Suspect charged in shooting behind school in Edinburg

EDINBURG, Texas – Prosecutors have charged a 36-year-old man in a shooting last month in which two Rio Grande Valley teenagers were severely wounded while trying out for their middle school basketball team.

Dustin Wesley Cook was charged with second-degree aggravated assault in the Dec. 12 shooting behind Harwell Middle School in Edinburg. His lawyer, Michael Guerra, says the details of the charges will clear his client of "any criminal responsibility."

The students were wounded during basketball tryouts on the outdoor court behind the school.

Police questioned three men who were on nearby ranchland after the shooting. They released two who had been practicing target shooting nearly a mile from the school. They detained the third, who they say was an illegal immigrant with an assault rifle who was trespassing on the land.