Bullets fired into Northside cookout, teen shot in hand | News

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- A 15-year-old was shot at a cookout when someone fired into a cookout full of children on Richmond's Northside Tuesday night.

The boy was shot in the hand, and later released from VCU Medical Center. Despite the young victim's injury, residents at the Lincoln Mews apartment complex say that the outcome was still lucky. Neighbors say there were nearly two dozen children and adults in the line of fire.

Residents say power was still out from Monday's storm at the apartment complex on the 4000 Block of North Avenue. The two suspects couldn't clearly been seen when the gunshots fired around 9 p.m.

"All of a sudden we heard gun shots fired, several gun shots…loud gun shots," said Cynthia Armstrong, whose grandson was playing with others at the cookout. "The only thing I could see was gunfire in the air, and smoke...The only thing I knew was that I wanted to save my grandson."

"I hear the gunshots, so I took off my headphones. Somebody screamed, ‘Watch out!' and then, Pow! Pow! Pow!" said James Williams, who heard the shots from his front steps.

Neighbors say last week shots were fired from a car passing through the complex.

"We heard gunshots, and our kids were at the playground. We were running to get our kids…Everybody was running to get their children," says Tiffany Scott, whose daughter often plays with her cousin at the area.

Last night's shooting was yet another episode of children running for cover where they live.

"I got them in the house and got all of them on the floor and dialed 911...They were very upset, crying and hysterical," described Armstrong, of the aftermath of the shooting.

Police say there's no clear description for either suspect. Officers are still investigating and haven't said yet if this was a random shooting, or if the suspects were specifically targeting someone.

Copyright 2012 WWBT NBC12. All rights reserved.