Charges Filed Against Man Suspected of Shooting Up DHS Skate Park

Charges Filed Against Man Suspected of Shooting Up DHS Skate Park

by Contributing Editor

Attempted murder and other charges were filed Thursday against a 20-year-old man suspected in a drive-by shooting at a Desert Hot Springs skate park that left a teenager wounded.

Jelani Arman Wooten of Desert Hot Springs was arrested near the scene of the Tuesday afternoon shooting at Tedesco Park, where he allegedly fired at random, wounding a 16-year-old boy once in the shoulder and nearly striking another person, according to police Chief Jim Henson.

Wooten is charged with two counts each of attempted murder, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and discharging a firearm from a vehicle. He additionally faces several gun-related sentence-enhancing allegations.

The defendant could be sentenced to 59 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged, according to John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

Wooten, who remains jailed at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning in lieu of $1 million bail, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday via video conference from lockup before a judge at the Banning Justice Center.

Police were called to the skate park at the north end of Tedesco Park, 12800 West Arroyo, about 2 p.m. in response to a report of a gunshot victim and found the wounded boy, whose name was not released. He was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs for treatment.

A vehicle matching the suspect vehicle description was tracked down near the park, where two men and a minor were detained, police said. Only Wooten has been charged thus far, although the investigation remains active, Henson said.

A motive for the shooting was not disclosed.

Wooten has no documented felony or misdemeanor convictions in Riverside County.

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All credit goes to Contributing Editor
Originally published on https://mynewsla.com