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Three teenage suspects accused of gunning down an Australian student in Oklahoma for the "fun of it," according to police, are expected to face first-degree murder charges in court today.
Christopher Lane, 22, who was visiting the U.S. on a baseball scholarship, was jogging along a road in Duncan, Okla., after visiting his girlfriend on Friday when he was shot in the back, allegedly by the teens.
A woman tried CPR and paramedics arrived on scene, but Lane was pronounced dead an hour later.
"He apparently was jogging. He went by a residence where these three boys were, they picked him as a target, they went out and got in a vehicle and followed him," Duncan Police Department Chief Danny Ford told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, according to AFP.
"[They] came up from behind and basically shot him in the back with a small caliber weapon, then sped away," Ford added.
Police tracked the teens down using surveillance video from a business that is near the shooting scene, KOCO reports.
If the three teenagers arrested are charged with first-degree murder and convicted, they face a maximum sentence of life in prison. The teens, ages 15, 16 and 17, can be tried as adults, but they can't face the death penalty since they are under the age of 18, a spokesperson for District Attorney Jason Hicks told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The teens have not been identified by police and remain in custody at Stephens County Jail in Duncan. They are expected to appear in court Tuesday afternoon.
Police revealed Sunday that one of the teens confessed to the crime and said he did it for the “fun of it,” KOCO reports.
"The boy who has talked to us said, 'We were bored and didn't have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody,'" Ford told the Associated Press.
On one of the alleged killer's Facebook pages, investigators found the message: "Bang. Two drops in two hours," Sky News reports.
"I think they were on a killing spree. We would have had more bodies that night if we didn't get them,” Ford said in an interview with the Australian Associated Press.
Ford wouldn't say how many times Christopher Lane was shot. Autopsy results are pending.
The mother of the 16-year-old accused in the killing said her son and his two friends were part of a “wannabe gang,” but insisted that he is not a killer, KOCO reports.
The father of the 15-year-old also denied his son had a role in Lane’s death, but said the boy had run-ins with the law before, News.com.au reports.
Lane’s girlfriend, Sarah Harper, wrote a tribute on Facebook after he was killed.
"I love you so much babe," she said, according to Sky News. "From 2009 until forever you will always be mine and in a very special and protected place in my heart."
East Central University, the school which Lane attended, is setting up a fund so Lane’s parents, who are still in Australia, can come to Oklahoma.
"Chris was a well-liked young man here on campus. His teammates thought a lot of him. Seemed to be a bright, promising student," Dr. Jeff Williams, the athletic director at East Central University, told KOCO.
East Central University is in Ada, about 85 miles west of Duncan. Lane started 14 games at catcher last year and was entering his senior year.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/2...student-in-oklahoma-for-fun-it/#ixzz2cWayQQ3l
Link to Australian newspaper article:
http://www.news.com.au/national-new...-lane-identified/story-fnii5sms-1226700172461
