CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police are looking for the person who they said shot a 12-year-old boy inside his east Charlotte home late Tuesday night.
[PHOTOS: 12-year-old boy shot inside east Charlotte apartment]
The shooting happened just before 10 p.m. on Eastcrest Drive near Central Avenue.
Officers told Channel 9 that the boy was inside an apartment with five family members when someone fired shots from outside.
The child, Jason, who was in his bedroom, was hit in the arm by a bullet, and two arriving officers were able to apply a tourniquet before the boy was rushed to the hospital.
Officials are crediting the officers' actions with saving the child's life.
Police said the bullet hit an artery in his arm and Jason was bleeding severely when officers Chad Henderson and Michael Summerfield arrived at the apartment.
“They get out there, spring right into action, as this kid's losing consciousness rapidly, apply a tourniquet to this young man, and you know what? They saved this kid's life,” said CMPD spokesman Rob Tufano.
Tufano said they don't know if the shooting was random or not, and they are urgently looking for help identifying the shooter or shooters.
“This really really could've turned bad,” Tufano said.
Nobody else in the apartment was hurt.
Channel 9 was there as detectives were inside the apartment searching for evidence.
The boy’s mother, Dolen Bdap, spoke with Channel 9 over the phone while in the hospital with her son, and she said he is recovering.
Bdap said that just before 10 p.m., she was downstairs cooking while her son was in bed upstairs. That’s when she said she heard what sounded like the window shattering.
“It was loud and I ran upstairs and he was crying and holding his arm,” she said. “He told me he's been shot and he's half-down on the stairs. I met him on the stairs and there's blood everywhere.”
Jason's mother doesn’t know who fired the shot, but she said police found the bullet in Jason's pillow.
“He didn't actually lay his head on the pillow, he was just putting his arms on it, and that's how the bullet hit his arm instead of his head,” Bdap said.
Police do not think the family knew the shooter and said it was too early to tell if the apartment was targeted.
No other information about a possible suspect has been released.
Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this story.
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