'Not guilty' plea for teen in Kentucky school killings

Carneal arrives at the courthouse Thursday for arraignment

January 15, 1998
Web posted at: 12:28 p.m. EST (1728 GMT)

PADUCAH, Kentucky (CNN) -- The court entered a not guilty plea Thursday on behalf of the Kentucky teen-ager who has confessed to opening fire on his high school classmates last month, killing three and wounding five.

In a three-minute arraignment hearing, the attorney for 14-year-old Michael Carneal said he could not enter an informed plea without knowing more about Carneal's state of mind. McCracken County Circuit Court Judge Ron Daniels entered the not guilty plea as required by Kentucky law and set a March 2 pre-trial hearing.

Watch the arraignment and courtroom reaction

"We are not going to deny any facts that transpired on the day of the shootings," said attorney Charles Granner. "But ... we need to know more about his mental status."

Carneal, a freshman at Heath High School in West Paducah, is charged with three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary. Authorities say he has confessed on videotape to firing on a group of at least 35 students who had just finished a prayer session in the school lobby before the start of classes.

Heath High School lobby after the shootings

The weapon was a .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun that Carneal stole from a neighbor's house on Thanksgiving Day, authorities say.

Carneal's first public court appearance came as the FBI, looking for a motive in the shootings, said it would search the contents of his personal computer. Local authorities who earlier had searched the computer said they were unable to retrieve any useful information.

The suspect's initial court appearances after the December 1 shootings were behind closed doors, because the 14-year-old was classified as a juvenile. Carneal later was indicted as an adult.

Correspondent Brian Cabell contributed to this report.

Related stories:

• Teen charged as an adult in Kentucky school shootings - December 12, 1997
• Girl wounded in Paducah likely to remain paraplegic - December 11, 1997
• Accused teen shooter to be prosecuted as an adult - December 10, 1997
• Accused high school gunman goes to court Wednesday - December 9, 1997
• No more arrests expected in Kentucky school shootings - December 8, 1997

Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

• McCracken County School District
  • 'We Believe In Heath' - memorial site for slain students
• Heath High School
• McCracken County Sherriff's Department
• PaducahNet

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

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