The basketball coach who police believe was targeted in the attack said that tensions were high after a contentious game between his team and the team Earl's brother plays on, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Inside Edition Digital.
An Indiana teenager is facing three counts of attempted murder after police say he opened fire on a basketball coach and his family after a game.
Elijah Earl, 17, will be tried as an adult for allegedly pulling out a gun and firing three to four shots at the coach, his wife, and the couple's son, according to spokesperson for the Westfield Police Department.
That spokesperson said that no injuries were sustained from the shooting but the bullets did damage to vehicles in the parking lot of the sports facility in Westfield, which is 20 miles north of Indianapolis.
In his first court appearance on Monday, the judge declared Earl indigent and assigned him pauper counsel while also laying out all the charges he is now facing in the case.
Earl is charged with three counts of criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, three counts of pointing a firearm at another, unlawful carrying of a handgun, dangerous possession of a firearm, and four counts of criminal mischief in addition to the three counts of attempted murder, court records show.
He has yet to enter a plea to any of these charges.
The basketball coach who police believe was targeted in the attack said that tensions were high after a contentious game between his team and the team Earl's brother plays on, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Inside Edition Digital.
At first, the coach tried to wait things out inside the facility after the game until the other team had left before going to his car, according to the affidavit.
He waited as long as he could, he told police, and then made his way to his truck with his wife and son.
The coach said that he noticed three young men following him in the parking lot so he hurried his family into the car, at which time "the three individuals started backing up ... and ran behind a car," with one of the males reaching into his inside coat pocket, according to the affidavit.
That is when the coach said he heard three gunshots and immediately exited the parking lot, according to the affidavit.
Police then spoke to Earl's father, who told them that it was the basketball coach who opened fire on his son, according to the affidavit.
Earl and his father eventually agreed to come in for questioning, at which time police informed the two that multiple eyewitnesses had said the gunman was a teenager who matched Earl's description, according to the affidavit.
"Elijah denied that it was him and [his father] stated they do not own any gun," Detective Taylor McCorkle wrote in the affidavit. "I then asked if they keep any guns in their vehicle, house, or anywhere else, and [the father] said not."
At this point, the detective said that he showed the father and son Elijah's Facebook profile photo, which shows the teen holding a rifle while a 9-millimeter handgun is tucked into the waistband of his jeans.
Earl said that the guns were not his and his father said he had never seen this photo, says the affidavit.
Soon after, Earl told his father that he wanted to speak to a lawyer, according to the affidavit.
The detective ended the interview at that time but did execute a search warrant on the home, where police discovered two handguns, according to the affidavit.
Earl was booked into Hamilton County Jail, where he is being held on $400,000 bond according to jail records.
His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
