A 12-year-old boy is in critical condition after he was shot Thursday night near his home in Northeast D.C.
Police say the boy, whose name was not released, was wounded when multiple people opened fire just after 7 p.m. on Valentine's Day in an alley in the 4400 block of Ponds Street NE.
D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham met with the boy and his family at Children's Hospital Friday.
"Anyone who's going to get out of a car in a neighborhood like that and just spray bullets without any care for where they're going is something we all got to put a stop to," Newsham said.
The boy is in critical but stable condition, police said Friday.
He was outside when dozens of shots rang out. Shell casings littered the alley.
"You look at that kid struggling after such a serious injury. That kid in my mind is a hero. His mom is a hero for going through what she had to go through and the people that were up there and who are responsible are absolute cowards," Newsham said.
"It's very disgusting that we have people that are willing to put other people's lives in danger who are children," Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
Just blocks from where 12 yr old boy was shot last night, DC @MayorBowser reads to @dcpublicschools students as @DCPSChancellor looks on. pic.twitter.com/JvWvXj1mGt
— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) February 15, 2019
The boy is a sixth-grader at Kelly Miller Middle School, according to the mayor's office.
On Friday morning, Mayor Muriel Bowser read books to children at a school just blocks from where the boy was shot.
"We are looking at that community in particular and some others like it and working with the D.C. Housing Authority for more cameras so that we can solve these crimes very quickly," Bowser told News4.
Police stopped a vehicle matching a description from a witness, and officers questioned the people inside. No information on an arrest was announced.
