PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A 17-year-old charged with shooting a state trooper during a chaotic car chase on a downtown Philadelphia highway has waived his preliminary hearing.
Giovanny Cotto is charged as an adult with attempted murder, risking a catastrophe and other felonies in the November shootout on Interstate 676.
Trooper Patrick Casey was shot in the shoulder but managed to return fire.
The Philadelphia Inquirer says (https://bit.ly/1mvaiqL ) Cotto spoke briefly in court Thursday, answering a prosecutor’s questions about his decision to waive the hearing.
He says he’s in 11th grade and is taking medication for seizures.
Police say Cotto started a behind-the-wheel gunfight that ended when his car struck a school bus and both vehicles burst into flames.
Casey was in court Thursday for Cotto’s hearing.
Cotto’s arraignment is set for March 3.
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