Ely Serna, 17, will be tried as an adult in Champaign County Common Pleas Court after a juvenile judge found he was competent to stand trial. He is due in court at 2:30 p.m. June 15 for an arraignment.
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Serna is alleged to have brought a shotgun into school Jan. 20 and shot 17-year-old Logan Cole twice in a bathroom. Police reports say Serna allegedly told investigators that a teacher identified in the report as Mr. Thomas then walked into the bathroom after the gunfire and Serna began to shoot at him.
The suspect then left the restroom, according to police reports, and allegedly began shooting at classroom door windows in the hallway. It was then he allegedly shot another student, Adam Schultz, striking him with a pellet from the gun. Schultz sustained minor injuries.
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Serna faces two counts of attempted murder, three counts of felonious assault, six counts of improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation or a school safety zone, a count of inducing panic and an count of illegal conveyance or possession of a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance in a school safety zone.
He will tried as an adult after Champaign County Juvenile Judge Lori Reisinger decided earlier this week that there was probable cause for the case to move forward and the prosecutor had requested the move to common pleas court.
Champaign County Prosecutor Kevin Talebi declined comment about the case and Serna’s defense attorney Dennis Lieberman didn’t return a phone call seeking comment.
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