Youth Held in Chatsworth Shooting : Arrest: A Burbank teen-ager is charged as an accessory in the attack on a high school student. The D.A. says he drove the triggerman to safety.

The district attorney’s office Friday charged a 17-year-old Burbank boy with being an accessory in the shooting of a Chatsworth High School student earlier this week, saying the Burbank youth drove the teen-age triggerman to safety after the attack.

The boy is the first person arrested in connection with the attack Wednesday afternoon on Gabriel Gettleson, also 17, the first shooting at the suburban school.

Gabriel was shot three times by two other teen-agers who tried to steal his backpack while he waited in front of the campus for a ride from his mother.

Gabriel, who was hit in the left shoulder, left hip and chest, remained in serious condition Friday, according to Gary Washburn, a friend of the family.

Although administrators of Northridge Hospital Medical Center declined to discuss Gabriel’s condition, Washburn said one of the bullets was lodged near the boy’s spine, and the family and doctors are undecided whether to operate because of the risk of paralysis.

Meanwhile, although the shooter remained at large late Friday, the detective heading the investigation said he was confident that police soon would make an arrest.

“It is only a matter of time before we know who did the shooting and find out where he is,” said Detective Mike Brandt, who declined to say what police knew about the suspected gunman.

The teen-ager charged by prosecutors is accused of a felony--accessory after the fact--for allegedly driving the suspected triggerman from the high school to a second vehicle after the shooting, said Suzanne Childs, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Also Friday, four other teen-agers were released from Juvenile Hall after the district attorney’s office declined to file charges against them. The boys, ranging in age from 15 to 17, had been jailed since Wednesday and were suspected of taking part in the robbery attempt on Gabriel.

Childs declined to answer questions about the other youths, citing the continuing investigation. Police investigators were unavailable for comment late Friday.

The shooting occurred about 1:40 p.m. Wednesday, about 45 minutes before classes were dismissed for the day, after two groups of youths drove up to where Gabriel was standing in front of the school, police said.

Two of the youths got out of the vehicles and demanded the boy’s backpack, which contained only books. When Gabriel refused, one of the youths shot him three times with a pistol.

They returned to the cars, which sped away before police arrived.

Minutes later, however, police arrested five teen-agers whom witnesses identified as having been at the shooting scene.

Washburn, who heads the Neighborhood Watch program in the area where the shooting occurred, said he considered the filing of formal charges against the youth a good sign.

“I’m very happy,” he said. “We are all a little apprehensive, but it is good that they are making progress in the case. It will make everyone breathe a little easier.”