An Indiana teenager is being charged as an adult for allegedly opening fire on a rival team’s basketball coach and his family following a tense game, authorities said.
Elijah Preston Earl, 17, was arrested last week and hit with three felony attempted murder counts in connection with the incident that took place around 6:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 5 outside Pacers Athletic Center in Westfield, FOX 59 reported.
The teen is accused of firing at least three shots from a handgun at the coach of a rival basketball team, as well as his wife and son, as they were getting into their car in arena parking lot, the outlet explained.
Tensions were high after the game, and the coach believed to have been targeted initially tried to wait for the rival team to leave before walking back to his truck with his wife and son, he told police, according to the probable cause affidavit that was obtained Inside Edition and viewed by The Post.
While the family was walking away, however, he noticed they were being following three young men — including two players from the opposing team and a young man who sat with the coach’s wife at the score table during the game, the affidavit noted.
The young man from the score table was later identified as Earl, while the other two are believed to have been his brothers, who are also minors.
The coach noticed that Earl had his hands near his hips, and ushered his family into their car just as shorts rang out, the document explained.
“‘Once I got in my truck, all you hear is doot doot doot doot, (imitating gunshots),” the coach told police of the incident.
The coach immediately drove out of the parking lot, but remaining witnesses subsequently described to police officers how the suspect appeared to be targeting the truck from the parking area, the affidavit read.
Although no one was injured in the shooting, four nearby cars were damaged, FOX 59 reported.
Police followed up with Earl’s father, who told authorities that he was inside the arena during the shooting and that he believed the coach had fired on his sons, instead of the other way around.
When the father and son were interviewed by police, they both claimed that the family did not have any guns, the affidavit explained.
Investigators, however, countered with photos from Earl’s Facebook that showed him posing with a rifle and a 9mm handgun.
During the course of the interview, Earl also admitted to police he was charged with possessing a handgun over a year ago, while living in Atlanta.
As his story unraveled, Earl could not account for the fact that multiple eyewitnesses identified him as the shooter, even though his description of what happened in the parking lot otherwise matched the others’, the document filed Nov. 7 stated.
Earl had his first court appearance on Monday, where the judge declared the teen indigent and appointed him a public defender Trampa A. Whalin.
Whalin did not immediately return The Post’s request for a comment on the case, nor did Hamilton County Prosecutor Greg Garrison.
In addition to the attempted murder charges, Earl also faces three felony counts of recklessness with a deadly weapon, three charges of pointing a firearm at another, and a handful of misdemeanors, including criminal mischief and unlawful carrying of a handgun, according to online records.
The teen has not yet entered a plea, and is due back in court on Jan. 25.
“The young person, 17 years old, cranking off rounds. Guns don’t kill anybody but people sure do,” Garrison told FOX 59 of the decision to throw the book at Earl.
“He’s an adult in the eyes of the law for what he did…They are deadly weapons and I take it very seriously.”
Earl is in custody at Hamilton County Jail, where his bail has been set at $400,000.