Nov 14, 2008 7:40 pm US/Eastern
Dillard Shooting Suspect May Have Flashed Gun
Teacher Or Staff Member May Have Been Told By A Student That Teah Wimberly Brought A Gun To School
I-Team data shows school violence rising
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
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Teah Wimberly, charged with first-degree murder, in a Ft.Lauderdale courtroom on Nov. 13th 2008.
CBS
Broward County School investigators are looking into allegations that Dillard High School murder suspect Teah Wimberly may have shown the murder weapon to another student before allegedly killing her classmate, Amanda Collette, at school Wednesday.
Dr. Joe Melita, Chief Investigator for Broward Schools, confirmed to
CBS4 Reporter Ted Scouten that two investigators are talking to students to see if Wimberly did show off the gun before the shooting.
Investigators say they've gotten information that a teacher or staff member possibly knew Wimberly had a gun but did not alert authorities.
Student Kabria Graham explained, "I heard that she showed a student, and the student tried to tell the teacher or whatever, and the teacher wasn't listening, but I'm not sure if it's accurate."
Keith Bromery, an official with Broward County Public Schools, said "We're following up on a lot of different scenarios of a high profile nature like this. You get a lot of people coming forward telling you things of what they heard or what they allegedly heard or saw and we're following them up."
On Thursday, the accused shooter, Teah Wimberly, was formally charged with first-degree murder in a Broward courtroom for the death of 15-year-old classmate Amanda Collette.
The Broward State Attorney's Office has indicated that she will most likely be charged as an adult. To charge her with first degree murder as an adult, prosecutors must take their evidence to a grand jury and have them hand up an indictment.
About a dozen of Collette's family members, including her mother Joyce Collette, were in the courtroom when Wimberly appeared before Judge Elijah Williams. John Wimberly, the girl's grandfather and guardian, was also there.
During the brief hearing, Wimberly covered her face; her attorney, Gary Kollin, said she and her expressed their condolences to Collette's family.
"She's troubled and upset about the whole thing," Kollin said outside the courtroom, adding, "
she's grieving for the death of Amanda."
Using court records, CBS4 obtained photographs showing Wimberly with her father one year ago. Jevon Wemberly, a stand-up comic, goes by the name of "J Baby". He went to prison for shooting a man in the shoulder.
Teah wrote the court asking for leniency, telling a judge, "My daddy is a family man and puts his family before himself. All my life, I've had my daddy and our bond is really strong. We mean the world to each other and I really want him back."
Wimberly's next court date will be December 2nd.
According to the girls' friends, Wimberly was upset recently after having approached Collette about a relationship and was rejected.
In a police report obtained by
CBS4 news partners
The Miami Herald, Wimberly reportedly told investigators after the shooting: ``I wanted her to feel pain like me.''
According to police, Wimberly brought a 22-caliber, chrome pistol to school on Wednesday and texted Collette to meet her in the hallway by the computer lab and the vending machines because she wanted to talk.
When Collette arrived around 11 a.m. she refused to speak to Wimberly and began to walk away. That is when police say Wimberly shot her in the back.
"I heard a loud 'pow' and I got up and looked," said student Deandrea Franklin, "the girl who did it, we were all standing over her (Collette) and I didn't know she was the one who did it. When a person came out that's when she ran off campus."
Police say they found Wimberly at a nearby Captain Crab's restaurant after she called them and reportedly said that she had shot her friend.
Collette was rushed to Broward General Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Double Homicide In NW Miami-Dade
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