TEEN MAY BE FACING MORE CHARGES IN FATAL SHOOTING
Police not sure who fired gun or whether shooting was accident.
A 16-year-old Miamisburg High School student will remain in custody and may face more charges in connection with the “shocking” fatal shooting of an MHS graduate described as his good friend.
Montgomery County Juvenile Court Thursday entered a denial on a tampering with evidence charge on the teen’s behalf after Calob Brooks, 19, was shot and killed late Wednesday morning on North Riverview Avenue in Miamisburg.
One neighbor said the defendant and Brooks — who played football for the Vikings before graduating in 2018 — were longtime friends. Police, meanwhile, have said they are not sure who fired the gun about 11 a.m. or whether the shooting was an accident.
Whatever conclusions police reach, the fatal shooting — the second one involving a MHS grad in the past seven months — will have a deep impact on many in Miamisburg, said Superintendent David Vail, who said he was at the scene shortly after the shooting.
“It affected both families and of course any family that lives on that street,” Vail said. “And any family that’s close to those families. It’s going to be far-reaching ...... it’s certainly going to be very sorrowful and a lot of grieving going on in the next couple of weeks.”
The district will make grief counselors available in the coming days, Vail said.
The accused teen does not have a criminal record, but he is charged with the third-degree felony for allegedly “knowing that an official proceeding where an official investigation was in progress” and “did alter, destroy, conceal or remove” items, Judge Anthony Capizzi said.
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Before the accused teen returns to court Aug. 2, prosecutors “will decide what – if any – other charges will be filed against him.
“There may be no more charges,” Capizzi said. “As he stands in front of me he is innocent of everything.”
If found guilty only of tampering with evidence, the teen could be in juvenile custody anywhere from six months to until his 21st birthday, Capizzi said.
Neighbor Tina Myers called the death “shocking.”
“I’ve known these kids since they were little. They were all friends. Teenagers are teenagers. But they were all good friends.”
Miamisburg Police Chief John Sedlak said Wednesday it is possible the shooting was an accident, but investigators still don’t know for certain.
Police have recovered a weapon and they are working to find out if it is the one used in the shooting. Warrants filed in Miamisburg Municipal Court in connection with the case are sealed, court officials said.
Charlene Berry said she was leaving her house when she noticed the situation.
“When I looked down there, I saw people still outside and it looked like they were trying to help him,” Berry said. “It looked like they had a white towel or something and he just fell over.”
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office said Brooks was pronounced dead at 11:06 a.m.
On Dec. 30, MHS graduate Noah Kinser was killed during a late-night home invasion on North First Street.
Chaz Gillilan, 30, faces multiple charges — including six counts of murder – in Kinser’s death.
Gillilan, who lives in Coshocton County, pleaded not guilty to charges in the city’s first homicide since 2011, court records show.