The teenager accused of stealing his grandmother?s Jeep and firing a stolen shotgun at pursuing Harford County sheriff?s deputies was suffering from mental illness and acting out of fear, his mother said Monday.
Harford County District Court Judge Victor Butanis held 16-year-old Justin Jacob Bristol without bail Monday so experts could evaluate his mental competency to stand trial.
Bristol, an 11th-grader at the Forbush Day School program at Sheppard Pratt, was charged as an adult with attempted first- and second-degree murder, assault and reckless endangerment for allegedly stealing a Jeep Liberty and several guns from family members Friday, leading police on a brief chase and firing a shotgun in their direction. One pursuing officer said several shotgun pellets might have struck his car, according to charging documents.
“Justin has consistently said while being interrogated by investigatorsthat his intent was not to hurt or harm anybody,” said his mother, Denise Bristol of Fells Point. “He was scared, and he fired off the gun in hopes of getting the officers chasing him to stop.”
He had been treated for the past seven years for numerous mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, his mother said. Last year, he spent several months living at Sheppard Pratt while undergoing treatment, she said.
Appearing by closed-circuit video from the Harford County Detention Center on Monday, Justin Bristol chewed his lip and answered each of Butanis? questions with a terse “yes.” Justin had cuts on his neck and nose sustained when the Jeep rolled over at the end of the brief chase outside Bel Air.
Denise Bristol said she hoped the incident would lead to her son getting more treatment.
“We want him, number one, to be safe, and number two, to get the help he obviously needs,” she said.
Justin lives with his father, stepmother and twin brother in Forest Hill. His father and stepmother were at the hearing but declined to be interviewed.
