Bail set at $50,000 for 9-year-old boy

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. – Crying and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, a frightened 9-year-old boy accused of accidentally shooting a classmate sat before a judge in juvenile court Thursday as his father gently rubbed his back.

The scene – coming a day after police said the boy accidently shot a fellow third-grader – raised questions that will be played out in the legal system: Did he know what he did was wrong? And is anyone else responsible?

Bail was set at $50,000 during the hearing where preliminary charges were filed. Ultimately, the court will determine whether the case against the boy will continue as an 8-year-old girl remains critically wounded.

“I just want everyone to know that my kid made a mistake. It was a terrible mistake,” the boy’s father, Jason Cochran, said outside the courthouse.

If the bail is met, the boy would be released to his uncle and placed under house arrest. The uncle, Patrick Cochran, is the boy’s legal guardian and also sat by his nephew’s side in the courthouse.

“He’s a good kid. It’s all I can say,” said Patrick Cochran. “I apologize to the family of that girl. I really do.”

Authorities say the boy brought a .45-caliber handgun he got from his mother’s house to an elementary school in Bremerton on Wednesday, and the weapon discharged from inside his backpack just before classes let out, critically injuring Amina Kocer-Bowman.

Todd Dowell of the Kitsap County prosecutor’s juvenile division said his office had enough information to charge the boy on Thursday. However, he will not be arraigned until the court determines if the boy has the capacity to understand what he did was wrong.

Under state law, children between 8 and 12 years old can face charges if a court makes such a determination. A capacity hearing in this case will be held in two weeks.

Kitsap County officials said both the child’s mother and father have criminal records. Bremerton police Lt. Peter Fisher would not discuss whether authorities were investigating any adults in connection with Wednesday’s shooting.

On Wednesday, Bremerton police characterized the shooting at Armin Jahr Elementary as accidental.

The girl’s father, John Bowman, thanked his daughter’s teacher in a statement, saying “had she not administered first aid and stopped the bleeding from the gunshot wound, this event would have surely been tragic.”

The boy was charged with unlawful possession of a gun, bringing a dangerous weapon to school and third-degree assault charges. Authorities believe he got the weapon during a visitation with his mother over the weekend. Charging documents state that the boy told a classmate about five days ago that he was going to bring his “dad’s gun” to school and run away. The gun discharged after the boy slammed his backpack down on a desk, the documents said.

Twenty-seven states have some form of firearm child access prevention laws. Such laws can include criminal penalties for adults who allow children to get their hands on guns, but Washington is not one of those states, according to the San Francisco-based Legal Community Against Violence.