12-year-old boy fighting for life after shooting; Newsham says young victim was 'unintended target'

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - D.C. police are continuing to search for four suspects they say left a young boy fighting for his life after a shooting in Northeast, D.C.

Officers stayed on the scene in the 4400 block of Ponds Street throughout the night while the young victim, a 12-year-old boy who was found on the scene with a gunshot wound, remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

D.C Police Chief Peter Newsham was at the scene Thursday and spoke to reporters saying that the shooting happened in the alley a little after 7 p.m. Newsham said multiple firearms were used to fire multiple shots.

Newsham said the boy was an 'unintended target' and said he was not involved in the incident that led to the gunfire. He said investigators were questioning several people who were in a vehicle that was stopped by officers after it matched a description that was given to police by a witness.

He called the amount of shell casing found in the alley where the shooting took place "unbelievable" and said that officers are canvassing the area to make sure no one else was injured.

Newsham said several other children had been shot so far this year and in each case they were also unintended targets. "Now we have a 12-year-old kid who should be out, at home, enjoying his evening, and he's at one of our local hospitals struggling because he's been shot. It's got to stop," he said.

"In this city we got to get serious about gun offenses and, in my opinion, we don't take gun offenses seriously right now. I'm going to continue to echo that until somebody listens," he said. No guns have been recovered at this time, he said. Police said one suspect may have been wearing an orange hoodie.

The investigation is continuing at this time. No arrests have been made.