The 17-year-old accused of shooting a friend in the head in Longmont last month was charged as an adult Monday — a rare move by the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office.

Seth LaRhode appeared in Boulder District Court, where he formally was advised of the charges he faces, including attempted manslaughter, second-degree assault/reckless serious bodily injury by use of a deadly weapon, and several weapons charges.

The Times-Call does not typically name juvenile defendants in criminal cases, but has decided to so in this case both because of the severity of the allegations and because LaRhode is charged as an adult.

Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said in his nine years in office, he only has charged about six juveniles as adults.

The most recent was 16-year-old Jeremy Collins, charged with attempted murder in the savage beating of a Lefthand Canyon woman last year. He pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to six years in youth detention.

“It’s pretty rare,” Garnett said of his charging decision in the Longmont shooting. “We carefully review the facts of the case and the history of the juvenile to determine if we think it’s appropriate, and we reached that conclusion in this case.”

LaRhode is being held on a $100,000 bond after Judge Judith LaBuda heard arguments from attorneys on Monday and ruled that he is a “serious threat to this community.”

At around 4:15 p.m. Oct. 30, Longmont police responded to a house in the 100 block of Sunset Street, where 19-year-old Robert Miner had been shot in the head. Police initially characterized the shooting as “accidental,” but later determined the incident to be criminal in nature.

According to a police report, LaRhode was hanging out with at least three others at a friend’s grandmother’s house after school let out that Monday.

The police report details several different accounts of what happened.

One witness said Miner was lying on the floor while LaRhode was spinning the gun. The witness told police LaRhode then shot Miner in the head.

Another witness said that when he arrived, everyone was smoking pot, and LaRhode picked up a revolver and pointed it at him. He said LaRhode pulled the trigger, and he heard it make a “click” sound.

Next, the witness told police, Miner bet LaRhode that he wouldn’t flinch if LaRhode pointed the gun at him. So LaRhode pointed the weapon at Miner’s head and shot him while he sat on the floor, the witness told police.

The witness told officers that LaRhode then said, “Oh my God. I need to get out of here,” before running out of the house.

LaRhode told police two different stories when he was arrested shortly after 9:30 p.m. the same night at his home in Loveland.

According to the report, LaRhode said he was hiding at his friend’s house a loaded .357 handgun he had stolen from a SUV in Loveland four to five months ago. He said he was playing with it the day of the shooting, including pulling the trigger.

LaRhode told police Miner wanted to see the gun, so he handed it to him with the barrel facing Miner. He said Miner put his finger on the trigger and it fired into Miner’s temple.

Police noted in their report that LaRhode’s demonstration did not match his description.

LaRhode also told police that Miner and another male were playing roulette with the gun with an empty shell casing inside the gun. He said after Miner was shot, the other male told LaRhode he had put a live round in the gun.

“LaRhode stated this was all his fault because it was his gun that he hid at (his friend’s) house several times,” an officer wrote in the report. “He thought the gun was unloaded.”

Longmont police Cmdr. Joel Post said Monday that Miner remains in the hospital, but he did not have specifics on his status or injuries.

In court on Monday, Deputy District Attorney Laura Kinde said LaRhode was on juvenile probation at the time of the shooting. She said he violated his probation in more than one way by having a gun, being with two individuals he was not allowed to have contact with and smoking marijuana.

The police report also details LaRhode’s criminal history, including prior convictions for second-degree burglary/theft of drugs, felony theft of $5,000 to $20,000, possession of a handgun by a juvenile and felony marijuana possession.

Public defender Marshal Seufert argued that the $100,000 bond is essentially the same as no bond. He said if LaRhode were released, he would be under the careful supervision of Larimer County and if he remains in juvenile detention, he will be moved to Platte Valley Youth Services Center, where he will be with juveniles “of different background than him.”

The case has been set for a two-day preliminary hearing on Jan. 18 and 19, when the judge also will decide whether or not to remand the case back to juvenile court.

Amelia Arvesen: 303-684-5212, arvesena@times-call.com or twitter.com/ameliaarvesen