PITTSBURGH — An 18-year-old accused of wounding three people — including two bystanders — at the Monroeville Mall last year has decided to have a judge, not a jury, decide his guilt.

Tarod Thornhill opted for the bench trial in Allegheny County on Wednesday. Defense attorney Christopher Urbano acknowledges Thornhill is responsible for the February 2015 shootings in Macy’s at the Monroeville Mall.

But Urbano told the judge Thornhill’s “decision-making was compromised” because he was afraid of his intended target, a 20-year-old man with whom Thornhill had an altercation earlier that evening. Prosecutors say that man wasn’t armed, however, and that Thornhill is guilty of attempted homicide and other charges.