Feature photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics.

By: Connor Mount, Austin Kleber and Jake Brodsky

Suspended Maryland football players Lorenzo Harrison and DJ Turner were charged in the on-campus airsoft gun incident, according to documents obtained from Prince George’s County Court in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

According to the statement of charges acquired from the state’s attorney’s office in Prince George’s County, Harrison and Turner were each charged with three counts of second-degree assault, three counts of reckless endangerment and one count of threatening bodily harm to a student on school property.

Turner picked up Harrison and a third player, Antoine Brooks, from study hall, the documents said. With Turner driving and Brooks sitting in the back seat, Harrison pulled out an airsoft gun from his backpack while sitting in the passenger seat. The vehicle was a dark-colored Hyundai Sonata, which is registered to Turner’s mother, the documents said.

The documents said Brooks told police that once the trio was inside the car, Harrison pulled out a BB gun resembling an “AK-47.” Police later determined that the weapons were actually airsoft guns.

“[Brooks] said that they were driving around and that Harrison was shooting at people on his side of the vehicles [sic] and that Turner was ‘test’ shooting it out the driver side of the vehicle,” the statement of charges said. “When asked what he meant by ‘test’ shooting, he said he would go from semi-automatic to automatic to see how it worked.”

After multiple calls, Harrison’s attorney, Melissa A. Miller, could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon. Turner’s attorney, John M. McKenna, also could not be reached before publication.

Brooks told police that he was not a shooter, which Harrison corroborated. Harrison, who admitted both airsoft guns were his, also named himself and Turner as the shooters to the police.

Harrison turned in the two AK-47 style airsoft guns, as well as six containers of BB’s, to police on Nov. 9.

Turner contradicted both players’ statements. According to the statement of charges, he told police he was the driver and Harrison and Brooks were the shooters.

Brooks said the only time he had an airsoft gun in his possession was when they were arriving back at their apartment, the statement of charges said. He told police he did not shoot anyone.

The team said Brooks’ suspension has been lifted because he was not charged. He is expected to be available for Saturday’s game against Nebraska if head coach DJ Durkin decides to play him.

The police report stated that the first victim was shot in the arm and the body while he was biking. The victim reported slight bruising on his elbow to police.

“[Harrison] said that they continued driving down Stadium Drive and turned onto Paint Branch Drive when they saw an individual on a bicycle,” the statement of charges said. “Harrison stated that he had the BB gun and shot at the person riding on the bicycle. He said that Turner then took the gun and shot at some people walking in the area of Paint Branch Drive and Technology Drive.”

Shortly after, a witness walking near Ellicott Hall on Stadium Drive reported hearing someone yell, “Hey,” from the car. She turned around and heard what she believed were several shots fired in her direction, the police report said.

While the witness was not hit, the friend she was walking with was struck in the right cheek. The police report said red and white BB’s recovered from one of the guns matched BB’s found in the victim’s sweatshirt when he took it off.

A third victim was shot near Paint Branch Drive and Technology Drive. He and a friend heard what sounded like BB gun shots, and the victim felt something hard hit his elbow, though he was wearing a jacket. The two didn’t see anything but heard a car pass.

The Left Bench previously reported there were five charges of first-degree assault filed against both Harrison and Turner. Online court records showed these charges were dropped on Nov. 15.

John Erzen, the communications director for the Office of the State’s Attorney, said the Prince George’s County commissioner overseeing the case bumped up the second-degree assault charges to first-degree charges without proper evidence.

“They should not have been charged with first-degree assault because there was—from our office’s review of the evidence—nothing to support those charges,” Erzen said. “So, what we did is we dropped all of those charges and then University of Maryland police refiled with second-degree assault and reckless endangerment because that’s really what—based on the evidence we’ve seen to this point—we believe we have here.”

The number of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment charges was also reduced from five counts each to three each, one per victim. This was also based on the evidence presented.

“Why it was five [charges] the first time, I don’t know,” Erzen said.

Harrison and Turner were both charged with one count of threatening bodily harm to a student who was lawfully on the grounds of a higher education institution.

“We are aware of the situation and take these matters very seriously,” the Maryland Athletic Department said in a statement Wednesday. “The two student-athletes involved have been suspended indefinitely for violating the student-athlete code of conduct. This matter has also been referred to the Office of Student Conduct for further review.”

The next step is to issue the freshmen with a summons for a court date, which will happen in the near future, Erzen said. He said he feels the new charges are appropriate based on the evidence presented.

A court date has not yet been issued for the players.

Alex Flum, Danielle Stein, Jarred Belman, Justin Meyer, Lamar Johnson and Michael Stern contributed to this report.