possibility is that the investigation could expand to include the boy's parents or guardians.

"We've in the past charged adults when a minor has been able to access an adult's firearm," he says.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.