2 teens found dead, Death Durham, N.C. – Today is the first court date for the 18-year-old accused of killing two teenagers and injuring another in the vicinity of a Durham middle school. Jorge Raul Benitez-Mendoza, 18, of Durham, was charged in the inquiry, police said late on Wednesday. Two first-degree murder counts and one first-degree murder attempt are brought against Mendoza.

Around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, officers responded to a complaint of a shooting involving a 16-year-old on Leon Street, and this is when the investigation got underway. The teenager was injured seriously, so his parents hurried him to the hospital. According to the teen, there may have been two further victims of gunfire. The Durham County Sheriff’s Office dispatched a cadaver dog to search the area overnight, and the Durham Fire Department spent several hours using a drone.

Later, shortly after 8 a.m. on Wednesday, two 16-year-old lads were discovered dead close to the intersection of Hudson Avenue and North Buchanan Boulevard. Angel Canales, a student at Riverside High School, was one of the two teenagers killed, according to family relatives. According to Durham Police, this brings the total number of people under 18 who have been shot this year to at least 13.

Two of the young people in question attended Riverside High School and one attended Lakeview School, according to Durham Public Schools (DPS). ABC11 received a copy of the email Durham Public Schools sent to parents this morning, which read in part, “While we are saddened to share that two Riverside students and one Lakeview student were the victims of gun violence last night in an off-campus incident, we are limited in the information that we can share due to privacy laws protecting students and their families, as well as due to an active police investigation.