Background: News footage of the Lowe's store in Elizabethtown, Ky., where Katen Atwell was shot and killed on Jan. 11 (WLKY). Inset (left): Bryan Harbison (Hardin County Detention Center). Inset (right): Katen Atwell (GoFundMe).
A Kentucky teenager is dead after she and another teenage friend met up with a man they met on Snapchat.
A 15-year-old girl and 21-year-old Bryan Harbison were both arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Katen Atwell on Sunday. In a Facebook post, the Elizabethtown Police Department said it responded to a 911 call at 2:30 a.m. reporting a shooting in the parking lot of a Lowe's store in Elizabethtown.
When police arrived, Harbison was performing CPR on Atwell, who was brought to a hospital and pronounced dead.
According to police, Harbison told them that he met the girls on Snapchat and agreed to meet up with them and buy them alcohol. He told police that he believed both girls were 18 years old. The three of them agreed to drive to the Lowe's parking lot to drink.
The teenage suspect told police that while she was behind the wheel of the truck, Atwell and Harbison were in the back. She admitted to police that she was the one who fired the fatal shot at Atwell. She said she picked up the gun on the truck's center console and, believing it was not loaded, pointed it at Atwell and pulled the trigger, hitting Atwell in the chest.
Police said Harbison provided a different story, telling them that the gun was "secured in his glove compartment" and the teen picked it up without him knowing.
The teen was charged with murder. Her name was not released due to her age.
Harbison was charged with unlawful transaction with a minor and reckless endangerment. He is currently in custody at the Hardin County Detention Center, where he is being held on a $10,000 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 21.
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