Charges Delayed For School Shooting Suspect

A judge on Wednesday allowed a 2½-week delay on whether to formally charge a 15-year-old boy as an adult in the Monday shooting spree that killed two students at a Santee, Calif., high school. The youth was denied bail.

Prosecution as an adult is mandatory under a ballot measure approved last year -- Proposition 21. The suspect, Charles Andrew "Andy" Williams (pictured, right), could face multiple life terms.

Williams was originally scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. But a judge granted a continuance until March 26 at the request of Williams' attorney, who said he needed time to review the charges.

Wiliams would be arraigned on two counts of murder as well as multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon and gun possession.

Classmates Return To School

Meantime, the suspect's 1,900 classmates are returning to Santana High School for more grief counseling on the loss of two fellow students.

Eleven other students were wounded in the bloody spree, along with two adults.

Friends said that Williams talked about his plans over the weekend, and that they took him seriously enough to pat him down before classes started Monday, but did not search his backpack.

Officials said that friends who reportedly knew about the suspect's plan, but did nothing, are not returning to school Wednesday, partly for their own safety.

Community Mourns Lives Lost

Mourners brought flowers, cards, signs and sympathy with them as they toured the areas of Santana High School where the suspect allegedly opened fire on his victims.

Randy Gordon (pictured, right), 17, and Bryan Zuckor (pictured, below, left), 14, both lost their lives in Monday's violence.

Gordon was a long-distance runner and captain of the track team, a senior with plans to join the Navy after graduation.

Bryan Zuckor played basketball, liked skateboarding and was helping his mother raise two younger siblings.

"That guy would never say anything bad about anyone," said Kevin Wilson, 17, who knew Gordon on the track team. "He was a great guy. He was very smart, followed politics, always up on things. He was going somewhere."

Navy recruiter Michael Mullinix said that Gordon was scheduled to begin basic training July 17.

Gordon's family was very proud and excited about him enrolling in the Navy, where he was signed up to be a cryptologist, Mullinix said.

He was "excited about where his life was headed," teacher Pam Hayden said.

Zuckor was described by friends as a skateboarder who enjoyed playing basketball. His coach, Dan Scott, called him a "rebounding machine."

Scott's son, Landon, 13, had gone hiking and bicycling with Zuckor the day before the shooting. The boy said that when he heard Zuckor had died, his first reaction was disbelief: "You've got to be joking. It's Brian. He falls down and gets back up."

Ruth Ashcraft, a neighbor, expressed concern for Zuckor's mother, who is raising two younger children on her own.

"Oh my God, what is she going to do?" she said. "He was her rock."

Bryan's friends have built a Web site on which Bryan is seen doing bicycle stunts. The site is known as Bryan Zuckor's Stunt Page.

Students at the school honored the two dead and 13 injured Tuesday by releasing 15 balloons -- 13 purple and two gold. Purple and gold are the school colors of Santana High School.

Investigators Learn More About Suspect

Investigators are learning more about the suspect.

A San Diego police lieutenant describes Williams as "an angry young man" who shot people at random and showed no remorse. A friend of Williams said that she feared he was suicidal after he moved to California from Maryland.

Kathleen Seek told The Baltimore Sun that the suspect had been picked on for his slight build, "country ways" and even his haircut.

The principal at the middle school that the suspect attended said that he was an honor roll student and "a happy-go-lucky kid who seemed to have a lot of friends."

The suspect's brother told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that other children had always taunted his brother about his small frame and large ears.

Michael Williams, a 20-year-old art-school student, lives in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs, Ga.

"He has big ears and he's real skinny. People like to pick on him. It was like that as long as I could remember," said in an interview with the Atlanta newspaper.

Michael Williams told the newspaper, that he has seen his brother infrequently -- at most twice a a year. Sometimes, they would drop e-mail to check up on each other, he said.

"We were at my mom's house for Christmas. Everything was fine. I don't know what happened after Christmas," he said. "I can't tell you anything because I don't know."

After the brothers' parents divorced about 10 years ago, Michael stayed with his mother, who now lives in North Augusta, S.C. Andy went with his father, first to Frederick, Md., and then in November 1999 to the San Diego area.

"I'm sorry for the families," said Michael Williams told the Atlanta newspaper. "I'm sorry this happened."

His mother also apologized to the victims and their families in a brief interview with Augusta, Ga., television station WJBF.

"My heart goes out to them. They've lost their babies, their hopes, their dreams for their futures," Linda Wells said. Of her son, Wells said, "He's lost. ... His future's gone."