Two 14-year-old boys seriously hurt in Gastonia shooting, police say

GASTONIA, N.C. — Two 14-year-olds were shot Tuesday afternoon in a Gastonia neighborhood, police said.

Officers said the teens were shot just after 4:45 p.m. in a parking lot on Laurel Lane. The address is just off Robinwood Road and East Hudson Boulevard.

Investigators said the boys were seriously hurt and were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Channel 9′s Ken Lemon learned the two boys don’t know who shot them, and police are asking for help finding who’s responsible.

The shooting sent shock waves through the community. Colton Dye came home Tuesday night to police swarming the area.

“There was a few officers with assault rifles out here. They flagged me down. Stopped me,” he said.

Dye later learned that the shooting happened just outside his front door at Dwell Townhomes. While he didn’t see the shooting, he said one of his neighbors saw what happened next.

“Opened the front door and saw one of the wounded kids run past his door,” Dye said.

Dye said that neighbor got his family to a safe place in the house, but eventually decided the house wasn’t safe after all.

“He moved them out,” he said.

Dye said he still feels in his home and he’s happy to know the teens are OK. Police said that’s thanks, in large part, to the officers who got to them first.

“Thankfully, it appears that because of the immediate first aid that our officers gave them at the scene when they arrived, and the first aid treatment that they got at the hospital, that both are going to survive,” said Rick Goodale with the Gastonia Police Department.

Neither of the boys live there. They told police they don’t know who shot them or why, and said they ran when it happened.

“And right now, we don’t know if we have one suspect or two suspects,” Goodale said. “We don’t know if we have a vehicle we are looking for.”

The suspect or suspects are still out there.

“School is out. Kids out in the evening, enjoying the summer vacation, and we have two 14-year-olds struck by gunfire,” Goodale said. “We don’t know if they were targeted. We don’t know that this is over.”

Police are hoping someone will come forward with what they saw or heard in the area. They said one call may answer a lot of questions and bring peace to people there.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Gaston County at 704-861-8000. You may be eligible for a cash reward and callers may remain anonymous.

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