Teen Pleads Not Guilty In School Shooting Trial:
Suspect’s mom weeps for son, slain student:
Douglas Chanthabouly, the gunman who killed Samnang Kok in the Foss High School shooting, pleaded not guilty yesterday to a charge of first-degree murder. However, no motive is still being offered.
Police are still saying that the shooting was not gang related, but some students of Foss High are saying otherwise. It seems that Kok used to run in gangs prior to his son being born. Kok had an arrest record that contained charges of auto theft and drug possession. Most say that Kok turned his life around after the birth of his son. But as I mentioned, there are those who say the shooting was gang-related…
“I think it’s gang related — just because of the kind of person Sam used to be,” said his friend, Derek Banghart, 19, speculating that the attack might have been retribution for a perceived offense from years ago.
Right now, I’m not so convinced that it was gang-related. Gang shootings have happened in schools before, but something about this doesn’t seem like a gang shooting. But without a motive, that remains to be seen.
The gun Chanthabouly used was stolen from a house in Tacoma in 1999. Police are still trying to determine how the gun came to be in Chanthabouly’s possession.
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