A Salem teenager who fatally shot a classmate last spring in Bush’s Pasture Park admitted to a murder charge Friday in Marion County Juvenile Court, ending the criminal case for one of the city’s most high profile shootings in recent memory.

McCrae, who was 16 at the time, shot and killed José Vázquez Valenzuela, 16, during a school day on March 7, 2024, and wounded two other boys.

Nathaniel S. McCrae, 17, on Friday admitted to second-degree murder for shooting José Vázquez Valenzuela, 16, during a school day on March 7, 2024. Two other boys were wounded by gunfire. McCrae pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon as an adult, according to Brendan Murphy, Marion County’s chief deputy district attorney.

The agreement allows McCrae to avoid adult prison. Instead, he will serve his senten

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