Olney man charged in shooting of basketball player and friends

A 20-year-old Olney man was charged Saturday with attempted murder in the shooting of a top high school basketball player and two friends, police said.

James Cole, of the 400 block of Delphine Street, surrendered to police and was charged in the April 23 shooting that crippled Devin Bullock, 19, who played for the New Media Technology charter school.

Police said Cole had been in a dispute two days earlier with one of Bullock's friends, who was standing near Bullock and a third friend.

Police say Cole drove up to the men in a black Toyota, opened fire on the 22-year-old man and also hit Bullock and another of his friends who is also 22. He then fled the scene, police say.

Bullock, who was a guard on the New Media team and scheduled to graduate in two months, was the most seriously injured, with wounds in his thigh and his groin. To save his life, doctors at Hahnemann Hospital amputated one of his legs. He remains hospitalized.

Jacque Hall, a former Penn State-Abington basketball player who acts as a trainer at Basketball Builds Bridges in North Philadelphia, said Bullock would regularly attend the Saturday clinic where he worked.

He said Bullock had improved dramatically since the amputation.

Bullock's family has organized a website, DevintheMarvel.com, for contributions to medical expenses that have topped $300,000, the site said.