By Doug La Rocque

Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy says a 17-year-old male has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, a class C felony, and second-degree reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor, in the Wednesday, Aug. 16 afternoon’s shooting death of a 15-year-old Fort Ann boy.

Law enforcement and EMS personnel responded to an apartment building on Charles Street in the village shortly after 5 p.m. for the report of a person shot in the abdomen. Life-saving efforts were begun and because of the severity of the injury, the decision was made to transport to the closest medical facility, that being Glens Falls Hospital. There the victim was pronounced dead.

Sheriff Murphy said in a statement that “an investigation into the incident details determined that the subjects on the scene were all juveniles. One of the juveniles was identified as a 17-year-old male, who was responsible for the discharge of the weapon.”

The accused was processed in Washington County Youth Arraignment and released to his guardians on probation supervision. Due to the age of the individuals involved their names are not being released.

The victim was a high school student at Fort Ann Central whose administration is saying they are a tight-knit community that is shocked and devastated by this tragedy. The school district is offering grief counseling to any students or staff who wish to avail themselves of it.

There has been no official comment yet on how or where the juveniles obtained the gun.   

The New York State Police, Washington County District Attorney’s office as well as Fort Ann EMS and Fire personnel assisted at the scene and with the investigation.

NYVT Media will follow this developing story and provide more details as they become available.