‘Everybody was running’: Video played in court shows chaotic scene as two people were shot outside Lincoln High

School had just been dismissed when the bullets started flying.

It was a sunny October day and dozens of Abraham Lincoln High School students were milling about outside Jean’s Pizza Shop when a man in a hoodie approached, cornered a student, and threw a punch. A scuffle broke out and lasted mere seconds before the man pulled a handgun from his waistband and fired several gunshots.

A half-dozen people who were nearby ran and the gunman followed them, turning a corner and then firing several more times into a larger crowd, sending more than 50 people running.

A 16-year-old boy was hit in the back of the head. And a stray bullet flew into a passing vehicle, killing the driver, 66-year-old Jeffrey Carter, a Lincoln High alumnus.

Much of the chaotic scene was caught on surveillance cameras pointed toward the intersection of Rowland Avenue and Ryan Avenue on Oct. 18. The footage was played in court Monday by prosecutors who say the gunman was 21-year-old Aaron K. Scott, who was arrested on scene by two plainclothes officers stationed at the intersection in an unmarked vehicle.

One of those officers, Stephen Burgoon, testified during the preliminary hearing in the case against Scott. Municipal Court Judge Wendy L. Pew held Scott for trial on murder and attempted murder charges after viewing the surveillance footage and hearing testimony from Burgoon and a homicide detective.

Pew dismissed one charge of criminal conspiracy, finding there wasn’t sufficient evidence to show Scott had planned the shooting with others. On the day of the incident, investigators said the shooting may have been the violent climax of an ongoing dispute between Scott’s younger brother and a current Lincoln student. Scott’s brother was not charged.

» READ MORE: Jeffrey Carter, fatally shot while driving by Lincoln High School on Monday, was a grandfather and a Lincoln alum

Members of Carter’s family were emotional in court Monday as Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore, chief of the homicide unit, read from a medical examiner’s report finding that Carter died of a gunshot wound to the head. After he was struck, his vehicle crashed into a fence near the high school. He was taken to the hospital and died shortly after.

The teenager who was shot was also seated in court Monday with family, using a white cane to navigate the courtroom. Pescatore said he doesn’t remember much of the incident because of the severe head injury.

Burgoon testified that he and his partner were parked near the high school around the time of dismissal because several fights had broken out in recent weeks and gunshots had been were reported about a week earlier. Dozens of people were around the intersection, Burgoon said, when he heard several gunshots “in quick succession.”

“Then the defendant walked toward the crowd and fired again into the crowd,” Burgoon said. “Everybody was running.”

The video footage shows the shooter, gun in hand, then turn away from the crowd and walk toward where police were stationed. When the officers approached, the shooter can be seen dropping to his knees with his hands in the air. Burgoon said Scott removed the magazine from the handgun he was holding and placed the gun on the street before he was handcuffed.

When he looked down the block, Burgoon said, he saw school officers tending to someone who had been injured. Homicide Detective Edward Tolliver testified he went to the hospital to interview the gunshot victim, but wasn’t able to because he was intubated and in “extremely” critical condition.

Under cross examination by defense attorney Joseph Schultz, Tolliver said he hadn’t interviewed or identified the person the shooter was initially fighting with. Neither shooting victim could be seen at any point in the surveillance footage played Monday.

Scott was expressionless and stared at the table as the judge held him over for trial. His next court appearance is an arraignment scheduled for Feb. 28.

He is being held without bail at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.