A Lawrence County teenager arrived Monday for his preliminary hearing free on bail facing a top count of aggravated assault for an alleged shooting stemming from what Butler police called a drug deal gone bad.

But when the hearing was over, 19-year-old Brandon K. Fairtrace of New Castle was led away in handcuffs to the Butler County Prison after prosecutors added a charge of attempted homicide in the case.

The unexpected turn of events that played out in District Judge Pete Shaffer’s office left Fairtrace’s attorney surprised and indignant.

“This court can see how weak this attempted charge is,” defense attorney Stanley Booker of New Castle argued to Shaffer. “This charge is going nowhere.”

Booker’s assessment, in part, was attributable to testimony at the hearing that revealed police have still not identified the victim or victims in the March 1 shooting.

Patrolman Anthony Fatta testified that police were called to McClain Avenue shortly after 3:30 p.m. for a report of “a male shooting a gun at another male.”

The caller, who lives on the street, described the shooter as a white male wearing a blue hooded sweat shirt.

Fatta spotted and stopped the suspect, identified as Fairtrace, who was running on South Monroe Street.

“He stated he didn’t mean to do it,” Fatta told prosecutor Richard Bosco, a Butler County assistant district attorney, referring to Fairtrace’s response when asked about the shooting.

He told police where he had hidden the gun — in the area of the railroad tracks north of McClain Avenue.

Fatta said he recovered the .380-caliber semi-automatic Hi-Point pistol, which had one live round in the chamber.

Later, Fairtrace was taken to the police station and interviewed. Fatta said Fairtrace recounted what happened.

He claimed two black males in a black sport utility vehicle picked him up in the area of East Locust Street.

“They discussed (the defendant) selling one of the black males a quarter pound of marijuana,” Fatta testified in relating Fairtrace’s account given to police.

At some point, one of the males in the SUV got out and went to the rear of the vehicle, purportedly to get a scale to weigh the marijuana.

“(Fairtrace) said he got nervous and attempted to exit the vehicle,” Fatta testified.

Fairtrace and the other male got into a fight, during which the other male ripped a backpack from Fairtrace.

He told police the male ran down the street with the backpack, which contained the marijuana.

“(Fairtrace) said he fired one shot into the air,” Fatta told Bosco.

The officer testified that a witness told police the suspect also “took a tactical stance” behind a parked vehicle and fired one shot at the black SUV that sped away.

Fatta searched the area where Fairtrace recounted he had fired the gun, and recovered two casings — one on McClain Avenue and the other on Rockaway Avenue.

The recovered casings matched the ammunition in the pistol.

On cross-examination, Booker zeroed in on the officer’s testimony about the alleged gunshot at the fleeing SUV.

Fatta admitted he did not include that information in his criminal complaint or in his report.

He also acknowledged police have not identified either of the black males.

Additionally, Fatta conceded that he had no evidence that Fairtrace fired into a house during the shooting.

Following testimony, Booker asked Shaffer to dismiss a felony charge of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure. Shaffer agreed.

But the judge held Fairtrace on several other charges including aggravated assault and carrying a firearm without a permit, both felonies.

Meanwhile, Bosco advised Shaffer he was amending Fairtrace’s criminal complaint to include the attempted homicide charge.

Booker immediately objected, calling the decision to add the new charge “disingenuous.”

He argued the theory of “no victim, no case,” while claiming the prosecution at the hearing failed to present evidence that his client tried to kill anyone that day.

Booker appeared to grow more irritated when Bosco asked Shaffer to increase Fairtrace’s bail from $20,000 to $100,000, due to the new charge.

Bosco requested the new bail because he considered Fairtrace a danger to the community.

The higher bail was granted.

Outside the courtroom, Booker said his client’s family hoped to post the bail later this week.