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SALT LAKE CITY — A 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old he is accused of shooting outside a middle school had reportedly been actively arguing on social media over a girl.
When the two finally met on the north end of the Union Middle School grounds, 615 E. 8000 South, just as class was letting out on Oct. 25, Joshua Cordova reportedly came up to the 14-year-old boy and dared him to shoot.
"Joshua approached (the boy) and stuck his arms out telling (the boy) to shoot him and reunite him with his deceased mother. (The boy) removed a firearm from his backpack and held it at his side as Josh continued to yell at him, telling him to shoot him," according to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Monday.
"(The boy) raised the firearm and shot Josh once. Once Josh had fallen to the ground, (the boy) approached Josh and while standing over him fired two more rounds," the warrant filed in 3rd District Court states.
Cordova was shot in the head and neck but survived his injuries. KSL has opted not to name the 14-year-old at this time.
The boy was charged in juvenile court with attempted murder, a first-degree felony; discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, a first-degree felony; discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony; and possession of a gun on school property, a class A misdemeanor. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill has said he will seek to have the teenager certified to face charges as an adult.
As of Monday, the boy still had not had an initial court appearance because it has twice been delayed due to motions by his defense attorneys to close his hearings to the public. Last week, the defense withdrew its motion to close the hearings, opting instead to petition to close certain portions of the hearings related to the boy's mental health and competency.
He will make his initial appearance in court on Dec. 1.
Prior to the shooting, Cordova and the teen had been arguing on social media, according to the affidavit.
"(The boy) and Josh engaged in arguments over Facebook," the warrant states. "The messages which were sent between Josh and (the boy) are threatening toward one another and talk about wanting to fight."
The 14-year-old was dating Cordova's former girlfriend at the time of the shooting. Cordova also sent texts to the girl's phone in which he "talks about wanting to fight (the boy) and hurt him to send him a message not to hurt (the girl)," the warrant states.
According to charging documents, a teacher saw Cordova "walking toward the 14-year-old … with his hands up and realized there was a fighting scenario."
Cordova "walked up to him and said, 'Let's just do this right now,' and (the teen) pulled out the gun and pulled the trigger," the defendant told investigators, according to the charges. "(The teen) also admitted that he had told (Cordova) that he would reunite him with his mother, who had passed away."
The younger teen later told investigators that he brought a gun to the fight because "he was afraid J.C. would do something so he decided to grab his mom's gun," the charges state. "(The teen) stated that he was just going to point the gun at him and hopefully he'd get scared."
Gill said based on the evidence that has been collected, this is a case of attempted murder and not self-defense.
