A 15-year-old boy is fighting for his life after bullets were fired into the apartment where he was playing video games with friends.
The shooting happened just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Rev. Dr. Morrell Todd Homes in Birmingham’s Kingston area.
Lt. Rod Mauldin said South Precinct officers responded on a report of a person down. When they arrived, they learned the teen had been rushed to the hospital by private vehicle due to the nature of his injury.
The teen was shot while in a bedroom of the apartment. Mauldin said he was shot in the upper area of his body.
There were multiple shots fired. Gunfire also entered a second apartment, but no one was injured.
“We have developed some strong leads in the case, but at this time the suspect remains at large,’’ he said. He said the city’s Real Time Crime Center has developed information that will be vital to the investigation.
Mauldin said investigators believe the residence was targeted, but he did not say who was believed to be targeted. There were other teens inside the apartment, but there were not adults there at the time.
With it being summertime, there were multiple children outside playing – as they often are – when the shooting happened.
“It is alarming with so many kids in the area,’’ Mauldin said. “This is not the first incident we’ve had in this area, and we have increased patrols here.”
“We do know there are people who come to this location that may not live here,’’ he said. “We need people to speak out and get involved in the investigations when it comes down to identifying the trigger pullers.”
Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
