Van Buren Changes His Story on Shooting : Jurisprudence: One day after being arrested, he says he lied to cover for a companion.

One day after his arrest for allegedly shooting a gun into his girlfriend’s home, all-state football player Leodes Van Buren of Newbury Park High said Saturday night he told authorities that he fired the gun to cover for a companion who actually pulled the trigger. Van Buren’s girlfriend corroborated that claim.

“We’ve been lying about the whole situation,” Van Buren said from his Newbury Park home. “It wasn’t me who fired the gun. I was there, but I didn’t shoot the gun. I just don’t want (my girlfriend) Marcie (James) getting in trouble, so I’m going to go ahead and take the blame for it.”

Van Buren, 18, was arrested Friday on suspicion of firing a single shot through the back door of James’ home in Newbury Park.

According to a police press release, Van Buren and James, 19, argued twice Friday morning over the telephone. He then went to James’ home and demanded to be let in, but James refused. Then, police said, Van Buren pulled out a handgun and fired a shot through the back door. The bullet lodged in a wall in the home. No one was injured in the incident.

But Van Buren and James contradicted that story, though James refused specific comment. Both maintained that another male--whom they would not name--accompanied Van Buren to James’ house, and that this man had the gun and was the one who actually fired it.

Van Buren would not say specifically why the man shot into the door, only that “it was to prove a point to (James’ mother, Catherine).”

But Van Buren said he did not tell his version of the incident to Ventura County Sheriff’s detectives when they came to Van Buren’s residence and arrested him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and shooting at an inhabited dwelling.

“If I tell on that person, something can happen to me and Marcie and our daughter (Andreya, 23 months old) and Marcie knows it,” he said.

After interviewing Van Buren and taking statements from witnesses, police booked him only on the second charge. He was released later that day on $5,000 bail, posted by his guardian, Ken McGee.

“(The police) came to my house my house looking for the gun, and they didn’t find it,” Van Buren said. “They just came and arrested me without even asking me any questions.”

Neither officer involved in the arrest could be reached for comment.

Van Buren said the disturbance was caused mainly by tensions over James’ parents’ disapproval of his relationship with James, and their apparent unwillingness to let her go with him to the University of Colorado, where he has earned a football scholarship.

But the senior’s future at the Boulder school is uncertain. Van Buren said that he already spoke to Colorado recruiting coordinator Chuck Heater.

“He said they were going to help me as best they could,” Van Buren said.

Colorado sports information director Dave Plati said Saturday that Van Buren’s football scholarship could be in jeopardy.

“When one of our players gets in trouble with the law, there are no doubts that the scholarship is at risk,” he said. “But it’s basically a wait and see situation, to see what he’s eventually charged and convicted of.”

Van Buren helped Newbury Park win the Southern Section Division III championship last fall. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder finished his high school career as the state’s career leader in receptions (269) and yardage (4,456). He is ranked second nationally in both categories.

Van Buren moved to Newbury Park from Los Angeles when he was 13, seeking a safer environment and living with McGee.

“Most people that know me know I’m not a violent person,” he said. “I came out here to get away from all the violence and the gangs, to somewhere that’s quiet and peaceful, to make something of myself.

“Why would I fire a gun and waste my career over a little doorknob?” he said. “I know how much college costs. It’s like, fire the gun or take the lottery money.

“What is a normal person going to do? He’s going to take the money.”

Van Buren continually insisted that though he was present at the scene and threatened James, he did not fire the gun.

“I made a mistake by going with that guy (who Van Buren said fired the gun), and I instigated it,” he said. “But I didn’t pull the trigger.

“(Marcie) knows the truth and I know the truth. I don’t really care what everybody else thinks about me.

“Sometimes innocent people are proven guilty.”