A 13-year-old boy was shot dead outside his home in Salem, southern New Jersey, and police have no idea what caused the shooting, which also hit a neighboring home.
The boy was shot around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and pronounced dead after being transported to Salem Medical Center, County Attorney Kristin J. Telsey said. So far no arrests have been made or suspects identified, he updated. WPG Talk Radio.
Police have not released the name of the victim, who was a high school student. “It is a trauma. I just saw it before. It’s sad,” he told ABC News Daffonie Moore, next door neighbor.
“I’d come home from work and he’d be sitting here offering to help me with groceries and things like that,” Moore said. “It was funny because he always said to me, ‘Hello neighbor!’ And he would tell the other children: ‘That’s my neighbor!’”
Even one side of Moore’s house was hit by bullets. Salem Mayor Jody Veler told nj.com that he could not comment on the fatal shooting because it is an ongoing investigation. “This is an unimaginable loss,” said Patrick Michel, school superintendent.
The mayor added that officials were actively trying to launch more youth programs, working with nonprofit organizations to help stop gun violence among teens.
In February, also in New Jersey, an 11-year-old boy was seriously injured when he was stabbed by another boy of the same age near a school in Perth Amboy.