Long Beach police say they’ve arrested a 14-year-old boy on suspicion of attempted murder for chasing down and shooting another 14-year-old boy.
Police said the shooting happened shortly before 12:50 p.m. in North Long Beach on Sunday.
The 14-year-old victim was walking southbound on Locust Avenue near 53rd Street when the 14-year-old attacker approached him, according to Long Beach police.
The victim tried to run away, but the other teen ran after him and shot him several times, police said. While the victim was bleeding, the shooter approached and pistol-whipped the victim before running off, police said.
Officers hurried to the scene and found the wounded boy. They applied a tourniquet and chest seals before paramedics rushed him to a hospital in critical condition, according to the LBPD. As of Friday morning, he’d improved to stable condition, police said.
In a statement, LBPD Chief Wally Hebeish said the officers’ “heroic efforts undoubtedly saved this young man’s life.”
Detectives identified the suspected shooter as a boy from Long Beach. On Monday, they arrested him in Lakewood along with 19-year-old Xavier Salas Jr. The 14-year-old boy’s name wasn’t disclosed because he is a minor.
Salas was booked into jail on suspicion of attempted murder and being an accessory after the fact. Police said they believe he was a getaway driver after the shooting. He was being held on $75,000 bail.
Police said both Salas and the shooter are gang-affiliated, but a motive for the crime is still under investigation.
Hebeish called the shooting “both tragic and disheartening.”
“No child should ever be subjected to any form of violence, and no one should ever be involved in committing such a brazen and heartless act,” Hebeish said.