PONTIAC, Mich. – One of the suspects charged following an alleged plan to shoot up a high school graduation ceremony in Oakland County was back in court on Tuesday.
Jamarion Jaryante Hardiman, 20, appeared in court before Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, for a pretrial hearing. This follows his Aug. 19 arraignment.
Previous coverage: Bond set for 2 charged in alleged mass shooting plot at Oakland County high school graduation
During the short hearing, the prosecution and defense requested that Hardiman’s jury trial be held on March 9, 2026.
Matthews said that she needed to see if that date worked for the codefendant’s defense team. The codefendant, 19-year-old Deahveon Whaley, is scheduled to be in court for his pretrial hearing on Nov. 4, 2025.
Hardiman and Whaley, both of Pontiac, were charged with carrying a firearm with unlawful intent, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and carrying a concealed weapon.
They are accused of planning to shoot up a graduation ceremony for the Arts and Technology Academy of Pontiac (ATAP) that was being held at the United Wholesale Mortgage Sports Complex in Pontiac.
Authorities say that the plan was foiled when Oakland County deputies arrived at the facility.
Deputies responded to the facility at about 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3, after receiving a report about a fight in the parking lot during the ceremony.
When authorities arrived, they worked with UWM’s security team to review footage. They learned that Hardiman and Whaley were involved in the fight, which began inside the facility before continuing outside. Two other individuals were also involved in the fight.
During the altercation, Hardiman was allegedly intentionally hit by a car, which prompted the two men to go to the car and grab weapons, officials said.
A short time after that, the two men were caught on security video crouching by parked cars. Officials say they threw the guns under parked cars before they fled the parking lot. Both guns were fully loaded with extended magazines and chambered rounds.
While deputies were investigating the fight, someone at the graduation ceremony reported an alleged threat to shoot up the event on Snapchat.
Authorities were unable to verify the alleged Snapchat threat.
Whaley was arrested at the scene, and Hardiman was taken into custody three days later.
At the time of his arrest, Hardiman was on probation for a concealed weapon offense from May 2024. He was accused of not abiding by several conditions that were set during his sentencing in that case.
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