17-Year-Old Sentenced To 10-20 Years For Attempted Murder

POTTSTOWN, PA — A young man who at 15 shot an acquaintance with his grandfather's gun pleaded guilty to attempted first degree murder and was sentenced this week in Chester County Court.

Raul Castro, 17, of Pottstown, was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison for the attempted murder of a 15-year old acquaintance in 2019, according to the Chester County District Attorney's Office. Castro pleaded guilty to Attempted Murder, Possession of a Firearm by a Minor, and Recklessly Endangering Another Person and was sentenced in Chester County Court this week.

Castro was 15 years old at the time of the crime in April 2019, according to official reports.

On April 1, 2019, the defendant met two school acquaintances at the Schuylkill River to slap-box. According to the district attorney's report, Castro shot the victim in the stomach and the clavicle with his grandfather's 9mm pistol and then fled the scene.

The victim was flown by helicopter to Reading Health Systems Trauma Center, where he underwent emergency surgery.

Lower Pottsgrove Police, East Coventry Police, and Chester County Detectives investigated the shooting incident. Assistant District Attorney Christine Abatemarco was the prosecutor.