
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 18, 1990                   TAG: 9004180339
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TEEN GETS DETENTION IN SHOOTING AT MALL

A 16-year-old Roanoke boy involved in a shooting at Valley View Mall was sentenced Tuesday to an indeterminate term in a state detention home.

A second juvenile, 17, who was involved in the shooting received a suspended sentence and was placed on probation by Judge F.L. Hoback in Roanoke Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Both youths were convicted last month of firearms charges stemming from an argument among teen-agers at the mall that escalated into gunfire the night of Feb. 24. No one was injured.

"You got yourself caught up in a real mess, and you could have been in a whole lot more trouble," Hoback told the youth he placed on probation.

The second boy received a term of incarceration because of a more serious record of past offenses and convictions in two firearms offenses that happened the week after the mall incident, said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Hill.

The youths are not being identified because of their ages.

Witnesses have testified that several pistol shots were fired in the mall parking lot after a fight broke out among three youths in a group of about 25 teen-agers that had gathered near the Mindboggle video game arcade. Testimony provided no clear motive for the shootings.

Although the teen-agers had been convicted earlier of charges such as brandishing firearms and shooting a gun within city limits, Hoback dismissed a more serious charge of attempted malicious wounding of an off-duty Roanoke police officer who was working as a mall security guard the night of the shooting.

Earlier testimony had shown that the teen-agers did not shoot directly at the officer as they fled through the parking lot.

While there have been complaints by the Roanoke NAACP that mall security guards often target blacks in dispersing crowds and responding to disorders, earlier testimony revealed no racial overtones in the shooting.

Instead, court officials have said the case illustrates a growing problem in which teen-agers are using guns to resolve disputes.

by CNB