Teen charged in July 4th shooting accused of escape attempt

RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A Raleigh man charged in that murder right after the fireworks in downtown Raleigh on 4th of July is now accused of trying to escape from jail.

Curtis Hart Rainey, 18, was taken to interview room at the Wake County Detention Center Tuesday.

Rainey was left alone while waiting for his attorney to show up.

As a detention officers monitored other inmates his attention was drawn to the room where Rainey was left.

Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison told ABC 11, "He heard the chairs and stuff squeaking on the floor, making a noise. Looks back and the light's off in the room and the light's not supposed to be off."

Harrison added, "He looks in. He sees somebody up on a chair which is the inmate. He flips the light switch on, walks in, the inmate comes crashing down holding the ceiling tile and of course the part of the ceiling up there and hits the floor."

Rainey is being held without bond.

He is one of two teens accused in the shooting that left one dead and three others injured.

He now faces charges of attempted escape and damaging property - the Detention Center ceiling.

The sheriff says Rainey told the jailer he didn't want to remain behind bars.

But the sheriff says the Detention Center was built with this kind of thing in mind.

"We tried to look at every nook and cranny. I'm not going to say somebody can't get out but if they do it's going to take a while. So we were pretty comfortable that he was not going anywhere if he had gotten up in the ceiling."

Arrest warrants show a 17-year-old charged with murder in a shooting after Raleigh's 4th of July fireworks tried to escape from custody.

Curtis Hart Rainey allegedly damaged ceiling tiles and an air vent in the attempt and is now considered an escape risk. He's charged with attempting escape and damage to property in addition to the charges he already faced.

Rainey is one of two teens charged in the July 4 shooting that that left one dead and three injured.

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