Bond set at $1M for teen suspect in Pine Bluff school shooting
A teenage suspect accused of shooting a fellow student Monday at Watson Chapel Junior High School in Pine Bluff was ordered to be held on a charge of first-degree battery in lieu of $1 million bail during a probable-cause hearing Wednesday morning.
The suspect was identified as Thomas Quarles, 15, during Wednesday’s hearing. Prior to Wednesday, authorities had not identified Quarles. He was arrested Monday shortly after the shooting.
Quarles’ appearance during the open proceeding of District Court, as opposed to the closed proceedings of juvenile court, for the purposes of the probable-cause hearing suggests prosecutors will seek to charge him as an adult when formal charges are filed.
Watson Chapel Junior High School, which serves grades 7-9, entered an active-shooter protocol during the incident Monday, Pine Bluff Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant said during a news conference earlier this week.
Authorities believe the shooting was a targeted incident and not a random incident, Sergeant said.
Jefferson County District Court Judge Kim Bridgforth found probable cause to hold Quarles on the battery charge. She granted Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter’s request that Quarles be held on the $1 million secured bond.
Hunter identified the victim as Daylon Burnett, 15. Both Quarles and Burnett are students at the junior high school.
Burnett was seriously wounded in the shooting and was transported to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.
“He’s in intensive care and is in very critical condition,” Hunter said Wednesday.
In the event of the victim’s death, the state would seek to have the charge upgraded to homicide, Hunter said, adding “but that’s for another day.”
Bridgforth set Quarles’ next court appearance for April 12.
The probable cause affidavit is based on statements of Pine Bluff Police Department Det. Keith Banks, according to a copy of the document obtained from the prosecuting attorney.
Referring to Banks’ affidavit, Hunter told the judge that officers responded Monday morning to a reported shooting at the junior high school.
One officer reported that when she entered the building by the principal’s office, she was met by school staff and shown to where the shooting had occurred in a hallway in front of the library.
A school nurse was administering medical aid to Burnett, who was breathing and had a slight pulse as the nurse applied pressure to the back of his head, Hunter told the judge.
Two .380 shell casings were found next to Burnett, he said.
As officers cleared the school searching for gunmen, a student told Det. Tamina Smith that Quarles shot Burnett, according to the affidavit.
Police obtained a description of Quarles’ outfit and learned he was last seen leaving toward Sulphur Springs Road, Hunter said.
A member of a canine search team from the Arkansas Department of
Lt. Hosea Thompson, with the Pine Bluff Police Department, was on duty Tuesday at Watson Chapel Junior High School following a shooting on Monday. (Pine Bluff Commercial/ Byron Tate)
Corrections encountered an individual in a burgundy top and khaki pants running beside a house at the end of East Greenway Drive, Hunter said.
As the canine search team approached the east side of a residence, the individual was seen crouching behind an air conditioning unit, he said, and the individual was identified as Quarles.
“He was instructed to lay on the ground and was taken into custody without incident,” Hunter said.
A black Ruger LCP handgun was found in Quarles’ right front pocket, along with a lighter in his left pocket and a black cell phone on the ground in the area. The items were taken as evidence, Hunter said.
After Quarles was transported to the police department and advised of his rights along with his mother, they asked for a lawyer, Hunter told the judge, and questioning ended.
According to the affidavit, Quarles was then transported to the Jack Jones Juvenile Justice Center.
Hunter said that because of the seriousness of the act, the likelihood that Quarles would leave the jurisdiction and “the condition of the victim in this case,” the state was requesting the $1 million bond.
The shooting coincided with the first day of in-person classes at Watson Chapel Junior High School since severe winter weather hit Arkansas last month.
In a statement addressed to students and parents posted Wednesday on Facebook, the Watson Chapel School District Superintendent Jerry Guess said in-person instruction at the junior high school would resume Thursday after two days of virtual instruction following the shooting.
Guess wrote that additional security would be provided by the Pine Bluff Police Department and the Jefferson County sheriff’s office.
“The Junior High staff have been on site all week delivering virtual instruction to our students and working to prepare for the return of students to the campus,” Guess wrote. “We think it is imperative that all students take advantage of the many, many professionals who will be present to provide counseling and guidance to our students as they return to school.”
According to Guess’ statement, counselors from other district schools, as well as private and public agencies, would be available, along with local pastors, youth ministers and the Pine Bluff Police Department’s chaplain unit.